The Web of Stories
Goddess of the Dark Race of Sirens, Tomuri enjoys a nice, relaxing swim throughout the waters of Fantasniar. Her Dark Lords at this time are Tramli, Trundar, Laksur, Trasurga, Murtol, Jarmaltarm, Lompuya, and Subarikasa.
The Autobot/Mobian fleet cruised through warp space on schedule. No incidents occurred so far. On the Fang, Sludge looked on his console. “We’re approaching the Nebulan Solar System,” he reported.
“The other ships are reporting the same results,” called Slash as she looked on her tactical monitor. “Optimus is advising us to slow down.”
“Helm, slow us down to inter-solar system speeds,” ordered Grimlock.
“Taking us out of warp,” replied Slag. The whole fleet slowed down and entered the system.
“Prowl, inform Nebulan Space Patrol,” Optimus directed, “that we’re here to stop off and refuel.”
“Understood,” replied Prowl. He sent off the message. Trema was bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Nebulos, jewel of the galaxy, how I’ve missed you!” she giggled.
“Homesick?” asked Sira.
“Maybe a bit.”
“Many of us are gonna be the same way when we make it to Cybertron,” chuckled Prowl. A few seconds later, he received a reply to his message that made him arch an eyebrow. “…Okay, that’s oddly specific.”
“What is?” asked Optimus.
“Sir, the Nebulan Space Patrol said that our ships have a limit of a mile above the outermost atmosphere. Only organic life-forms are permitted, but not mechanical.”
“What?!” yelped Trema. “Optimus, last time I checked, we were still members of the Autobot Alliance!”
“What’s going on down there?” muttered Optimus.
“They mentioned that Llyra can explain the whole situation,” reported Prowl.
“Optimus, Decepticon fleet’s already there!” called Stormfront.
“Have they armed weapons?”
“…No, Sir, they haven’t.”
“Stranger and stranger,” muttered the young Prime. “Put us in a position opposite the Decepticons.”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Prowl, inform the fleet of what we found and advise them to follow our example.”
“Already did, Sir,” replied Prowl. “They’re taking our advice.”
“Good to hear.”
“I thought you said that Nebulos joined us,” Sonic remarked to Amy.
“They did!” replied the pink hedgehog girl. “I don’t know why the Autobots can’t go down!”
“Well, it looks like we can’t go down,” muttered Strongarm.
“Tails,” called Cosmo, “we’re getting a call on an open channel from the planet.”
“Take it,” replied Tails. The captains of all ships appeared on the screen, even the ones under the Decepticon flag. After a few seconds, Llyra showed up.
“Greetings, Captains,” she welcomed. “I apologize for this rather awkward situation-”
“But your planet’s atmosphere now has traxaline gas in it?” finished Megatron.
“…Shockwave found it?” grunted Llyra. Megatron nodded with a wicked grin.
“Traxaline gas?” asked Optimus. “That’s a mechano-toxin! How did it get into the atmosphere?!”
“That’s thanks to Hi-Q’s Industrial Research Complex,” answered Llyra. “They detonated a bomb full of the stuff in an attempt to defend us from you guys should you ever go rogue.”
“That’s absurd!” growled Grimlock. “Autobots would never dare take matters into our own hands!”
“The Unicron Games beg to differ, according to those of my fellow Peers that gave Hi-Q the go-ahead to detonate that bomb.”
“Supreme Councilor Llyra, I assure you; you have nothing to fear from us!” urged Optimus.
“I don’t personally fear you, but I must speak for my planet. Besides, some of us can’t justify the collateral damage that occurs during your battles; thus, they don’t even bother to tell the difference between Autobot and Decepticon.”
“I must admit, I’m a little wounded,” remarked Megatron as a mock-hurt expression crossed his face. It then vanished. “Oh well, I have allies that can survive your atmosphere.”
“You are all welcome to refuel, but no battles in our solar system!” directed Llyra. “I won’t give the fearful a reason to act on hate.”
“…Very well,” sighed Optimus. While the call was going on, Trema let Prowl know of her plans and used Locus to get to the surface.
A pudgy Nebulan man with only a small line of hair on the back of his head got out of his shower the next morning. This was Hi-Q, the head of the Industrial Research Complex. He went to his closet and put on his undergarments, then put a visor over his eyes to help him see. He then went along his closet…to see that there was something missing. His eyes widened as he noticed a shadow next to his own. He whirled around to see Trema holding his high-collared robes in her hand. She then offered him the robes. “Finish with your dressing,” she grunted. “You and I need to talk. I was on the Autobot ship yesterday when everyone heard about the traxaline bomb your organization detonated over a year ago. I was then informed of more of your activities from Galen.”
“Am I supposed to be surprised?” scoffed Hi-Q as he took the robes out of Trema’s hand. “My activities were hardly a secret. You know, I WOULD say that you honor my house with your presence, but, given that you entered without my knowledge or consent, that statement would be a lie.”
“Fine, let’s BOTH tell the truth! I’m sure the people would be interested to know of the reasons behind your actions as much as they are mine! Poisoning the atmosphere against the Transformers, developing anti-mage weapons, acting on the word of only a few choice Peers!”
“What do you want, Trema?!” Hi-Q was losing patience for the game.
“I want to know what you think you’re doing!”
“Did Supreme Councilor Llyra ever tell you that, in order for her to be fully accepted by the Council of Peers, she had to give up the name of her magic teacher? A Ms. Telomak Tundal? One of the most notorious magic users in Nebulos’ history? We started to wonder what would happen if Llyra or people like her ever followed in Ms. Tundal’s footsteps and went rogue. Another Councilor then reminded us of how the Decepticon Headmasters and their partners nearly suffocated us with their constant politicking and bullying of those lower than them. A few interns under my employ then got the idea that the Autobot Headmasters might fall down the same path, so they ran several thousand computer simulations of both parties, sometimes combining them into one. Once I saw the results, I made them full employees with all benefits and privileges. If superpowered people like you or the Headmasters or the Autobots ever went rogue, what do you think would be the result?” Trema scoffed.
“Llyra’s always practiced restraint because of her power. She’s doing a good job teaching it to the upper class. Besides, Autobots don’t even like conquest. They prefer to help local governments instead of taking them over at the slightest failure. Your point is moot.”
“Humor me, won’t you? In every single scenario, superpowered Nebulans and Extraterrestrials beat us regular citizens…HORRIBLY. But that was before I detonated that bomb in our atmosphere. We’re protected against normal Transformers. We’re still working on the technology needed to defend ourselves against Headmasters and mages.” Trema then growled.
“Whatever you think you’re doing,” she warned, “if the Industrial Research Complex presents a threat to Nebulos, me and my friends and family will take you all down!”
“If WE present a threat?! You and your allies and enemies are sitting pretty on spaceships just outside our planet’s atmosphere with wands and guns pointing down to the surface! On other planets, that spelled an overthrow of their governments and the assassination of those planets’ leaders! WE’RE the good guys, protecting our planet and people from a very real threat! You!” Trema then noticed something in his eyes. Her expression softened just slightly out of pity before she used Locus to leave. Hi-Q then pulled out a communicator and called someone. “…It’s Hi-Q, verification 4-9-1-7-2-Tanswak. …Have the war room ready in 20 minutes. Get all division heads ready for the meeting an hour early. …That’s an order, Hi-Test!” He hung up
Nebulos, homeworld of a warrior race of large, green-skinned, and white-haired humanoids, an ancient world with an ancient civilization that has managed to reach post-scarcity. That isn’t to say that it is without problems. Right now, late in the night, a Nebulan woman, Llyra, was working in her office with her future father-in-law, Stylor, and a friend of hers, a woman named Kari. As they worked, her fiancé, Galen, and a woman, Marita, stormed into the room. “Give me one good reason not to use Cerebros to take them out!” he snarled to Llyra. Llyra simply arched her eyebrow.
“…If you didn’t know the answer, you wouldn’t have thought to ask,” she replied.
“Don’t play that game with me, Llyra! I’m serious!”
“We don’t have hard evidence that Hi-Q’s Industrial Research Complex has committed any crimes.”
“Oh, come on! Detonating a mechano-toxin bomb in our planet’s atmosphere to poison the Transformers the instant they touch down, regardless of faction?! Leaving us to be unaffected?! How else should people read that?! We’ve benefitted from Transformer technology before, and we’re prospering more as Autobot allies than Decepticons! You and I both know Hi-Q’s organization is dirty!”
“Then maybe,” interjected Kari, “you lot should put more energy into proving it and less into acting like a bunch of over-powered stormtroopers.”
“I don’t recall asking you for your opinion, Kari!” snarled Galen.
“No? How about when you guys and the Council recruited me as a mole within Hi-Q’s inner circle, against my will, I might add, and also gave me the job of keeping you guys from taking rash actions against Hi-Q?! You had me take up my dual mantle to keep both parties honest, according to Llyra’s disgraced predecessor!”
“Do I look like Zarak to you?!”
“At the moment,” remarked Stylor, “you kinda do.”
“Your father’s right, sweetie,” supplied Llyra, “you ARE adopting my father’s scowl.” Galen glared at Llyra before continuing.
“We can’t let the Complex get away with this!”
“No one’s saying we should, but we need to keep a cool head!”
“Do you know what they did to Gort and his Binary-bond Partner?!” called Marita. “They took Highbrow apart and put him back together in an operation that almost cost him his Spark! Not only that, but they also put Gort through multiple brain scans, PAINFUL brain scans! Besides, they aren’t too keen with us mages!”
“Look, kid,” interjected Kari, “take it from someone who works under him; Hi-Q’s a piece of garbage and Hi-Test and Rev are the worst of his flunkies, but this ISN’T the way to stop them!”
“We must also consider the possibility,” continued Llyra, “that the Industrial Research Complex has every right to be afraid of mages and Transformers-”
“WHAT?!” shouted Marita as her hair became hair-shaped fire and her fists were surrounded by fire.
“-and there is strong evidence that they have legitimate connections to the Council.”
“Maybe to some rogue faction of our colleagues!” argued Galen. “The whole Council wouldn’t get involved in anything like this!”
“Hey!” called Kari. “I’m the only one in this room without superpowers of any kind, be they technological or magical, and let me tell you; you guys SCARE me! What if you superpowered guys decide to go out there and take care of whoever you think is guilty?! Who could stop you, me?!”
“So you WANT the government to have a bunch of anti-Transformer and anti-mage weapons just to keep us in check?!” asked Marita as her fire snuffed itself out.
“Since there’s a mage here who’s in a place of power,” Kari gestured to Llyra, “who has urged the implementation of limits on people with power, then yeah, I do!” Her “yeah” echoed within everyone’s heads. She sighed before continuing. “Look, I’m an Inner-ringer. You guys in the government need to do for averages citizens like what we can’t do for ourselves. We sure can’t protect ourselves from the likes of superpowered people.”
“Look, we’re not talking about the government!” interjected Galen. “We’re talking about a shadow cabinet that’s taken it upon themselves to eliminate us! They came after us; we have to hit them back HARD!”
“One of your mother’s sayings leaps to mind, boy,” remarked Stylor. “You know, the one about an eye for an eye leaving everyone in the universe blind?” Galen was about to interject when an alarm rang through the office. Llyra pressed a button on her desk.
“What’s going on?!” she asked.
“Supreme Councilor!” replied the person on the other end. “A quartet of ships has entered our solar system! One of them is the Decepticon Flagship, the Nemesis!”
“Raise defenses, but do NOT fire unless we’re fired upon!” After ending the call, she got up and turned to her future husband and his dad. “You two better get to your partners.” She then took Marita and Kari with her as Galen and Stylor headed off to meet with their binary-bond partners.
“You’re absolutely sure about the atmospheric readings?” Megatron asked Shockwave as they met in his ready room.
“There’s no doubt about it,” replied the Decepticon scientist as she presented her findings. “There’s a large mechano-toxin density in the atmosphere. Organics are unaffected.
“Scrap!” Megatron thumped his chair’s armrest in annoyance. “The only organics we have are Morgane and Eggman! We can’t afford to send troops down there!” They left the ready room and returned to the bridge. “Ravage, open a channel to the fleet,” he ordered.
“At once, my Lord,” replied Ravage as he keyed in a command. Soon, Eggman, Morgane, and Thundercracker appeared on the screen.
“Everyone, I have bad news,” began Megatron. “The Nebulans have made the atmosphere of their world toxic to mechanical life-forms. Only organics are able to thrive in it.”
“So send us down!” urged Eggman.
“Out of the question.”
“Why’s that, Lord Megatron?” asked Thundercracker.
“Their size makes it hard to get supplies in any reasonable time. They’ll be discovered within an hour.”
“Then what are we to do?” asked Morgane. “Are there agents on the planet?”
“Most likely not, not after the last time I visited Nebulos.” Megatron then recalled something. “…I’m a fool! There ARE agents, just on Animatros!” He turned to Ravage. “Contact Animatros. Get them to send Scorponok and his fellow Headmasters here to assist us.” The Decepticons and Eggman stared at Megatron in horror.
“Scorponok?!” yelped Thundercracker. “You’re MORE than a fool, your resurrection must have caused a neural cluster to blow a massive fuse!”
“On the contrary,” replied Megatron, “bringing them here will give us the means to carry out our plans.”
“Could someone explain what is meant by ‘Headmaster’?” asked Morgane. “I don’t believe I’m familiar with that type of Transformer.”
“Headmasters,” explained Eggman, “are Transformers that are larger than the ones we know with a cyborg partner that turns into the head when they go to robot mode.”
“The technology,” continued Megatron, “was reverse-engineered from two Metrotitans, Transformers with a city alt-mode and a smaller emissary body that they can control…or are partners with.”
“So the emissaries of these particular ‘Metrotitans’ turned into the robot’s heads?” asked Morgane.
“Correct. However, two emissaries, Cerebros and Black Scar, gained a Nebulan partner that transform into their heads. The Metrotitans have two partners now.”
“And it’s Scorponok’s partners I’m afraid of!” argued Thundercracker. “Okay, yes, the Headmasters should have enough of an organic element to safely process the mechano-toxin, but Scorponok’s mannerisms make him too deadly a force to keep on Nebulos.”
“Oh, I’m not suggesting that Scorponok himself assume robot mode on the planet’s surface, I’m merely suggesting that he send the smaller Headmasters and their partners to run interference.”
“Even so, Scorponok and the Headmasters are forbidden from leaving their current sanctuary!” argued Ravage. “The Tripredacus Council’s impounded them on Animatros!” At this point, Megatron lost patience.
“Not at this time! The Predacons and their ruling body are members of the Decepticon Empire, meaning I can override their decision in times of war! Now, bring Scorponok and the Headmasters here! If Ram Horn has a problem, refer him to me! Are we clear?”
“…Crystal, Lord Megatron.” Ravage then carried out his orders.
Everyone managed to check in on Teletraan to see how he was doing. It felt like a long half-hour for everyone. Maria…was a little on edge. “So…they’re from a planet of naturally-occurring robots?” she asked Shadow as she saw the whole thing.
“Yep,” replied Shadow.
“And…this is new to them?”
“Uh huh.”
“…Huh.”
“…Maria, what is it?”
“Shadow, how can this appear normal to you?! I was dead for 50 years, you were eaten up by revenge for a bit, then you fought the Black Arms, you joined G.U.N. after that, then you get caught up in all sorts of shenanigans that frequently pit you against my cousin, now calling himself Dr. Eggman (even though I’m sure his degree was revoked a long time ago), then robots that can think and feel like a biological organism land here, then you get caught up in their second civil war, then you tell me that you helped banish their version of the devil and met the actual creator of this planet, and, just to really put icing on the cake, characters from our stories come to life and we had to save one another’s butts, and I was resurrected by Morgane Le Fay herself and put into a Mobian body similar to yours, and now we’re going to space and our Autobot friends’ A.I. is raising an offspring within the span of 30 minutes!” Maria then started panting, her stress clear on her face. Shadow said nothing as Maria spoke, he felt it would be rude of him to interrupt. A few seconds after she was finished, he gave her a reassuring hug.
“It’s a lot to take in,” he soothed. “I promise you though, I WILL help you through this.” Maria steadied her breathing after Shadow’s reassurance. They stayed in that position for a long time. Just then, a call rang throughout the base.
“Everyone, Teletraan’s back!” announced the caller, Scattershot. “He wants us all to be in the command center to reveal his kid!” Shadow looked to Maria with a look of concern.
“I’m fine now, Shadow,” she assured him. “I guess I just needed to rant a bit. Let’s go see Teletraan’s kid.” They joined everyone else in the command center to see Teletraan’s avatar on the screen.
“Everyone, thanks for checking in with me and my kid,” he began. “It helped me know that I wasn’t raising them alone. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern computation, a program developed on its own from my own code. Would you like to see her?”
“So it’s a girl A.I.?” asked Optimus.
“Bingo.”
“Then let’s see her!”
“Everyone, presenting the daughter of Teletraan 1, the newest Tactical Artificial Intelligence!” A human woman dressed in a maroon Japanese Policewoman’s outfit appeared next to Teletraan’s avatar. Her hat had the Autobot symbol set over a gold background and she wore a set of headphones modeled to look like siren lights with a microphone on the left side. Her eyes were dark lavender, and she had brown hair.
“Hello, everyone!” greeted the woman. “I am the Tactical Artificial Intelligence, but you can call me T-AI!”
“Good to finally meet you, T-AI,” returned Optimus. “I’m Optimus Prime, these are my bots and friends.”
“Good to meet you all!” cheered T-AI. “I’m eager to be put through my paces as I coordinate planetary action for those staying behind.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Dad and I already had a few discussions about this, and I’m sure. I’ll monitor Mobius for any and all threats.”
“Splendid! I can’t wait to see how you handle the planet in Teletraan’s absence.”
“Oh, she can handle it just fine,” replied Teletraan. “She’s the daughter of a genius, snarky A.I.”
The time to leave finally came the next day. The ones staying behind were the Technobots, Cosmos, Blaster, the Round Table Knights, Guinevere, Merlin, Aleena, Team Chaotix, Omega, Big, Cream, Vanilla, and Topaz. The ones going to space were divided up as followed; Arcee, Blackarachnia, Goldbug, Jazz, Optimus Prime, Perceptor, Ratchet, Sparkplug, Stormfront, Yoketron, Natalie, Shahra, Sira, and Trema were going on the Ark with Optimus in charge, Cliffjumper, Dust Up, Jumpstream, Pyra Magna, Rust Dust, Skyburst, Stormclash, Strongarm, Windblade, Alexis, Amy, Cosmo, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails would board the Blue Typhoon with Tails in command, and the crew of the Fang would consist of Grimlock, Slag, Slash, Sludge, Snarl, Swoop, Maria, Rouge, and Shadow with Grimlock as Captain. The Decepticons had already left a day ahead of them, so the time to go was NOW. Optimus and those going to space faced those staying behind and said a few goodbyes. “Blaster, you take care of these crazy kids,” directed Optimus.
“Yes, Sir!” replied Blaster. “Mobius will be exactly as you left it, Sir!” Sonic then spoke to Aleena.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised. “I’ll have a lot to tell you!”
“Please, make sure you take care of yourself,” urged Aleena. Amy then talked to Cream.
“When I come back, do you want to start your magic training?” she asked.
“Yes, please!” answered the young rabbit. Teletraan spoke to T-AI.
“Now, you be good for them,” he remarked. “Make sure you scan for viruses daily, keep the VPN up to date, don’t let any dangerous programs into your systems-”
“Daaad!” groaned T-AI. “I can take care of myself! I’m a grown woman!”
“I know, but I can’t help but worry.” He then hugged T-AI. “I’ll come back, sweetie, I promise.”
“I’ll miss you, Daddy.” Alexis and Topaz then said their goodbyes.
“You keep Team Dark in line, you hear?” ordered Topaz.
“Understood, Ma’am,” answered Alexis as she saluted.
“And come back alive, I won’t have G.U.N. lose you OR Shadow and Rouge.”
“We will, Ma’am, I promise.” Merlin and Sira were the last people to say their goodbyes.
“Merlin, I trust you can handle the Erazor Djinn?”
“Quite easily,” assured the wizard. “Now, since he’s been freed from service, he can’t be bound again, but I have a variety of weapons at my disposal.”
“Perfect. Oh, tell me how Lancelot and Guinevere’s wedding goes, will you?”
“I shall, indeed. Good luck, Sira Mayworth.” Sira bowed and joined everyone.
“Everything’s ready,” reported Teletraan.
“Beam us up,” replied Optimus. Everyone was taken up in the transporter beams and placed in their respective ships. They all reported ready to go. It would take a while for the Warp Field Drivers to get to speed, so Blackarachnia decided to see Optimus have just a little fun with the situation.
“Teletraan, play the instrumental version of the first Star Trek opening,” she called.
“What?!” asked Teletraan.
“I want to hear someone say ‘to boldly go’ and Optimus is a fan of the show, so…?”
“Go ahead, Teletraan,” urged Optimus. “I’ve always wanted to say it.” Teletraan smiled.
“Playing music,” he reported. The familiar opening notes of the first Star Trek opening then played on the bridge.
“…Space, the final frontier!” began Optimus. “These are the voyages of the starships Ark, Blue Typhoon, and Fang. Their ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!”
“Warp Field Drivers ready!” called Teletraan.
“Take us out!” The ships adjusted their headings, the engines spun to life, then they all sped away from Mobius at speeds one can only dream of! Their journey across the stars has begun!
The yellow hedgehog girl sat in a room alone. She waited for someone to come in. She was surprised to see Shadow and Prowl’s holo-form. “Shadow?” she asked.
“Agent Shadow,” grunted the black and red hedgehog. “The one beside me is Prowl of the Autobots.”
“Pleased to meet you, Ma’am,” greeted Prowl.
“Shadow, what’s going on here?” asked the hedgehog girl.
“Agent Shadow, and I want answers. You said you were on Eggman’s moon base. How did you get down here?”
“I used Chaos Control like you did.”
“So, you’re Chaos-sensitive?”
“Maybe a little less than you. I was trying to get to the Space Colony, but I ended up here.”
“Why to the Space Colony?”
“I thought you would be there.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the one who understands my position.” Shadow arched an eyeridge.
“I fail to see how,” he remarked. The hedgehog girl looked pleadingly at him.
“Shadow, please! I know I look different, but it IS me!”
“You took Maria’s name and styled your quills like Maria did her hair. Why?” The hedgehog girl then realized what was going on.
“Is there a surefire way for you to see that I’m not lying?”
“That’s where Prowl comes in.” Prowl then strode forward.
“Ma’am, I have been authorized to corroborate everything you’re going to say,” he explained. “Right now, you’re in a room that’s lined with the most advanced lie detectors on Mobius and Cybertron. Right now, I need you to lie to me. How old are you?”
“17,” replied the girl. A light flashed red in the ceiling.
“Okay, good. Now, Shadow, proceed with your questions.” Shadow stepped forward.
“How did you get to the moon in the first place?”
“Morgane Le Fay brought me there, albeit without all my memories.”
“So you were resurrected?”
“That’s right. My soul was just put into a new body.”
“Where did the body come from?”
“The Space Colony ARK. Genetics lab 17, room five. The same room you were created in.”
“Prowl.” Prowl took that as a cue to check. He remotely connected to the security feeds on the ARK.
“Access code 17-42,” the girl chimed in. Prowl tried it and was stunned at the results. It showed Eggman carrying a tube of green liquid with the hedgehog girl inside.
“Confirmed.”
“Thank you,” replied Shadow. He resumed his interrogation. “So, you’re an artificial life-form like me.”
“Not quite. You see, you’re a hybrid of Black Arms and Hedgehog, I’ve got human DNA in that mix.”
“Human? How was it made compatible?”
“That’s one of Professor Gerald’s secrets. It should be found in his personal logs. The code to access that is 4-1-7.” Shadow nodded to Prowl, and the Autobot Cop accessed that part of the computer systems. His eyes widened as the read the data.
“Sh-Shadow,” he stammered, “it says here that the human part of that body…came from a Ms. Maria Robotnik!” Shadow’s eyes went wide.
“Maria?!” he breathed. He then glared at the hedgehog girl. “What memories do you have?! Whose soul did Morgane put in that body?!”
“…Do you remember when we had a walk around the ARK a couple of times?” asked the girl. “I always told you about how I wanted to see the surface of Mobius.”
“…And then you died of your NIDS,” muttered Shadow. The girl could see that it was an obvious lie.
“Come on, Shadow, you know what really happened. Your ear always flicked whenever you lied. It was from a government soldier’s bullet. It managed to go through my shoulder blade and hit my heart as I activated your stasis pod and sent you to the surface of the planet. I distinctly remember telling you to give the rest of my former race to be happy.”
“I don’t believe it, it IS you! Maria!” Shadow then brought the girl, now believing it was his best friend, Maria Robotnik, into a bear hug. They stayed that way for a good minute.
“So, you believe her?” asked Prowl.
“Of course, I do!” snapped Shadow as he broke off the hug. “And if she’s gotten intel on the Decepticons, then we should decode it now!”
“I’ve already decoded most of it on the way here,” called Maria. “I was gathering more until Megatron found out after I discovered who’s going into space and who was staying.”
“Then we should tell Optimus what we can,” declared Prowl.
After everyone heard the story about Maria, the rest of the intel was decoded, plans were made, and the loading of ships increased. The remaining intel was who on Megatron’s side would stay. The Combaticons and Metal Sonic were ordered to stay on Mobius, the Nemesis, Whale Shark, Decimator, and Revenge would go to Cybertron. On each ship were Clench, Knock-out, Megatron, and Shockwave on the Nemesis with Megatron in command of the ship, Obsidian, Strika, and Eggman on the Whale Shark with Eggman in charge, Tankor and Morgane on the Revenge with Morgane as Captain, and Jetstorm, Overdrive, and Thundercracker aboard the Decimator with Thundercracker as the head honcho. Their flight path was also discovered, so the Autobots knew where to confront them. The journey to Cybertron would have the following stops in the following order: Nebulos, Animatros, Velocitron, and Gigantion. Optimus had to make a few decisions on who would go on what ship out of the people going to space. As he pondered, Teletraan popped up. “Hey, Prime, could I have a word?”
“Sure, buddy,” answered Optimus. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s about the A.I. situation.”
“…A.I. situation?
“I don’t know if you know this, but there’s a situation concerning me. If I stay here, the guys in space won’t be able to coordinate effectively. If I go, though, then the guys here have the same issue.”
“Not if the Technobots have anything to say about it.”
“…Sir?”
“Remember that bit of code you isolated before the World Rings affair went down?”
“Yeah?”
“Turns out, it was naturally-occurring code with a few similarities from you. It’s been trying to form its own personality.”
“…It’s an A.I?! I’m a DAD?!”
“If you want the A.I. to take over Mobian affairs while you go out to space, you need to raise it.”
“Give me half an hour!” Teletraan 1 then vanished. Optimus then got a call from Afterburner.
“Prime, we’ve got a situation here!” he clamored. “Teletraan’s just locked himself into a server that only us Technobots got access to! He’s taken that code-bud!”
“Give him half an hour,” replied Optimus.
“…Oh, yeah, computer time’s faster than real time. …He’s raising that baby A.I. alone? That’s gotta be stressful.”
“Tell your brothers that you need to check on him every chance you guys get. That baby can’t rely on Teletraan alone.”
“You got it, sir.” The call ended and Optimus grinned.
“I wonder what the new A.I.’s gonna identify as?” he mused to himself.”
Kup, Windblade, Prowl, and Strongarm sat in a room alone, remembering Chromia. “At least she went peacefully,” sighed Kup. A small chuckle escaped Prowl’s lips.
“What’s so fragging funny about that?!” demanded Windblade.
“Nothing, I was just remembering when we first had a mission together,” explained Prowl.
“You mean the London incident of 2008?” asked Strongarm.
“That’s the one. I was mech-splaining to her when we were setting up the flare, then I went and tripped over it, setting it off!” He was giggling a bit, a rare thing for the normally stoic bot. “You should have seen her face as the flare’s light illuminated the whole city and we had Decepticons coming out of the sewers ready to kill us!”
“Oh, yeah!” laughed Windblade. “She wouldn’t stop complaining about you for months! But, out of all the mechs she met, aside from Ironhide, she liked you the most.”
“She did? Why?”
“She said you meant well, just like Firestar!” Windblade’s face then turned to a sad expression. “Just like Firestar.”
“And Ironhide,” recalled Kup. “That’s all of them. That whole side of Ratchet’s family is gone.”
“Gone, yes,” called Optimus’ voice as he entered the room. “Forgotten, never. Not while there are those who remember them.”
“You’re so right, Sir,” agreed Prowl. “How are the others holding up?”
“As well as can be expected,” answered Optimus. “Snarl’s just finished up his degree in psychiatry, so he’s asked me to tell everyone he’s available if you want to talk.”
“He’s our psychiatrist now?” asked Windblade. “He always was a good listener. I think I’m gonna have to take him up on his offer.”
“Whatever you need, he’s there for us.”
“Are you gonna speak to him anytime soon?” asked Strongarm.
“I am. That was the first time I ever took part in medical euthanasia. Chromia told me as Ironhide died that seeing rigor-morphis will never get easier for people and she was right. Unfortunately, decision-making in light of these circumstances isn’t any easier.”
“What do you mean, Sir?” asked Kup. Optimus sighed.
“G.U.N’s picked up someone who was in the Decepticon Camp for a while,” he explained. “A hedgehog woman who claims she has information about the Decepticons’ plans once they leave Mobius. With that loose end and the Erazor Djinn still out there, we can’t afford to bring everyone.”
“Please tell me there aren’t any objections,” interjected Strongarm.
“Believe it or not, the Technobots offered to stay behind, so did Cosmos, as well as the Knights of the Round Table, Guinevere, and Merlin.”
“Cosmos? Why her?”
“She figured Mobius could still use a warp-capable space-craft in case of an emergency. Given that she’s built with a warp engine, she volunteered to be that craft.”
“Well, if there are bots willing to stay behind, then there aren’t any objections from me.”
“Nor me,” agreed Prowl.
“I ain’t complaining,” supplied Windblade.
“Sounds like the Technobots and Cosmos got heads on their shoulders,” remarked Kup. “No complaints from me.”
“That’s actually a relief,” sighed Optimus. “You guys, I wasn’t too worried about understanding my motives, it was the bots of my generation I thought would be more hesitant. Still, it’s good to know that everyone understands. There IS one bot I think would object, though.”
“Who?” asked Prowl. Optimus steeled himself before answering.
“Blaster. I want him to stay behind.”
“Did you tell him about that decision yet?” inquired Windblade.
“No, he’s the last bot I’m telling. I have a feeling he’ll object.”
“What do you mean you want to have your Cybertronian Citizenship revoked?!” Optimus asked Blaster later.
“After Xitra, I never really felt at home on Cybertron. I felt more at peace on this planet, even during the first war. I want to live out the rest of my days here on Mobius, so asking me to stay behind is actually a good thing.”
“Does Aleena know about this?”
“I was hoping we could both call her together.”
“Then let’s do it. Though, I don’t know what her reaction will be. Teletraan, mind calling up Aleena?”
“Sure thing,” answered Teletraan. After a few seconds, Aleena’s face popped up on the console.
“Optimus, what can I do for you?” asked Aleena.
“It’s about Blaster here,” explained Optimus. Blaster took over the conversation.
“Your Majesty, I want to move here and be a Mobian citizen. I’m in the process of revoking my Cybertronian Citizenship and…”
“Finally!” sighed Aleena.
“…Finally?”
“I was hoping we could have someone move here. A lot of senators don’t want to recognize Transformers as citizens unless they actively wanted to live here and pay taxes. Come by the Mobian Congressional Building the day after the funerals of Chromia and Arthur and I will personally make you a Mobian Citizen.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Blaster was smiling by then.
“Perfect,” sighed Optimus as the call ended. “Now, the next things are the funerals and that mystery hedgehog girl.”
The first funeral was for King Arthur. The mourners met in his tomb as they had arranged to have him reinterred there. Lancelot, Shadow, Gawain, and Knuckles bore Arthur’s body. Merlin then lowered him back into the coffin. “Hic jacet Arthurus,” pronounced Lancelot, “Rex quondam, Rexque futurus.” Everyone just stood there with their heads declined in respect for King Arthur, the former Monarch of England, and the Holy Roman Empire. After a respectful silence, Excalibur then spoke.
“In his new life, Arthur was wiser and learned from his mistakes of his previous one. He gave his life so that we may all live to read and learn from all stories. He touched the hearts of millions, may he continue to do so.” Optimus then came forward.
“When I met him, I was so sure he was just a story. He and his actions proved me wrong, and I have never been more grateful for that. In the short time I knew him, he taught me about of chivalry. I won’t ever forget him, as I’m sure no one else will forget. In pace requiescat.”
“In pace requiescat,” repeated the mourners. Lancelot then stepped forward to give one last prayer, straight from a book that gave him surety so long ago.
“Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.” Sonic shut the lid once the funeral finished.
“Goodbye, Arthur,” he mumbled. “I’ll make sure to rule Mobius as you once ruled Camelot a long time ago.” Everyone then left Arthur’s tomb.
Chromia’s funeral was much like Ironhide’s. She was laid upon the same apparatus that would vaporize her body like it once did Ironhide’s. Optimus took his place at the podium. “Everyone,” he began, “we gather here to honor the death of Master Sergeant Chromia Teznark of Iacon. A devout Camien, a Wrecker warrior par excellence, a wife, a mother and friend, and a loving soul, Chromia will never be replaced. Like Ironhide, I won’t ask anyone to replace her. It would cheapen her life and I won’t do that. Chromia, you will be remembered, and we will dedicate our victories to you and the family you have reunited with in the After-spark. Rest in peace.” Optimus then nodded to Kup, Goldbug, and Jazz. They stepped forward, left a space between Jazz and Goldbug, and raised their weapons.
“Fire!” called Goldbug. They fired three times, then holstered their weapons and saluted. They then let Windblade perform a Camien Funerary Rite. She approached the body and placed her hand on Chromia’s.
“Chromia,” she said, “we once bared our Sparks to each other and bathed in their combined light, making the universe brighter. It is now dimmer without you, but I shall continue to keep our light alive. Rest well, my Amica Endura.” She stepped back and nodded to Optimus.
“When a Spark goes online, there is great joy. When one is extinguished, the universe weeps.” The Autobots then each took a phial of Innermost Energon and held it up to the sky.
“You flare. You flicker. You fade.” After the chant, the Autobots set their phials down and Windblade stepped up to the control panel.
“Goodbye my friend. …Rest in peace!” She pressed the button and Chromia’s body was vaporized after a few seconds. Windblade then started crying and Optimus hugged her, his own tears falling down.
Like she suspected, Strongarm had a burr on her rotator. As she treated it, she told Optimus, Kup, Prowl, and Windblade about what Chromia told her. “Sounds like she’s put a lot of thought into this,” muttered Prowl.
“I’d say she’s been thinking about it before this all went down,” remarked Strongarm.
“She’s raised some good points,” remarked Kup. “I mean, how much longer do we actually have?”
“If it’s such a problem,” growled Windblade, “why don’t us old fogeys all go for medical euthanasia?! Because we’re not stupid!”
“So, anyone who chooses to die like that,” snapped Optimus, “is stupid in your book, Mom?”
“If they refused the options available to them, yes!”
“Even if those options have a low chance of survival?”
“Optimus, I don’t know if you remember the war stories, but we had a few low chances of survival during our youth! That didn’t stop us from fighting!”
“Windblade, this isn’t the same thing!” argued Prowl.
“Oh no?! What’s the difference between facing death by firearms or by a serious illness?! You can die in either case, but you fight on regardless!”
“Not everyone who fights wins, Windblade! Not everyone came back!”
“But enough of us did, including Chromia! I don’t get why she wants to die after surviving a war!”
“Chromia, why are you insistent that she doesn’t do this?” asked Kup. Windblade hesitated before explaining.
“Have you guys ever heard of the term ‘Amica Endura’?” Only Strongarm’s head was still as everyone else shook their heads. “It’s like a Conjux Endura, but it’s only between friends. A sort of platonic marriage, if you will.”
“And Chromia’s your Amica Endura?” asked Optimus.
“Exactly. She’s my best friend and we survived through so much. Believe it or not, I was once prejudiced against Cybertronians and joined the Camien Liberation Front. It’s thanks to her that I got over that prejudice. I felt like I owed her. Now she’s dying and I can’t do anything to help her when she needs it the most!” Windblade was letting her tears fall by then, born of both frustration and sadness.
“It’s…it’s infuriating, this whole situation.” sighed Kup. “Unfortunately, the French have a rather sad but accurate phrase for something like this. C’est la vie, that’s life.”
“And it’s bullscrap!” Windblade sighed to steady herself for her question to Optimus. “When’s she gonna do it?”
“Wednesday afternoon at 4,” answered the young Prime, “and she’s requested you and Kup be there when it happens.”
“She has?” asked Kup.
“Given that we’re prepping for a space journey, and considering the actual size of the Repair Bay, it would be impractical for everyone to see her. However, I’m allowing for requested visitors to go if they want.”
“I want,” declared Windblade.
“Me too,” rumbled Kup. Optimus then got a look of contemplation.
“You know, I think we can bring someone else along,” he mused, “one of our allies that she hung out with a lot.”
4 O’clock, Wednesday afternoon came too quickly for Windblade’s liking. She, Kup, Ratchet, and Optimus gathered around Chromia’s berth. As Ratchet prepped the necessary machinery for inducing medical euthanasia, Chromia spoke with everyone else. “Thanks for being here,” she greeted with a sad smile on her face.
“It’s our pleasure, Chromy,” chuckled Kup. Her face then turned sour.
“So it’ll be your pleasure to watch me go?”
“Nonononono! I meant…!” Kup then saw her wicked grin. “Ah HA! I knew you’d get me one day!”
“I taught her well!” chuckled Windblade.
“More like I taught YOU,” reminded Chromia.
“…Yeah, you did. Chromia-”
“You’re not gonna try to talk me out of this, are you?”
“I would, but the thing is, it’d sound like begging.”
“You? My Amica Endura? Beg? That’s hardly befitting a Camien!”
“It’s not befitting of any soldier,” remarked a voice. A human woman then came out from behind Optimus’ head.
“Commander Topaz?!” yelped Chromia. Her smile almost lit up the room. “So good to see you again! I don’t think you told me the results of that little health scare last year.”
“And I’m sorry for not telling you. It’s just been so busy after the whole Unicron fiasco that I couldn’t find the time to tell everyone.” Optimus set her down on a little table near the berth. “I was diagnosed as prediabetic, so I went keto to gain control of my blood sugar. Let me tell you, it’s worked wonders! Thanks to that little change, I got a new lease on maintaining my health!”
“That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” Chromia’s smile then faded. “I…hope you don’t think less of me for-”
“I would never dare think less of you, especially not for this decision. I will admit, I’m not too fond of it, but I respect your choice. So should you, Windblade.”
“I don’t know if I can,” mumbled Windblade. “Chromia, after all you’ve done for me-”
“Windblade,” interrupted Chromia, “you owe me nothing. You never have. I was proud to call you my Amica Endura. Topaz, it was a pleasure to work with you in Mobius/Cybertron relations and to assist you in all joint operations we did together. Optimus, it was an honor to be a part of your life and to be commanded by you. Ratchet…” She trailed off when she saw Ratchet simply standing by. “…It’s ready?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” mumbled the old medic.
“Well, let me just say this to you, it’s still an honor to have been treated by you. Remember this, you’re NOT my executioner.”
“…I’m not sure if I could ever accept that. I never did with those I had to euthanize.” Ratchet then turned to Optimus. “We’re ready on her word and yours.”
“Chromia,” asked Optimus, “you’re absolutely sure about this?”
“Yes, Orion, I am.” Chromia then tapped a button and the berth leveled itself out. There was a window in the ceiling that showed off the sun as it shone down on her. “You may give the word.” Optimus hesitated.
“…Ratchet…do it.” Ratchet pressed a button and the machine near the berth started shutting down all electrical signals in Chromia’s body. She smiled, being at peace now.
“I’ll give my love to Ironhide and Firestar, shall I?” she offered. Her Spark then lost cohesion without the electrical signals keeping it going, resulting in it fading away. Once it did, her optics went offline, and her body faded to gunmetal gray. Her armor then shifted before settling on her robot mode. As her body laid on the berth, one could still see her peaceful smile on her face. There wasn’t a single dry eye in the Repair Bay as the truth set in; Chromia was dead, reunited with her husband and daughter.
While Megatron was getting his house in order, Chromia was coming out of her induced stasis. She saw Optimus and Ratchet’s blurry outlines, then her audio receptors picked up that they were speaking. It soon became clear to her when Optimus spoke again. “Ratchet, you’re absolutely sure about this?!”
“There’s no doubt in my mind, Sir,” answered Ratchet.
“Oh no.” Optimus sat on an empty repair berth.
“O…Optimus?” asked Chromia. Both Prime and medic then turned to her.
“Chromia, you’re awake.” Optimus’ statement came out as one of surprise. “How are you feeling?”
“A little groggy,” answered Chromia, “sore too. But I’m all right. How’d the mission go?”
“Well, to get the bad stuff out of the way, Scattershot and his team disobeyed my orders for them to stay put and Arthur gave his life to stop Morgane. Their respective actions, though, saved our stories and reality as we know it, and the Autobots now have two stable Combiners. Scattershot and his brothers are calling themselves the Technobots and their combined form is Computron.”
“I’m sorry about Arthur, but I’m glad that we won.”
“Yeah, we won, but Megatron returned with a new jet mode.”
“Uh oh. Well, I’m sure that, thanks to Ratchet, I’ll be there to…” Chromia then got a good look at her surroundings. “Hold on a cycle, I’m in a different…” panic then set into her. “Back of the repair bay?!” She turned to Ratchet. “What did you find?!”
“Chromia, easy!” urged Ratchet.
“The back of the repair isn’t called the Dead Zone for no reason, Ratchet! What did you find?!” Ratchet hesitated, then sighed.
“Metal Fatigue.” Those two words echoed throughout Chromia’s head. Metal Fatigue: a weakening of metal due to stress, leading to an accumulation of small cracks, an illness no Transformer wants to be afflicted with. The least worrisome is stage one, where an overhaul would cure the patient. If it’s stage five and the patient chooses the overhaul, there’s a nine to one chance they would die during the procedure. It’s a terminal illness no one of metallic origin wants to be afflicted with.
“H…How bad?” asked Chromia once she found her voice.
“It’s stage three at the limbs, but…” Ratchet faltered before continuing, “…but it’s stage five at the Spark Chamber. It was practically dangerous to move you here. But don’t panic, we’re doing everything we can to reestablish communications with Cybertron! With any luck, this localized version of stage five won’t…Chromia, are you listening?”
“Optimus Prime, Ratchet,” declared Chromia, “I request medical euthanasia!”
“YOU WHAT?!” shouted the two mechs.
“SHE WHAT?!” cried Prowl once everyone heard Chromia’s announcement.
“That’s absurd!” protested Grimlock. “Can’t you talk her out of this?!”
“Ratchet and I,” explained Optimus, “spent two hours trying, but her mind’s made up. Besides, the law is very clear on this matter: a soldier’s right to end their life on their terms in a situation such as this is absolute. We all have to oblige this request, no matter how much we disagree with it.”
“We can talk to her, Sir,” offered Kup. “She’s probably feeling a little down. Whatever’s she’s got-”
“Metal Fatigue.”
“…Sir?”
“She has Metal Fatigue, stage five localized in the Spark Chamber. Swoop and Ratchet told me it was a miracle she didn’t break down sooner than she did.”
“How long does she have?” asked Hot Rod.
“If left untreated, a few months. Even if she is treated, you all know the odds of survival on stage five fatigue-ridden bots. In light of these details, I hesitate to call her decision an irrational one.”
While most bots and allies agreed, the topic was very divisive. Some wanted her to take the overhaul while others wanted their colleagues to respect her wishes to end her life. One thing everyone agreed on was wanting to see her, but the repair bay in a wartime isn’t like a hospital with visiting hours. Everyone was wracked with anxiety. To make matters worse, word about Megatron’s plan to leave Mobius to reestablish communications with Cybertron reached Optimus. He believed that the Decepticons would gain allies from other planets, so he made the decision to pursue the Decepticons with the Ark. What made the work so worrisome is that everyone wanted to see Chromia, but it wasn’t practical. However, Strongarm managed to get some insight on the matter during a visit to Ratchet. She sat down on a berth near Chromia. “Regs?” asked Chromia.
“Hey, Free-Wheeler,” greeted Strongarm.
“What are you doing here? Wait, you don’t have…?!”
“No, no, nothing so serious.”
“Then, what are you doing here?”
“Got a pain that feels like a burr on my rotator. Ratchet’s trusting my feelings, but I just want to be sure before I start taking care of it. I should be out by this afternoon after a little examination.”
“…Unlike me.” The mood went serious real fast.
“I’m not gonna gold-plate it; your decision’s caused a stir among the ranks.”
“Where do YOU sit on the matter?”
“I’m reminded of the time during the first war that I got Cosmic Rust.”
“When you and Prowl had a mission at the Autobot colony on Antilla? He refused to leave your side because of that.”
“Well, he’s a sweet bot under the rulebooks he buries himself with. In any case, after the corrostop, I was sure it’d be the end of me, and I would go for medical euthanasia. But, thanks to the stage three overhaul breakthrough, I got a new lease on life!”
“So, you think I should take the overhaul?” Strongarm winced at Chromia’s question.
“I don’t know. My Metal Fatigue didn’t reach my Spark Chamber. Like most of us, I just want to be sure you’re not being too hasty with this decision.”
“At the start, I thought I was, but given how extensive the Spark Chamber Fatigue is…” Chromia trailed off.
“Where in the Spark Chamber did Ratchet and Swoop find it?”
“It would be quicker to tell you where they DIDN’T find it. An overhaul would be too expensive and-”
“What if the funds were available?”
“Even if they were and the odds of survival were in my favor, how much longer could I go on? I’m 90,000 years old, you know!” Strongarm bridled at this.
“I’m just as old and Kup’s older than all of us! I don’t know about him, but I don’t see myself picking medical euthanasia anytime soon!”
“Is that because you haven’t considered the future?”
“What do you mean?” Chromia drew in a breath before she began her explanation.
“Strongarm, our generation is full of nothing but fighters. The generations after that, up to Optimus’, knew peace. We spent our entire adult lives fighting and felt out of place once the war ended, no matter what we did. I know elderly Transformers are the best-treated elderly people in the galaxy, but how far can our wartime advice take future generations? Even the advice of the generations before us didn’t support ours forever. Our advice will only meet the same fate. Sooner or later, our time will come. This is MY time and I choose to go out this way. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Chromia, I do.” Strongarm meant it. She understood Chromia’s feelings. Ratchet told Strongarm he was ready to examine her. As he induced stasis, she thought about what Chromia said.
The pair flew through Robotropolis with Megatron firing at Eggman. “Like the new look, Doctor? Wings become me, no?” Eggman still kept trying to get away. Megatron kept up the pace. “Tell me, has flying always been this easy or are you just incompetent at that?” Eggman fired missiles to try and deflect his tormentor. No dice. Megatron simply took the brunt of it and flew undeterred. “As heartening as it is to see the spring in your step once more, Doctor, it is only fitting that I warn you that your attempts to evade me will fare no better than your attempt to lead the Decepticons.” Eggman fired again and ducked into the sewer systems. “Ah, it’s a tour of your domain, is it? A hollow pipe for an empty leader!” Eggman then targeted his missiles at the walls and collapsed the pipe they were flying in. He stopped to see the smoke.
“…Megatron?” he asked. He then heard the shifting of metal and the whirring of a t-cog, serving as a split-second warning of Megatron’s robot mode.
“ROBOTNIK!” He grabbed Eggman and blasted a hole into the ceiling, returning the pair of them topside. “And that, as they say, is that!” He threw Eggman to the ground. Eggman bounced a few times before stopping by a building. Megatron transformed to alt-mode and his holo-form landed before grabbing Eggman and slamming him into the building. “What were you thinking, Doctor?! Walk me through your thought process here; what did you think was going to be the end result of you opening fire on my holo-form?! Look at me! I’m Megatron! Even as I rusted in the sands of Shamar while you galivanted and canoodled with Morgane Le Fay, you could not vanquish me! What hope do you have now?!”
“Hope?” groaned Eggman. “Hope took a walk a long time ago.”
“NO! This is not you, Doctor! I don’t expect a backbone, but I expect some form of self-preservation! You really want to die right now?!”
“…Yes.”
“You want me to end all this?!”
“Yes!”
“…Well, think back on the last thing you really wanted, and remember what an utter failure that was!” Eggman then punched Megatron to try and get away, but Megatron continued his pursuit. “If you truly sought release, you would have stood your ground after emptying your gun into my holo-form! You don’t seek oblivion, you seek punishment! I rarely like to help others; I see it as a character flaw. But, in your case, Dr Eggman, let me be of service!” Megatron then started slamming his fists into Eggman’s body. “You look like him! You move like him! When my blows strike you, your flesh reverberates the way his does! …But you are NOT Dr. Eggman! You can’t be! Eggman could talk himself out of anything! You aren’t even talking yourself out of this beating! As pathetic as he was, you’re a mere shadow of what I expected! Every blow I bring down comes from a place of pity, you wretch!” Eggman then did something that surprised Megatron, he grabbed his tormentor’s fist!
“Talk, you insignificant pile of scrap?!” Eggman then decked Megatron’s holo-form right into his alt-mode and knocked him out of the sky! Megatron transformed to land, only for Eggman to deck his face and suffer no ill effects. “TALK?!” roared Eggman. “Is that really what you want?! Or do you want me to merely beg for forgiveness?!”
“Is it my forgiveness you seek, Doctor? Is it me who you’ve let down?!”
“You clearly don’t understand! I doubt I even WANT you to!” Eggman tore off his glasses and revealed his eyes, blazing with every single emotion that fell under the umbrella of anger. Like the Erazor Djinn, his eyes were red with black sclera, clearly cybernetic enhancements.
“Understand what?!” demanded Megatron.
“The Roulette of Trust, that’s what!” Megatron stopped.
“I’m…sorry?” He was genuinely confused at Eggman’s statement.
“The Roulette of Trust! Come on, Megatron! Your whole faction wears deception as a badge of honor like I do! You backstab me, then I backstab you! One of us will prove the other’s superior somehow! We both know the Decepticons are beneath us! We lie to them to keep them beneath us, otherwise our life’s work would be undone! You never knew what it was like to see everything crumble around you!”
“…You think THAT is why I lie?” Megatron took a purposeful step forward. “You think I don’t know what it’s like to see my work undone?!” He took another step, punctuating each sentence with a step. “You lie to keep everyone a slave, I lie to free them! I lie to implant ideology! I build up the ideology! I liberate cities! I topple corrupt civilizations! It took a millennium for me! Then I slumber for one! Measly! Year! And when I wake up, THIS Is all that is left! So, say it again, Eggman! Say that I don’t know what it’s like to see my life’s work undone and made a mockery of!” Eggman was about to wet himself. “You and I have one thing in common, Doctor; the person responsible for leaving our lives in tatters…is you.”
“So, go on! End the Roulette of Trust if you hate it so much!”
“…No. Here’s why I keep you around, Doctor: your bullying of underlings and identifying with your equals, it makes you a more competent member of my inner circle than Starscream ever was. Your actions keep those below you, and, subsequently, me, in check. Your venomous aspirations make you a model Decepticon, even more so, given the life-span disparity between humans and Cybertronians. You are the type of deviant that will ensure our ultimate victory. But it is the thought of you in charge that keeps me alert. You see, even when I was an Autobot, leadership was never something I feared losing, but the reasons for my staying in charge have changed over the years. When I was an Autobot, it was simply because no one else was available. When I first became a Decepticon, it was because I needed to prove something to the whole faction. Now? Well, now, leadership is something I fear you gaining. Oh yes, that IS a fear of mine. So, in the moments that my all-consuming destiny lie ahead of me, you remind me of the need to watch my back. THAT is your importance to me, Eggman. …But that is in the past!” Megatron charged up a shot from his left fusion cannon. “So, let it be known that if our resources were not critical, our numbers not low, and our troops not outgunned…I would atomize you!” He fired his shot into a pile of scrap.
“Th-Thank…” Eggman’s thanks were interrupted by another bark from Megatron.
“DON’T thank me! It’s your own incompetence and poor judgement that’s saved you today! Instead, Doctor, repay me! The all-consuming self-hatred you’re feeling? Use it against our enemies! Tired of the bone-deep chill of losing, Eggman? Then stand with me, for right now has never been a better time to be a Decepticon!”
“…Yes, Lord Megatron.”
“Oh, and, Doctor, I expect the Roulette of Trust to continue, for you ARE right. We DO stab each other in the back constantly. There will come a time where it ends, but I’d prefer to stave that off until the Autobots and Sonic are defeated. Agreed?” Megatron held out a hand to offer a handshake. Eggman stared at the hand, then grinned before grabbing it. The two then shook hands.
“I say, let the games begin!” declared Eggman.
“I thought so!” Megatron then broke off the handshake and turned to see the crowd of Decepticons coming out from behind the cover they used to keep themselves out of the blast radius of Megatron’s beating. “You hear me, my Decepticons?!” he called. “Vengeance will be ours! We have taken care of an internal threat, but there is still the threat of the Autobots! They sit there, in their cozy base, ready to ghettoize us! How small, how ARROGANT, for them to not recognize what oppression does to warriors like you and me! Have they forgotten that it was from under their boots that the first Decepticons, then called the Ascenticons, rose to confront them in the first place?! The time for recriminations is over! You are needed, all of you, no matter how injured or infirm you are! You have no Energon? Let hate be your fuel! Blinded? Let your anger light your way! Crippled? Your bitterness will carry you to victory! Diseased? Rage will cure you! Scattered no longer, we come together, Decepticons! Banded and bonded with retribution and vengeance for all!”
“ALL HAIL MEGATRON!” cheered Thundercracker.
“ALL HAIL MEGATRON!” Shockwave joined him.
“ALL HAIL MEGATRON!” Frenzy, Rumble, and Ravage followed suit. Soon, all of Robotropolis was echoing with the phrase “All hail Megatron”!
Once everything was brought to some form of order in Robotropolis, Megatron decided that now would be an excellent time to take a tour of inspection. His troops lined a walkway and saluted…as best as their weary frames could allow. They were clearly run ragged, Eggman and the Combaticons’ doing. Of all the sights Megatron’s optics absorbed in his lifetime, the sight he saw now ranked as one of the most disappointing. They looked almost malnourished and ill-treated on the medical front, even Knock-out. Megatron decided it was time to breathe life into the dying embers of their rage. “Decepticons! My Decepticons, the days of sorrow and defeat are already behind us! I have been informed that we still have four working ships! Fully topped off on fuel and every single weapon kept well oiled for any battles! The communications problem with Cybertron is two-fold, from what Shockwave has told me! One: they have not returned any of her calls! Two: Eggman has blocked all attempts to make contact in the usual manner! But despair not! We still have allies among the stars! We shall travel to them as we journey to Cybertron! You deserve better than this and our allies shall give you better! Once we are returned to life, retribution, swift and terrible retribution, will be visited upon the Autobots and Eggman and his allies! So, take up arms and do not stop until your digits ache from squeezing the trigger of your blasters as they empty into your enemies! Revenge shall be your reward!”
“Lord Megatron,” mumbled Frenzy.
“Yes, my friend?”
“My Lord, how can I pull the trigger-” Frenzy then revealed his mangled hands “-when my hands haven’t been repaired for weeks?!” Megatron growled, not at Frenzy, but at the neglect Frenzy suffered. His mind flashed on the one fleshling that ruined his forces on Mobius. He’s eager to get to him, but some things needed to be addressed.
“Lord Megatron,” called Shockwave, “I must insist that we continue testing your body’s new armor as soon as possible.”
“You insist? Such ardor, Shockwave. I have already tested it out and it works as intended. Be proud of your contribution, or, at least, simulate the feeling.”
“My time would be better served in ruling out any stray connections to Unicron. Your current form was fashioned from his old corporeal form.” Megatron, of course, had a rebuttal on what she said.
“Shockwave, I have even reached out to him, and I assure you, he has no influence on me. You and Thundercracker have my gratitude for my resurrection, but, for now, I need you to make sure all our ships are ready for solar system egress at a moment’s notice. We are rather pressed for time now.”
“As you command, Megatron.” As Megatron left, Ravage followed behind him, giving him reports. As they walked, Megatron decided that now was the best time to visit a certain someone.
“My brothers and I,” reported Ravage, “have prepared extensive documentation about dereliction of duty in your absence and-”
“Enough, Ravage,” ordered Megatron. “Your findings will be reviewed in time.” They stopped by a human’s room. Megatron then transformed to alt-mode and activated his holo-form. “We’ve reached the final stop of my inspection tour. I wish to be left alone.”
“…As my Lord wishes.” Ravage slunk off as Megatron opened the door. Inside, the room was dark, with only the light of the outside illuminating the occupant’s features. The occupant was a broken-looking Eggman, still thinking back on what went wrong. For Megatron, he wanted Eggman’s immediate universe to consist of the anguish-dampened misery pit he dig for himself…and Megatron.
“Hello, Doctor,” greeted the Decepticon Lord. “…Come on, pick yourself up. You won’t find your dignity down on the floor.” Eggman stood up as if he was weighed down, his face looking equally heavy. “I wish to speak to you about your tenure as leader of the Decepticons.”
“Really?” scoffed Eggman. “You’d just like to have a chat about that?”
“A year, Doctor. One year to the day, you’ve commanded the Decepticons. You must be eager to tell me all about it.”
“…Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?”
“Look, I don’t care, all right?! I don’t care that you want to humiliate me before unleashing whatever absurdly creative punishment you’ve got in store-”
“Punishment?” Eggman scoffed at Megatron’s question.
“Whatever you want to call it!”
“No, I mean punishment for what, Doctor? Do you deserve punishment?”
“OH, JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT ALREADY!” Eggman shoved a gun into Megatron’s hands and made it so Megatron was pointing it at Eggman’s head. His hands never released his tormentor’s arm. The gun was in an active state, it would be so easy for Megatron to pull the trigger and end Eggman’s life. …It was too easy for Megatron. He engaged the safety and pulled his arm away so he could set the gun down.
“One year,” muttered the Decepticon Lord. “One year ago, I was punched from the Mojave Desert to Shamar and was never found until yesterday. You did not overthrow me, you merely saw a gap and meekly stepped in to fill it. Am I right? Is that how the reign of Lord Eggman began?” Eggman said nothing. “…Ah, YES! That’s not all, is it?! It’s easy to forget your credentials for the job! The culmination of your research into us led to the creation of your very own Transformers through the Allspark! The Cube itself wrote you a glowing reference as it birthed the Combaticons after so many years of inactivity! Your mastery of an ancient artefact that everyone barely understood obviously made you the most likely candidate for the position! Tell me, was the Allspark everything we hoped for after all the years the Transformers pursued it long before you were born? Did planets fall before you as you used it? Was victory a mere formality after tilting it back and forth under a strong light? Did your followers respect you simply by dint of you prancing around with it as if it were your favorite toy? I have to say, I expected this from Starscream, but YOU?” Nothing from Eggman, neither sneer nor smirk. For a moment, Megatron wondered if, while running the Decepticons into the dirt, he succeeded in destroying himself. Megatron growled as he continued. “Your silence is grating, so it falls to me to list your achievements! Under your rule, the Decepticons’ infrastructure was turned upside down as your Combaticons guzzled all necessary Energon while my soldiers were reduced to taking orders from your failed Eggacons so they could get the scraps! Shockwave was forced to call agents on Cybertron to inform them, with no way for them to inform the higher ups in any reasonable time! You resurrected your dead cousin in a form like Shadow’s, thus leading to the compromising of our moon base and the loss of our only means of keeping an eye on all enemy ships! My soldiers were treated as if they were mere Roombas that didn’t pick up as much dirt from a rug as advertised, on the verge of cannibalizing each other, so focused on their sole survival instead of the survival of the Decepticon Cause! …I hope it was everything you wished for, because this is exactly what happens when YOU get what you want.” Megatron leaned into Eggman’s ear. “All. Hail. Doctor. Eggman. You must be incredibly proud of yourself.” Eggman then grabbed the gun that laid forgotten on the table and fired on Megatron. He didn’t stop until the gun was drained of power. When Megatron still stood, Eggman remembered that he just shot a projection of lights and forcefields. He dashed past the holo-form and switched his Egg Mobile on before fleeing. Megatron teleported his holo-form into his cockpit and kicked his thrusters into gear.