Everyone got the coordinates from Shahra and arrived at the site where the World Rings rested. Arthur and his knights and Queen were stunned at the size of them. “By the Lord!” breathed Arthur.
“Pretty big, huh?” chuckled Sonic. Arthur then grabbed them all. “…Huh, I guess you can pick them up like I could.”
“What power do they possess?” asked Arthur. Shahra then came out of the ring and began her explanation.
“They are the very hearts of the Arabian Nights, their very souls. Each one contains the aspect of each emotion the Nights evoke; blue for prayers or hope, purple for sadness, red for rage or anger, green for hatred, yellow for joy or happiness, cyan for pleasure or joy, and white for wishes or desire.”
“They can grant power to anyone…but at a price,” muttered Sonic.
“…That price being…life?” guessed Arthur. “Merlin hath warned me about the World Rings.”
“And Shahra told us about the price already,” confirmed Optimus. He then flinched. “Arthur, YOU’RE the target now that you have the World Rings.”
“Indeed, he is!” laughed a well-known voice. The Decepticons and Eggman’s forces then popped out of the sand!
“…In mine era,” muttered Arthur, “a person with a large waist meant they were rich, but a waist of YOUR size? I must call thee greedy and gluttonous!”
“How droll, my dear half-brother!” snarled Morgane. “I see you’ve returned.”
“And thy cousin, Sira, stands with us, along with her wife!”
“So, Sira and Natalie finally tied the knot, did they? And both are on your side? I must admit, I’m disappointed. I would have made sure your type of love was legal in an instant.”
“Are you kidding?!” snarled Sira as she and Natalie made themselves known. “The only kind of non-straight love you would have allowed was woman on woman. Men would have been treated as second-class citizens as we women once were!”
“Still are, last I checked!”
“Not even close!”
“Morgane Le Fay, end this now or face the consequences!” warned Optimus.
“I won’t be deterred!” snarled Morgane Le Fay as she brought out the lamp and rubbed it. “Erazor Djinn, my final wish! I wish for you to kill Arthur and grant me control of the Seven World Rings!”
“Reneging on the deal, are we?” remarked the Erazor Djinn as he came out. “In any event, I cannot do that in a bound state.”
“…What?!”
“You can’t be serious!” snarled Eggman.
“Come on, now, what did you expect? Mistress Morgane, have you learned nothing about bound genies? We cannot kill anyone, not even a master that abuses us. We cannot warp a person’s emotions for our master’s end. We cannot raise the dead, even if they died before their time. Now, recently, I made a bargain with someone else.” He looked to the sky. Everyone cast their gaze upwards to see a shape flying around.
“…Is…is that the…Decepticon logo?” asked Grimlock.
“A Symbol Ship?” quizzed Optimus.
“Too small, I think,” remarked Grimlock. “Besides, Symbol Ships don’t have wings near the points.” Thundercracker grinned, then he swiped the lamp and rubbed it.
“Erazor Djinn, I have but one wish before I decide!” he announced. “I wish to know if that bot flying overhead has the armor of Unicron’s old body!”
“Wish granted. He does, but it’s tailored to his own ends.”
“Then my second and final wish is this: I wish for you to become master of your own fate and master of your own vessel!”
“NO!” shouted Eggman. Too late. The lamp attached itself to the Erazor Djinn’s belt.
“Dad! They locked out the shock programs!” called Onslaught. “We can’t discipline them!”
“Now, we’re masters of our fate, and we have an ally with us!” cheered Knock-out.
“…About that,” chuckled the Erazor Djinn. He then summoned what looked like a giant straight-edge razor and unfolded the blade from its sheath, revealing that it was a scimitar as tall as himself.
“What?!” hissed Thundercracker.
“Did you really think I would honor any agreement with any soldier of a side that called themselves Deceptive Constructs? You thought me a mere Autobot?”
“That was NOT the bargain!” snarled Thundercracker as he drew his own sword. “You would fulfill Shockwave’s wishes to help us find our Lord, we would free you, and you would join us!”
“Ah, see, not a very good bargain, that one, considering the Decepticon faction’s predilection for enslaving organic races. How about this; my world, and everyone in it as my subjects?”
“About THAT!” rasped a voice…a voice everyone knew. Optimus’ optics went wide as he looked up to see a hedgehog leap out of the flying Decepticon Symbol and land. The hedgehog was dark gray, had a dark red-purple, sleeveless coat, a neon purple-pink, sleeveless shirt, blue-purple pants, dark colored shoes, and fingerless gloves of the same color as the coat with studs on the knuckles. He had a tattoo above his red eyes of angry eyebrows, and he bore a wicked grin. The Erazor Djinn then saw what the Hedgehog meant.
“Why you dog-born lump of scrap!” snarled the Djinn. “Your soldier promised me a deal!”
“And I gave him orders to renege on the deal before you even touched the World Rings!” replied the Hedgehog. He then turned to Optimus. “How fares the war, brother?”
“Megatron!” breathed Optimus in fear.
“M-Megatron!” gulped Eggman. “You’re…you’re all right! Oh, thank heavens! It’s a miracle we could find you at all!”
“Oh, it WILL be a miracle, all right, Doctor,” snarled Megatron, “if you survive what I have planned for you!”
“Wait a minute, why am I afraid?! Combaticons! Take care of these idiots!”
“Combaticons,” called Onslaught, “form Bruticus!” Onslaught turned into the torso as his brothers formed the limbs and they attached as Bruticus’ head popped up.
“Bruticus awakens!” he announced. “Now, Bruticus shall destroy all his enemies!”
“SCATTER!” called Optimus. Everyone ran and fired on Bruticus.
“Torchbearers! Unite into Victorion!” The Rust Renegades formed Victorion, and she grappled Bruticus.
“Bruticus is unimpressed thus far!”
Scattershot’s team got the news about the fight. “Great, we’re benched and they’re risking their lives!” snarled Afterburner.
“They’ll come back,” remarked Ratchet as he entered the room.
“…With too many casualties,” muttered Scattershot as he took the Enigma. Everyone saw this.
“Hey, whoa!” called Strafe. “Optimus said-!”
“I’m aware of what Optimus said,” replied Scattershot, “but, given the circumstances, it’s a stupid-ass decision, so we need to ignore it and throw a wrench into Bruticus’ works as best we can.”
“Oh no, you don’t!” snarled Ratchet. “You’re staying right here and that’s final!”
“Like hell we are!” argued Afterburner. “I ain’t gonna let no wimp Decepticons make me angry all the time!”
“It’s time to put my nerves to better use!” declared Strafe.
“I have deduced,” remarked Nosecone, “that to stay here would leave the Autobots to a grisly fate!”
“And I want to see how powerful the Decepticons are, so I can better plan for them!” called Lightspeed.
“And I ain’t going to let my brothers be benched when we have something to help us,” finished Scattershot. “Teletraan, Ground Bridge to Optimus’ coordinates!”
“No, I’m not going to-!”
“Either you do it or Nosecone does it for you.” Teletraan balked at this threat. He then sighed and opened the Ground Bridge. “All right, brothers! Let’s get it on!” Scattershot’s team cheered, transformed, and entered the Ground Bridge.
“Better prepare more berths,” Teletraan muttered to Ratchet.
“Yeah, sure, it seems to be all I’m good for these days! No one listens to Ratchet, oh no! No, we’re the younger guys, WE know what’s best for old Rust Buckets like you!” The old medic continued grumbling as he stomped back to the Repair Bay.