Fanfare erupted from Trypticon City’s Main Square. Starscream, His Mini-con partner Zapmaster, Skywarp, and Sunstorm were standing on a pedestal with a femme holding a crown. The femme had strange alt-mode kibble, parts of it were like a bullet train while other parts were like a shuttle. She held the crown over Starscream’s head, only to think twice and pull it back. The trumpets still blasted, but Starscream became annoyed. “Get on with the ceremony, Astrotrain!” he snarled. The femme, Astrotrain, hesitated, then she raised the crown over Starscream’s head, then she pulled it back once again. Starscream shot the trumpets out of the musicians’ hands in frustration. Astrotrain took the hint and placed the crown on Starscream’s head. He turned his head to check the weight, but it felt surprisingly light to him. He took it as an omen that ruling Cybertron was gonna be a breeze. He turned to the crowd. “My fellow Decepticons, as your leader, I-” his speech was interrupted by the sound of two jets coming in for a landing! The jets barreled through the crowd, then stopped. “WHO DISRUPTS MY CORONATION?!” demanded Starscream. The two jets transformed into Thundercracker and Megatron. Thundercracker was easily recognized by Starscream and his Trine, but Megatron looked a lot different than last time.
“Coronation, Starscream?” asked Megatron. “This is bad comedy!” Starscream’s optics flickered as he recognized the voice.
“Megatron?” he quizzed. “Is that you?”
“Here’s a hint!” Megatron activated both fusion cannons and fired at Starscream. Starscream smirked and batted the shots aside, making them explode harmlessly in the air!
“Did you not think to secure the Heart of Cybertron after the crash?” chuckled Starscream. “I had it implanted in me while you were busy fighting the Autobots. Now, granted, I DO believe in moderation, so I won’t tap into all of its power…but even a fraction of its power is enough to best you!” He proved his point as he fired magenta-colored lightning at Megatron from his hands. The bolt struck Megatron in the shoulder and sent him flying into a wall. Thundercracker dashed towards his Lord and helped him up. They then flew out of the coronation venue.
“They’re gonna try and leave Trypticon!” called Deathsaurus. “I’ll give the order to pursue!”
“No,” dismissed Starscream. “Put your efforts into locating Optimus. Megatron returning to his faction in such a manner will weaken morale.”
“Megatron fought in the Pits of Kaon,” argued Deathsaurus. “He’ll recover and rally others to his cause.” Starscream glowered at Deathsaurus.
“The Matrix is more important than that badge Megatron parades around. Optimus has ways that can give him insight into us while Megatron only has a mere power enhancer. Put your efforts into locating Optimus.”
“…At once, Lord Starscream.” Deathsaurus headed off. The crowd dispersed and Skywarp and Sunstorm spoke to him.
“He IS right, to a degree,” remarked Skywarp. “Megatron’s good at public speaking. He’ll definitely get more to his cause.”
“He’s only got crackpots on his side,” replied Starscream. “Optimus, meanwhile, he knows how to treat his men, making him a leader of integrity, unlike Megatron. If all goes well, the Autobots are still repairing one another.”
“Well now, little microchip,” Perceptor muttered to himself as he examined the microchip in his alt-mode’s tray, “what seems to be the matter with you today? Let me get a closer look.” His holo-form adjusted the zoom lens and found the problem. “Hm, a blocked linkage.”
“Quit talking to that circuit and fix it!” complained the owner of the microchip, Airazor, as they laid on a repair berth in robot mode. “I can’t remember a thing without it!”
“Yeah, Perceptor, there’s REAL work to be done around here!” growled Grimlock in beast mode. Perceptor set aside the microchip.
“This IS real work,” he remarked as his holo-form vanished while he transformed to bot mode.
“Real work’s crushing Cons, not fussing with chips!”
“If I didn’t fuss with chips, you couldn’t crush Decepticons.” Perceptor placed the microchip into a machine and keyed a command into the nearby console. The machine then fired a stream of energy at the microchip, making it grow to a size where Perceptor had to hold it with both hands. Once the beam shut off, he took the chip and placed it onto a tray, then he fired a laser beam at the blocked linkage and started his welding job.
“Oh, BAH! Any putz could do that!” scoffed Grimlock. “It takes a real bot to actually fight!”
“Hey! Lay off him, Lizard Lips!” snarled a woman’s voice. Shahra came into the room. “Perceptor’s as important as any of us!”
“So where IS he when we’re fighting?!” argued Grimlock.
“It takes more than muscle to fight,” remarked Perceptor.
“Yeah, it takes COURAGE! Or maybe that word’s not in your fancy vocabulary!”
“Leave him alone, Grimlock,” warned Shahra as she charged up her magic, “or you’re gonna tangle with me!”
“Oh, I’m shaking in my proton boots!”
“Still blaming me for the goat incident?!”
“You laughed at me before you turned me back!”
“You SHOULD be angry at Merlin! He’s the one who turned you into it!”
“That’s enough, all of you,” called Optimus as he entered the room. “Shahra, Grimlock, we’re rolling out. Perceptor, finish repairing Airazor, then both of you join us.”
“But Prime, I can’t go,” replied Perceptor. “I have too much to do here, such as setting up the food synthesizers for our organic allies!”
“HAH!” scoffed Grimlock. “That’s a good one!”
“All right, Perceptor, stay with Tails,” directed Optimus. “He’s working on that project and could use some help since Swoop’s joining us.” Everyone then left the room, but Grimlock couldn’t resist getting the last word.
“So long, hero!” The door then closed.
The team consisted of Optimus, Sonic, Shahra, Goldbug, Cliffjumper, Grimlock, Swoop, Rattrap, and Slash. “What’s the sit-rep, Prime?” asked Goldbug as everyone was following Optimus at top speed.
“An energy discharge signature was detected at Trypticon City,” explained Optimus. “The signature matched that of the Heart of Cybertron. If Starscream’s using it, we need to stop him and lock that Heart up.” Sonic gulped.
“That thing nearly toasted us on Gigantion!”
“And I won’t have it toast us again!” The cavalcade poured on the speed all the way to Trypticon City.