CHAPTER FOUR
-Aquatron-
"What was it you said about Cybertronians building underwater cities?" Ironhide asked Perceptor.
The Autobot scientist did not respond for he, as well as the rest of Jazz's team, were utterly speechless. Standing on a platform that descended through a tube, heading onto undersea terrain, the seven Autobot marveled at the magnificent city of Aquarius. From its spiraled buildings to its low domes, it made Jazz think of a more curvaceous version of Cybertron.
"Er, very impressive," Seaspray said to their guide, whom had introduced himself as Sky-Byte.
The blue and yellow mech grinned. "Why, thank you. I truly do love living here."
"It does seem pretty peaceful," Spiral said. "How were you able to avoid the war?"
"By building our cities under the sea," Sky-Byte said in a matter-of-fact tone. "From the outside, Aquatron looks mundane and featureless. It's when you look deeper that you find it is more than meets the eye."
"Interesting," Perceptor mused. "So how do you not rust under here?"
"Aquarius is placed within an invisible yet solid dome to prevent it from flooding. It also masks energy and spark signatures."
The Autobot scientist raised an eyebrow. "But when we first reached here, we detected at least a million spark signatures."
Sky-Byte frowned. "That should not be possible...."
The platform finally touched ground and the Autobots and their guide stepped out into the city. Bots of a similar body-type to Sky-Byte's moved about while others, bearing the forms of marine creatures, swam from outside the invisible dome.
"Very impressive city," Jazz said, echoing Seaspray's words. "So, uh, can you take us to your leader or leaders?"
Sky-Byte smiled again. "Why certainly. If you would follow me."
-Earth-
Humans are such intriguing creatures.
Huddled within the depths of the large cave he called home, Scorponok played back footage he had captured of Earth's society in his mind, marveling at the fact that they were little different in someways from Cybertronians. In fact, they had a striking resemblance to the Nebulans, both culturally and visually, save for the green skin.
It was because of these resemblances that Scorponok saw them as the perfect subjects for his experiments. With his recent alliance with Abraham Dante, those plans would soon see fruition.
Suddenly, his sensors beeped and his internal heads-up-display brought up a high indicator of Energon levels and spark signatures. Such readings could only mean one thing: Cybertronians.
Impossible. He had only come across this planet by accident; because it was deep within the neutral territories, it was unlikely for any other Transformers to come across it, accidental or not. The only possible explanation was that his fellow Decepticons were searching for him. With their weapons primed to capture or kill.
Scorponok smiled to himself. So someone had finally noticed his absence. How flattering.
* * *
"This is your chance to prove yourself, Axer."
The somewhat-encouraging tone in Cannonball's voice surprised Axer, given the air of derision he often felt among the Star Seekers. Nonetheless, he nodded in response.
Standing with Cannonball, Thundertron, and three other Star Seekers in a field, illuminated by the moonlight, Axer knelt down and traced his finger through the ground, at the same time scanning with his olfactory sensors.
After a few minutes, the Star Seeker Backslash snidely said, "Why not bring out a full-on sensor array?"
"Anyone can use a sensory array," Axer retorted. "It takes a real hunter to use what he has."
Backslash opened his mouth to snap back at him but Thundertron silenced him with a glare.
After several more minutes of "sniffing the air", Axer finally said, "I've got him. This way."
As he converted into his gray Cybertronian car form, the other pirates did the same; Cannonball turned into a black Cybertronian van, Thundertron a white lion, Backslash a winged creature, Stronghorn a rhinoceros, and Nightclaw a violet feline.
With a rev of hive engine, Axer said, "Let the hunt begin."
-"Ark"-
Optimus Prime had never been this happy in his entire life.
Seated in the Ark's lobby room- which had been repurposed into a bar- he looked on in merriment as his fellow Autobots convened, laughing and joking. This was his idea of a perfect life: no war, no Decepticons, just complete peace and serenity. And with his close friends- Elita and Alpha Trion- sitting by him, he knew that nothing could spoil his mood.
"What about me?"
Optimus froze at the sound of the voice. It sounded familiar, too familiar. It was like his, but darker....
"I would hope you'd recognize me. I am as much a part of you as you are me."
All around him, the party came to a stop, as if frozen in time. Bracing himself, Optimus turned in his seat to see himself, albeit with a more monstrous appearance and a black and silver color scheme.
"Scourge," Optimus said coldly. "Last I heard, you were a high-level prisoner at Garrus-9. How did you escape?"
"My body is still over there," Scourge hissed. "However, because of our... relationship, I found it simple enough to send my mind into yours, appearing to you as I am now."
"A glorified hallucination," Optimus muttered. "And for what purpose?"
"To bring ourselves back together." Scourge then chuckled. "And this time, I'll be more in control than ever."
Before Optimus could do anything, Scourge unsheathed a scarlet blade and charged.
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