CHAPTER SEVEN
--Aquatron--
"Breakout on Level Thirteen."
Leading Jazz and his team down a corridor, the Curator abruptly stop upon hearing the intercom speaking. Before Jazz could inquire him what was going on, a small stout bot came rushing up to the Aquatronian leader.
"Sir, there's been--"
"I know," the Curator snapped, uncharacteristically stern. "Is the Admiral handling the situation?"
The stout bot wring his hands. "Y-yes, sir. All of the Sharkticons are, sir. Shall I place a lock down on all levels?"
"Yes, yes, do that. We needn't disrupt our guests' peace."
As the small mech rushed to carry out his orders, the Curator flashed a smile to the Autobots, failing to be reassuring. "Sorry about that. I'm sure everything's all right."
"What's on Level Thirteen?" Perceptor asked.
"Nothing," the Curator hastily said. "Nothing important. Please, follow me."
Deciding not to press the matter, the Autobots complied. However, as they went, Ironhide whispered to Jazz, "If he starts acting wacky, I'm gonna shoot him."
Jazz said nothing to object.
* * *
"I'm not picking up anything," Thundercracker said.
Flying alongside his fellow Seekers and Lugnut in jet mode, Starscream sighed in exasperation. "Then why did the Autobots come here in the first place?"
"It must be a ploy," Lugnut growled. "They're trying to hide Lord Megatron from us!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he might have a point," Skywarp said. "Maybe they have a system so that we can't detect anything from the surface."
"Then he must be underwater!" Moving too fast for the others to stop him, Lugnut plunged himself into the sea, creating an eruption of water. Had he been in robot mode, Starscream would have scowled after him.
"What an idiot."
--Earth--
It had all erupted into carnage.
Energon and pieces of metal flew everywhere as Thundertron and Scorponok tore each other apart. Axer had to dodge as shrapnel was thrown at him, while the other Star Seekers merely watched in anticipation.
In his mind, he weighed his options. If Scorponok wins, he'll tear us apart. But the Star Seekers have my only means of transportation.
Before he could make his decision, Axer saw too late that Thundertron's body was flying towards him. Unable to dodge in time, they collided and went tumbling down. As they touched ground, Axer quickly pushed Thundertron off of him, rapidly throwing out apologies to the pirate captain, only to realize something unsettling.
Thundertron was nothing more than a head and a portion of a torso.
Fear struck Axer's spark as he raised his gaze to the headless Scorponok, who was now looming over him. The other Star Seekers were staring in shock and awe at what had just happened. Eventually, it was Cannonball who found his voice.
"Well, then... that took an unexpected turn. I suppose that leaves me in command."
"And what are your first orders, 'captain?'" Scorponok asked coldly.
Cannonball was silent again before saying ruefully, "Star Seekers, retreat."
Needless to say, Axer was quick to get ahead of everyone else.
--Aquatron--
"Land Shark Unit One-Five-Six is not responding."
Tyrannicon cursed to himself. "He was right behind us not even a minute ago."
The Sharkticon trooper's face was expressionless, though he spoke in a snide manner. "He is not responding," he said.
Resisting the urge to execute the mocking trooper, Tyrannicon ordered his team to all turn in the opposite direction of the corridor they were headed down. All they saw was Unit 156's lifeless corpse.
"How unfortunate," Tyrannicon muttered. "It would seem our assailant would rather play around in the shadows like a coward instead of confront us face-to-face."
Cold laughter echoed through the corridor. "If it is your desire to die sooner, then who am I to argue?"
Tyrannicon was barely able to turn around in time to see his men fall to the wrath of the black and gray mech. Moving like a phantom, he mowed through the Sharkticons, slaying them one by one. By the time Tyrannicon had found his voice to order them into evasive maneuvers, none of them were around to hear him.
"Was that honestly the best you had?" the escaped captive said. "I expected better."
"Actually, to be perfectly honest with you, they weren't the best I had." At that, Tyrannicon created a whistle sound and the ground began to shake. Suddenly, the walls were torn apart by masses of tentacles. A shrill screech filled the air.
"This, on the other hand... this is getting there."
* * *
"What the spark is going on?!" Ironhide exclaimed as he and the other Autobots were thrown about by the quake.
"Oh, dear," the Curator said, who was oddly still standing. "We appear to be experiencing a seismic quake. Nothing to worry about."
"No offense," Seaspray said, arms flailing about, "but, between the air bubble around the city and spark signature blockers, I would think you'd have the technology to block out seismic quakes."
"Yes, well, no one's perfect," the Curator murmured.
"Are you sure whatever was on Level Thirteen is 'nothing?'" Perceptor asked skeptically as he attempted to straighten himself. "Because all of this doesn't seem like 'nothing.'"
Before the Aquatronian leader could reply, the wall by them suddenly exploded. As debris blew into them, a large, violet mech stepped from the opening, followed by three winged mechs.
"Aw, scrap," Ironhide muttered.
Starscream smirked as he stepped in front of Lugnut. "My, what an interesting encounter."
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