CHAPTER TEN
"So he's dead then," Ultra Magnus said.
"I'm not sure how anyone could have survived a blast like that," Ambulon replied, having just finished examining the Fallen's corpse. "But yes, he's dead. No spark readings, no operating functions, nothing. He's dead."
"Can we put him through a grinder just to make sure?" Wing Saber said sardonically.
Ambulon smirked. "If you're up to it, sure. But I assure you that he won't be coming back as a Terrorcon or anything."
"Either way, we can't have him taking up space in the morgue," Magnus said. "You are free to dispose of him, Wing Saber."
Once the flier had left with the charred husk, Magnus said to the medic, "How are our formerly-captured comrades fairing?"
"Better," Ambulon said. "Most of them have woken up, save for Alpha Trion and Grimlock. Though, uh, we've noticed something strange about the latter."
"What?"
"His alt mode seems to have changed to that of a beast."
"That is... very intriguing."
Ambulon nodded in agreement. "Fixit is keeping a watch over him. He'll no doubt be a bit unhappy when he wakes up."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from him."
* * *
"You're not still worked up about Fortress Maximus not seeing any action, are you?"
"Of course I am!" Brainstorm snapped at Glyph, one of his fellow scientists. "Even more so not that I hear that the war is pretty much over! Now whose tailpipe will he be able to kick?"
Glyph tapped her fingers together. "Well, I'm sure there are some rogue Decepticons out there...."
Brainstorm scoffed. "Yeah, that we have a forty percent chance of ever meeting."
"Hey, can someone help me out with this guy?" Swerve called out to them, standing next to the small mech whom had inadvertently killed the Fallen. "He's about ready to have a spark attack!"
The two scientists rushed over to him, along with the medic Meltdown, and attempted to calm him down.
"It's okay," Meltdown said soothingly. "You're among friends. No one's going to hurt you."
"But I killed him!" the young mech exclaimed, his blue visor flashing. "I killed someone without meaning to!"
"It's okay. He was just about to kill even more people. What you did was a good thing."
"It... was?"
"Yes," Glyph said calmly, putting a hand on his arm. "In fact, some might even consider you a hero."
"A... hero?" No longer filled with panic, the mech then proudly said, "Well, of course! A champion kick-boxer like me deserves nothing less!""
"So everyone lives happily ever after," Brainstorm said flippantly, turning to leave. "La-dee-slagging-dah."
Once he had left, the mech went to a more modest tone. "Anyway... my name's Tailgate. Just so you know...."
"I'm Swerve. A kick-boxer, huh? Didn't that sport went out of a style a few thousand years ago...?"
"My name's Glyph. I study history and... stuff."
"Meltdown," the doctor said as he began scans on Tailgate. "I fix stuff."
Tailgate nodded. "Nice to meet you all. Too bad I missed the launch, though. When he gets back, Nova Prime isn't going to be happy with me."
All three Autobots stared at him in disbelief.
"Nova Prime?" Glyph murmured. "Um, I hate to tell you this, but-"
"Wait!" Swerve said before lowering his voice to a whisper that only Glyph could hear. "I'll give you half of my energon rations forever if you let me tell him."
Glyph hesitated before sighing. "Just put it to him nicely."
With a wide grin, Swerve went up to Tailgate and put a hand on the white mech's shoulder. "Ah, my dear Tailgate. Have you ever woke up from recharge only to find that your chronometer stopped working, leaving you completely unaware of how much time you spent oversleeping?"
Tailgate tilted his head. "Uh, I don't believe so. Where is this going, Swerve?"
Smiling ruefully, Swerve leaned forward and whispered something into Tailgate's audio receptor.
"SIX THOUSAND YEARS?!"
* * *
"You don't feel the least bit bothered about carrying a corpse through the base?"
Wing Saber grinned at Chromedome as the two Autobots headed for the trash compactor. "A bit, but I figure it's no worse than reading the memories of dead people."
"Not funny."
Wing Saber shrugged. "Truth hurts, pal."
"You're starting to sound like Rewind."
"Good. Means that someone's looking out for you."
The two of them finally reached the trash compactor and Chromedome moved to open the hatch leading into it, giving Wing Saber a mock salute.
"Torpedoes away, captain."
Grinning, Wing Saber went to dispose of the Fallen's corpse... only to realize that it was no longer there.
He cried out in terror, stumbling back and landing on his rear end. "I- what the- did you see- wah?"
"I saw it, but I can't believe it," Chromedome said, his stance rigid in shock. "I... I think we should alert someone about this."
"Think anyone will believe us?" Wing Saber asked. "I mean, I'm somewhat of a joker sometimes, so-"
"We have to tell someone! Corpses just don't disappear like that. They just don't."
Wing Saber sighed. "Can this day get any weirder?"
* * *
"The war may be over for now, Kup, but I'm not particularly in a joking mood."
Kup shook his head. "Neither am I, nor is Chromedome known for pulling pranks. He said to me, in a very alarmed tone, that the Fallen's corpse has vanished."
Ultra Magnus rubbed his forehead. "That mech can still pull tricks from his bag even in death. Telekinesis, teleportation, postmortem vanishing... what's next, possession?"
Before Kup could respond, Magnus' communicator buzzed and he answered it. "Yes?"
"Sir, we have a situation."
Another one? Magnus sighed. "What is it?"
"Prisoners Bludgeon, Bugly, and Mindwipe are gone, with no signs of a breakout."
Magnus looked at Kup, who wore the same exact grimace on his face as he did. For the longest time, neither of them spoke....
EPILOGUE
When Bludgeon had first met the Fallen, he had been offered a glimpse of the arcane powers which he carried. Never once would he had been able to imagine something even more eldritch than what he had seen.
Until now.
Words could not describe his feelings on the world which he, Bugly, and Mindwipe now stood on, if it could even be called that. Bizarre, warped shapes surrounded them as they walked. The screaming ground was made up of corpses- Cybertronian and otherwise- and their faces stared up at them, their lifeless eyes seeming to follow them as they moved.
"And so the Chaos Trinity returns."
The trio came to a stop at the sound of the ancient sounding voice. Appearing before them were two mechs- one violet and dark gray, the other blue and white.
"Do any of you care to explain this?" the latter asked, gesturing at the ground. Bludgeon looked down and saw that the Fallen's seemingly lifeless body was now intermixed with the others, staring at his former follower.
Bludgeon suppressed a shudder. "Ah, yes. Our master has been... tragically killed. We were unable to save him, for we were not expecting the attack."
The blue one frowned. "Tragic, indeed. Especially for you."
"Well, what were we supposed to do?" Bugly snapped. "We had just gotten our tailpipes handed to us and-"
"Excuses will do you no good. The consequences for your failures remain the same. Cyclonus?"
As the violet one unsheathed a blade, Bludgeon closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate. In mere seconds, he heard Bugly and Mindwipe cry out as they were cut down and braced himself for his own demise. After a few minutes, when he found himself still functioning, he opened his eyes to see Cyclonus' blade mere inches from his face. It was then the blue one who spoke.
"As for you, Bludgeon... our leader has taken a special interest in you. As such, we would like to offer you a position within our ranks."
"Or else death by refusal?"
The blue one smiled mirthlessly. "Correct."
Bludgeon nodded. "Then I accept."
"Excellent. In that case, welcome... to the Heralds of Unicron."
TO BE CONTINUED
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