CHAPTER SEVEN
--Years ago--
"Something has to be done, Hydra. We can't keep going on like this."
Hydra sighed as she stood on the balcony, staring out at the dark clouds of Nimbus Five. "You're still apprehensive about the whole Ultra Magnus thing."
"That was a major close call," retorted the warden of Garrus-13. "We came frighteningly close to being discovered. We're lucky Vampire is as stealthy as he is skilled."
"What would you have me do then?" Hydra asked, turning around. "Things like this are going to continue to happen if we are to maintain the facade of an Autobot prison facility -- a facade which we cannot abandon lest we raise more suspicion."
"What if we gave them a reason not to visit anymore?"
"Elaborate."
"We could tell them Nimbus' clouds have become too dangerous for any ships arriving and leaving. That would also prevent them from trying to investigate."
Hydra sighed as she shook her head. "Knowing Prowl, he would probably still send someone."
"Then we could use Vampire on them and have them 'confirm' it for Prowl."
"No. No, we can't -- I'm done using mnemosurgeons."
The warden's head titled. "Why? It didn't seem to bother you before. Not with Magnus. Not with your crew on the Longbow."
"That was different," Hydra said. "That was to cover our tracks. This is... what you're suggesting is on a completely different scale."
"Perhaps. But it's for the greater good, is it not?"
Hydra exhaled, closing her optics as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't... I can't condone this. It reeks of the things the Functionists or the High Council would do... the very thing Optronix stood against."
The warden sighed. "I knew your attachment to him would cloud your judgment."
Hydra did not hear the sound of rotating blades until she was on the ground, snared by an energy net.
"Take her away, Chopter," she heard the warden order as she was pulled away. "Lobe will know what to do with her."
--The Lost Light, present--
"Clutch? Are you in there? I want to talk with you."
The hab suite door opened to reveal a red and white Autobot. He fixed Skids with a wide-eyed, totally-not-fake grin. "Hey!" Clutch said. "How can I help you?"
"May I come in?" Skids asked gently.
Clutch nodded eagerly, stepping aside to let Skids in. "Of course! Please do!"
Skids stepped inside and Clutch closed the door behind him. The blue Autobot then turned to face Clutch... and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Really?" Skids muttered. "Can't I go one day without being threatened?"
"I know why you're here," Clutch said, shaking slightly. "You're here to kill me, aren't you?"
"I... what?" Skids shook his head, bewildered. "I'm not here to--"
"Don't lie to me!" Clutch snapped. "I can tell when I'm being lied to! You're lying to me! Don't lie to me!"
"You already said--" Skids sighed, trying to collect himself. "Why would I kill you?"
"I don't know! I did as I was told, but with Prowl, who can--"
"What does Prowl have to do this?" Skids asked. "Are you Secret Service or something?"
"Yes, and I know you are too, meaning I was completely useless! Redundant! And so now you are here to bump me off!"
"Wait. Let me get this straight. Prowl put you on the Lost Light?"
"Yes," Clutch said.
"And you've been reporting our activities to him since launch?"
"Correct, although I don't know if he ever got them."
"I see." Skids rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And the stuff with Swerve? What's that all about?"
"Oh, so now you're going to play on my emotions, huh?" Clutch said brusquely. "Classics murderer behavior."
"Hold on... are you saying the whole Swerve fan club isn't part of your act here?"
"The only reason I volunteered for the job was because I heard Swerve was on board. Otherwise...." Clutch sighed as he, much to Skids' surprise, lowered the gun. "Oh, who am I kidding? I've probably been duped this entire time."
"What do you mean?" Skids asked.
"The only reason I became an agent was because my friend Artfire recommended me to Prowl. Since then, I've only served as a data courier and never an actual... agent, I thought maybe this would be my chance to prove myself. But since I haven't heard from anyone since I joined the crew...." Clutch slumped against the door, his gun falling from his hands. "They've probably forgotten I exist."
Skids moved over to sit down next to him. "Have you tried contacting him since we've rescued him?"
"Yes," Clutch muttered.
"And still nothing?"
"No."
"Then I'd say you've been duped," Skids said bluntly. "Prowl can be a pain like that sometimes. I should know having worked with him for so long."
Clutch said nothing, eyeing his feet instead.
Skids cleared his throat. "So... the Swerve thing. You really are a fan of his?"
"Yeah...."
"Are you the only one?"
Clutch took a moment to answer. "Yes."
Skids fell silent for a few minutes as he mulled over this. Then he got to his feet. "Would you like to meet him?"
Clutch looked up at him, surprised. "Huh?"
Skids smiled. "I know he hasn't been all that kind to you, but that's just because he isn't used to people taking an interest in him. I'm sure if I gave you a proper introduction, he'd find you a cool bot."
Clutch's optics went wide. "You... you really think so?"
Skids held out a hand. "I know so."
Clutch stared at the hand for a moment before taking it, grinning a real grin this time. Skids then pulled him to his feet....
And was promptly knocked out cold.
* * *
"Prowl? What are you doing here?"
Prowl stopped dead in his tracks as he, the Wreckers and the clones stepped onto the bridge. Blinking, the Autobot cop looked around confused, rubbing the back of his head.
"Didn't you call us here?" he asked Rodimus.
"No," Rodimus replied, frowning. "Why would I call you here? I don't want you on my--"
"Rodimus," Minimus cut him off curtly before turning to Prowl. "Are you feeling all right, Prowl? You seem... not yourself."
Before Prowl could answer, the door to the bridge suddenly closed and locked behind him. Everyone turned to see Roadbuster standing at the control panel.
"Roadbuster," Springer said. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I... I don't know," the larger Wrecker mumbled. "He... he told me to do it."
"Who told you?"
Suddenly, as if out of thin air, Tarantulas materialized on the bridge, looming over all those present. Prowl stepped back in shock.
"Tarantulas?! How-- how are you--?"
"Out of all the things I've done, mass shifting is what impresses you?" Tarantulas let out a heavy sigh. "Honestly, Prowl, you are an impossible being."
"But... but we left you in the Noisemaze!" Convoy exclaimed. "I saw you about to kill Pyro before he pushed me out!"
"He didn't push you out," Tarantulas said. "I did. When I shrunk down and latched onto you, the force pushed you through the portal. I've been with you ever since."
Convoy's optics went wide. "You mean... all this time... you've been watching us? Listening to us?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. Well done." Tarantulas then turned back to Prowl. "Anyway, now that you're all here... what say we all take a trip to the Floating Fortress?"
"And walk straight into a trap?" Prowl crossed his arms. "I don't think so."
"Don't you want answers?" Tarantulas asked. "Don't you want to bring an end to the Secret Order?"
"You work for the Secret Order. Why would you want to help us stop it?"
Tarantulas cackled. "Because, Prowl, thanks to you I can no longer impress my superiors. By having lost my base, my Chimeracons and Ragnarok, I've done nothing but disappoint them. But that doesn't matter now, because the only one I have to impress now... is you."
"I think you already did that with the mass shifting thing," Rodimus muttered.
Tarantulas ignored him, keeping his gaze fixed on Prowl. "So what do you say, Prowl? For old time's sake?"
Prowl stared back at him, optics narrowed. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"
Tarantulas shrugged. "You tell me. I wasn't the one who stormed his friend's lab and threw him into the Noisemaze."
Prowl opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself, instead saying, "Fine."
"Um, no. Not fine," Rodimus said. "Sorry, but we're not going anywhere until this monster is either dead or in the brig. Having one serial killer on the ship was already bad enough...."
"Regardless of his actions, he could still be a useful asset," Prowl said. "Provided he isn't faking his knowledge on the Floating Fortress and is willing to give us details that Magnificus hasn't...."
"We could still lock him up in the brig until we get there," Minimus said to Rodimus. "We already know where the Fortress is, based on what Rampage's told us. We would only have to keep him restrained until we reach the Nimbus system, which should only take twenty minutes."
"That is a compromise I am willing to make," Tarantulas said, in that usual, sly, on-the-brink-of-madness tone of his.
All eyes were on Rodimus as he mulled over this. Realizing he was the only voice of dissent here, he sighed. "Fine. But if he tries anything, it's the airlock for him."
"Oh, don't worry," Tarantulas cackled. "I wouldn't risk missing this for the world."
No comments:
Post a Comment