CHAPTER EIGHT
--The Floating Fortress--
"Space bridge at fifty percent."
Magnificus knew no one was listening. All of the Heralds had left the room, having joined in the battle down below. From what he could see, several bots had already gotten freed, meaning the process was going to be even slower now.
He sighed as he looked away from the screen. He wondered what would happen to him if this succeeded. As a "knockoff", he was not allowed into Cyberutopia. Would he and others like him be left behind, forgotten about? Would they all be enslaved or disposed of?
Why was he even doing this?
He glanced back at the screen. Sixty percent now. Perhaps he had been wrong about less sparks equating to slower process. It probably had to do with the number of Point One Percenters they had hooked up down there.
He could shut it all down of course. The Heralds weren't here to stop him. He could just flick the switch and call it a day.
Sixty-five percent.
After all, how did it benefit him? When he joined the Secret Order, he knew nothing of the Heralds or their plans. If he had, he probably would have declined.
Seventy percent.
Then again, if he did shut it down, the Heralds would show him no mercy. It was lose-lose either way.
Seventy-five percent.
It was all a matter of which fate he preferred: death or subjugation.
Eighty percent.
* * *
"You know, I never did like you."
Cyclonus winced as Grindcore's fist collided into his face. He was likewise unable to block a kick to his abdomen.
"You had always only been Galvatron's pet cyberdog," Grindcore went on. "You served no purpose within Nova Prime's inner circle. In fact, Dai Atlas was meant to take your place on the Ark; it was only when he turned against Prime that you were chosen instead."
Grabbing Cyclonus by the shoulders, Grindcore slammed his head into the ex-Herald's, sending him staggering back.
"You are a hanger on. Always have been. Always will be."
Grindcore lowered his shoulder cannons, pointing them at Cyclonus.
"You'll never belong. Not even in the Afterspark."
The Herald prepared to fire his weapons... only to cry out as Whirl tackled him from behind. Pinning him down, Whirl pummeled Grindcore with his claws, punctuating each hit with his words.
"No one -- kills -- my -- best -- frienenemy!"
He paused in his attacks to toss Cyclonus a gun before lifting Grindcore up.
"He's all yours," the ex-Wrecker said.
"Ha!" Grindcore spat. "He won't do it. He has too much of a code of honor to--"
The Herald was permanently silenced by a shot to the face, his head exploding into oblivion.
"Honor is not given to those who have none," Cyclonus said, lowering the gun.
"Are you talking to me?" Whirl asked. "'Cos he's dead. He can't hear you."
Ignoring him, Cyclonus said, "Where are the others?"
"The other who? Us or the Heralds?"
Cyclonus huffed. "The Heralds."
"Well, I saw Bludgeon going at it with Drift, Jhiaxus with Windblade, Scourge with Convoy and Rodimus--"
"And where are they?" Cyclonus asked, scanning the fighting field.
"I think they're by that portal thing--"
Without another word, Cyclonus changed to his jet mode and took off.
* * *
"Rewind?! Has anyone seen Rewind?!"
Chromedome pushed his way through the chamber, avoiding enemy fire from the Decepticon reinforcements that had arrived. Skids and Rampage were behind him, providing cover fire while he searched for his sparkmate.
"Oh, Domey~!"
Chromedome froze at the sound of the voice, which was definitely not Rewind's. Turning around, he saw Pharma standing there, situated between a still-hooked up Rewind and Ariel.
"Oh, good!" Pharma said, seeing Rampage just behind Chromedome. "You're both here. We're going to play a little game."
"Miscreant!" Rampage roared. "Unhand her before I--"
"Let me lay down the rules," Pharma said. "You each pick one for me to spare. If you each pick a different one, I'll play Catch-A-Cybercat-By-The-Tail. Whoever I pick lives, the other dies."
"How about I just shoot you instead?" Skids grunted, aiming his guns at the mad doctor.
Pharma grinned, raising his hands-turned-guns to either of his captives' heads. "Then they both die. These are primed to go off should I be hit. So much as tap my shoulder and they both die."
"If Ariel dies, I swear I'll kill every last one of you," Rampage snarled, glaring at Chromedome.
"I can't let Rewind die!" Chromedome snapped back. "He's-- I vowed to help him find Dominus Ambus! I can't-- he means everything to me!"
"Clock is ticking!" Pharma said. "Hurry up and choose or else I'll pick for you."
"Rewind!" Chromedome cried.
"Ariel!" Rampage shrieked.
"And you, Skids?" Pharma looked to the blue Autobot. "Who do you choose?"
"What?" Skids asked.
"You're part of this game too! You can be the tie breaker!"
"But you didn't say--"
"I changed my mind. I like to make up things as I go along. So who will it be? Whose death do you want to be responsible for?"
Skids could feel all eyes on him now. He could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. It suddenly began to feel very hot....
"Whose loved one do you want to kil--"
Skids howled as he charged at Pharma, seizing him and knocking him to the ground. Both of the medic's guns went off but they missed Rewind and Ariel's heads by inches.
He became numb to everything as he bashed Pharma's face in. Nothing else mattered. He was just sick of that face. He hated it. He wanted to get rid of it.
"Skids, stop!"
At the sound of Rung's voice, Skids stopped in the midst of his assault. This gave Pharma the chance to kick him off and get back to his feet.
"Touched a nerve, have I?" Pharma said, smirking despite the desperate state his face was in. "Maybe I should consider becoming a therapist instead. It's clear I'm great at getting under other people's armor plates."
Rampage snarled as he deployed a cannon from his arm. "Nothing is all you will become."
Pharma cackled. "Can you tell me what that's like? I figure you must be an exp--"
A blast to the chest silenced him for good and sent him flying across the room. His smoking form landing right in front of the space bridge... which began to materialize before everyone's eyes.
* * *
"At last!" Forgetting his conflict with Convoy and Rodimus, Scourge turned away from the Autobots and faced the portal before him. "Unicron lives!"
"Unicron?" Convoy asked. "I thought this was about Cyberutopia?"
Scourge laughed. "Ah, the magic of twisting the truth. Yes, this is about Cyberutopia... or rather, our vision of it; a universe reshaped in our master's image!"
"But Unicron is dead!" Rodimus said. "He was destroyed by the Matrix!"
"Again, you presume that of what you do not know. With the energy of the forged sparks still connected, we can at last revitalize Unicron and bring forth his reign of chaos!"
"There's only one problem with that."
Scourge looked up to see Cyclonus fly up and land before him in robot mode. Sneering, the Herald said, "And just what would that be?"
Cyclonus bent down and picked up one of the cables, which connected Bumblebee to the space bridge. "The spark energy has ceased flow. None of it is going to Unicron."
Scourge's optics widened. "What?! But... how?!"
"You can thank me for that."
All eyes looked up to see Magnificus standing in the shattered window of the observatory, arms folded in defiance.
"I shut off the spark flow. I thought it would turn off the space bridge as well, but... I guess that was a lie as well."
"You fool!" Straxus bellowed, shaking his fist at the Decepticon. "Do you realize what you've done?"
"I realize that I've been deceived," Magnificus said. "We've all been deceived. This was never about bringing forth a new Golden Age... it was all a ploy to let these Heralds have their little revenge plot. We were all just tools of a foul play."
"Imbecile!" Jhiaxus shrieked. "You've ruined everything!"
"I know. And I'm glad." Magnificus lifted his chin up. "Serves you for trying to deceive a Decepticon."
Scourge glared at him as he produced a gun -- the gun that was in actuality Shockwave. "Turn the spark flow back on... or else."
"Go ahead, shoot me. At least I'll have made Megatron proud."
"Megatron is dead! That was simply another lie to coerce all of you into working for us!"
"Er, if that's the case," Rodimus said, pointing to the space bridge, "then who's that?"
All of the Heralds turned to the space bridge... and froze.
Emerging from the shimmering blue portal was a looming figure clad in intricate black and purple armor plating. Wings swooped behind him to form a cape-like formation, the newcomer wielded a large cannon mounted to his right arm. Red optics blazed from a masked face, covered with a bucket-shaped helmet.
The look was difference... but the presence was all the same.
"Megatron?" Scourge murmured.
"You were expecting someone else?" the former leader of the Decepticons growled. "The Fallen, perhaps? Nova Prime?"
"But... but how?" Straxus questioned. "How are you still alive?"
"I have a better question: Why are you?"
Charging his fusion cannon, Megatron raised it at the Heralds of Unicron and fired. In one fell swoop, Scourge, Jhiaxus and Straxus were eradicated by the blast. The Shockwave gun fell to the floor, unaffected by the blast. Bludgeon stood in place, optics wide as Megatron pointed at him.
"I shall spare you, as you were not a true member of theirs but merely an accomplice," Megatron growled. "Same goes for Cyclonus; you were not a willing participant of their machinations." He then looked up to Magnificus. "Shut off the space bridge. Now."
"Just wait one minute!" Rodimus protested. "You really think you can just walk in hear and steal the show? You think we've all forgotten about you being an evil despot?"
Megatron glanced at him. "Perhaps Prime has failed to mention that I was the one who used the Matrix on Unicron."
"Oh, he's brought it up, don't worry! But that doesn't suddenly absolve you of everything you've done!"
"I'm not expecting immediate clemency, but listen to me: if we don't turn off the space bridge now, Unicron will find a way to--"
"Uh, Lord Megatron?" Magnificus poked his head out. "The space bridge won't shut off."
"What?!" Megatron exclaimed. "What do you mean?!"
"It's not letting me do anything! It says I don't have access!"
Megatron snarled. "The Heralds must have installed a failsafe. We must destroy the space bridge then."
"That would tear this whole station apart," Cyclonus said. "Not to mention destroy us all."
"Plus we still have hundreds of bots still connected to the blasted thing," Rodimus said. "What would you have us do?"
"Actually," Magnificus muttered. "There is a way for me to bypass the failsafe and shut off the space bridge. But it requires a specific spark type...."
"Which would be what?" Megatron asked.
"Isomeric-negative," Magnificus replied. "Which is... which is my spark type."
"Talk about awfully convenient," Rodimus muttered.
"Yeah, sure... just give me a minute."
Magnificus disappeared as he went to work. Several minutes passed by until there was a flash of light from the observatory just as the space bridge powered off, its portal dissipating.
"Hot dog!" Rodimus exclaimed. "Nice work, Magnificus!"
No response came.
"...Magnificus?" Rodimus looked up towards the observatory. Smoke emitted from the shattered window.
Megatron exhaled. "Lethal spark donation. Typical Tarantulas."
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