CHAPTER EIGHT
--Paradron--
"Gone? What do you mean he's gone?"
Rodimus glanced up at Landshark, who was hunched over his desk on his comm.
"What about Dion? Is he gone as well? Did he tell you that he would be leaving?" Landshark paused as he listened in. "...I see. Yes, that is very well a possibility but.... hm. You could be right."
Rodimus raised an optic ridge as the Paradron leader continued the one-sided conversation. Eventually, Landshark signed off before straightening up and looking back at Rodimus.
"Good news," the green bot said, smiling. "You and your crew are free to go."
Rodimus blinked. "What?"
"Checkpoint has just informed me that Dion has left with Megatron in custody."
Rodimus' mouth fell open but no words came out. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Megatron was gone? Just like that?
"I expect this comes as a huge relief to you," Landshark went on. "Now you don't need to waste time searching for those non-existent Knights. I'll have Streetstar release your teammates."
But Rodimus was no longer listening to him now. His mind was still juggling a dozen questions: where had Megatron be taken to? What did Dion want with him? What was Dion even doing here?
Noticing Rodimus' silence, Landshark inclined his head at him. "Are you all right?"
"Huh?" Rodimus blinked, shaking his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just... that's good. That's great news."
Landshark nodded. "I'm glad you think so. Have a safe journey."
"Thanks," Rodimus murmured, still dumbstruck as he turned to leave. "We will."
* * *
Three bullets left. Three targets to go.
The day was going well. Everything was proceeding as the murderer had hoped. Faith in Landshark's leadership was wavering. Fear had the population in a constant state of paranoia.
It was perfect.
Positioning himself on the rooftop, the murderer raised his gun and took aim. Looking through his scope, he could see his target in plain view, sitting with two others. Their time would come eventually, but that didn't matter now.
Ransack of Kalis was the Decepticon's name. Nicknamed Blitz by his comrades. Starved an entire planet by siphoning it of pseudo-energon in Cycle 9419.
The murderer smiled as he squeezed the trigger.
"Justice," he said as the infernus bullet flew from the barrel and struck its target.
* * *
Convoy's head turned at the sound of screaming.
"Blitz!"
Cannonspring looked up as well and turned his head towards the alleyway they had been passing by. Down that way, they could see two bots cradling the burning body of a purple and green mech.
"Huh," Cannonspring murmured. "So much for paradise."
Convoy said nothing, still staring at the horrific scene. Frowning at him, Cannonspring tugged at his arm.
"Come on. This isn't our scene. We have to find Chaindrive."
At that moment, both bots looked up at the sound of jet engines and saw an orange VTOL aircraft shooting across the sky, coming from the same direction as the murder. As Cannonspring watched it fly off, Convoy converted into his truck mode.
"Get on," the clone said.
"You're not actually thinking of--"
"I said get on."
Rolling his optics, Cannonspring did as told and before he knew it, Convoy was speeding after the aircraft.
* * *
"Well, that was the shortest stop we've ever made," Whirl commented as he, Skids and the rest of Magnus' party returned to the Lost Light. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. This planet sucks."
"At least I got this," Tailgate said, still admiring his hoverboard. "Consider me happy."
"Isn't that the new Delor model?" Swerve asked, looking over at the board. "I heard they cost a fortune."
"They do! This one costed 85 shanix!"
Swerve frowned. "But we were only given fifty."
Skids did not hear Tailgate's response as he was suddenly pulled aside by Brainstorm.
"I'm sorry," the scientist murmured to him. "I know I've screwed up badly. I shouldn't have--"
"It's not your fault," Skids said. "You were-- we were both tricked by him. Neither of us could have known."
Brainstorm sighed. "Still, this could've been all avoided if I hadn't opened that stupid briefcase."
"Hey, don't worry about that, okay? It's all water under the bridge."
"If you say so," Brainstorm said as they all boarded the ship. "I'm just not sure if you can speak for everyone."
* * *
"Megatron is gone?"
"That's what I've heard," Rodimus muttered as he and Ultra Magnus headed towards the bridge. "I'm still trying to comprehend what Landshark told me. All I know is that Dion had something to do with it."
Magnus looked confused. "Who's Dion?"
"One of Optronix's old buddies, from his Elite Guard days." Rodimus groaned as he rubbed his forehead. "Brainstorm abducted him during the time travel business. I've been meaning to ask him about that, but after everything we've been through...."
Magnus shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Point is, Megatron is gone, which is not good in the slightest."
Rodimus glanced at him. "I thought you hated having him on board."
"I did, but I hate not knowing where he is even more. We still don't know if his intentions for finding the Knights are true or if he's simply placing us like the Decepticon he is."
Rodimus sighed as they reached the door. "I agree. But what can we do at this point? We don't know where he's gone or why Dion has taken him or--"
The door slid open and both Autobots froze in their tracks. Sitting in the captain's chair, one leg hanging off the armrest, was Megatron.
"You're right, Rodimus," the former Decepticon leader said with a grin. "This chair is rather comfortable."
"Oi!" Rodimus exclaimed, arms flailing. "What in the nine levels of the Great Inferno is going on here?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Landshark told me Dion had taken you into custody! You--he--I--argh!"
"Ah, I see there has been a slight misunderstanding." Megatron straightened in his seat. "I was pad a visit by Dion, but he... well, I'll get to that. Once he had left, Soundblaster tricked the security outside by mimicking his voice and sending them off."
"What did you do to Dion?" Magnus growled, fists clenched. "Because if you've killed him, then--"
"Relax. I've done nothing more than send him home."
"Send him home?"
Grinning, Megatron held out his hand, revealing a small, blue Mini-Con curled up into a ball.
"This is Cop-Tur. He's a time machine."
Rodimus stared at him incredulously. "What."
"He can open time portals anywhere to anytime. You know what this means?"
"Enlighten us," Magnus said flatly. "Please."
"It means we have the key to finding the Knights."
Both Autobots were silent as they looked from Megatron to Cop-Tur and back. Rodimus then sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You're suggesting that we travel to the past to when the Knights of Cybertron ruled."
"Exactly. Or, in case we can't go back that far, we find one of the ancient Primes and learn from them."
"Surely you can't be serious," Ultra Magnus said.
"Don't believe me?" Megatron looked down at Cop-Tur. "Show them."
"I can't," the Mini-Con whimpered.
Megatron's optics flared. "Why not?"
"I can only create two time portals: one to the past and one to the future."
Megatron's mouth fell open. "You mean...?"
"The portal you pushed Dion through was the last one I could make." Cop-Tur buried his face in his hands. "I'm stuck here. Forever."
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