CHAPTER EIGHT
Fangwolf was a capable warrior and sentry, but horrible at keeping secrets. He respected Primal far too much to withhold information from him, and thus easily let slip the fact that his team and three others had gone in search of Tigatron, despite Leo Prime's orders for them to wait until morning.
Primal was hardly surprised, of course. In fact, if Leo Prime had not kept him preoccupied, he would have led the effort himself. As it was, he was now simply late to the party.
He had taken Fangwolf with him to the site of the Fur Walker camp, figuring that would have been Airazor's first stop. After being pointed in the right direction by Fangwolf's acute senses, Primal was now on his way to rejoin his fellow Maximals.
The commander side of him wanted to be mad at his comrades for disobeying orders. But that was quickly and easily surpassed by the Primal side of him; the side that was worried for their well-being. The side that would sacrifice anything to save them.
It did not take him long to find the dormant Titan. Not wasting a single second on pondering at its presence, Primal went through the open door and hastily made his way through the dungeons....
* * *
"Rhinox, behind you!"
The larger Maximal could barely hear Diablo over the sound of his guns and had only a second to dodge the massive Insecticon's swinging fist. An energon-curdling roar ripped from Razorhorn's vocal processor as he lunged again, extending his claws to slash the Maximal across the chest.
Rhinox staggered back but was otherwise unfazed as he fired his rotary guns onto the Insecticon. Distracted by the barrage of pellets, it bought Diablo enough time to pounce upon Razorhorn's back. The Insecticon screamed as the marsupial Maximal proceeded to dig his claws into his enemy's visor, gouging out his optics.
Permanently blinded, Razorhorn flailed helplessly as Rhinox continued to fire on him. In moments, the Insecticon was brought down, energon leaking from every cavity. Diablo hopped down from his massive form with a wide grin on his face.
"That was cool."
Rhinox gave him a disapproving look but decided now was not the time to reprimand the young Maximal for his blood-lust. "There's more where that came from," he said instead, acknowledging the swarm of Insecticons that were continuing to flood in.
"Good." Diablo bared his claws. "I can't wait to do that again."
Shaking his head, Rhinox looked to see how his fellow Maximals were faring. Airazor had blades locked with a purple Insecticon swordsman; Cheetor and Wolfang were doubling up to tackle another Insecticon of Razorhorn's model; Sonar was in the middle of clawing out the optics of a hapless grasshopper; and Rattrap....
Where was Rattrap?
Before he could even begin searching for his rodent comrade, Rhinox heard a scream and turned to see Diablo standing there, the sharp end of a blade jutting from his chest. Behind the small Maximal stood a tall, dark figure, his image fading in and out like a phantom.
A malicious grin was the last thing Rhinox saw of Shadow Raker before the Insecticon removed his blade and vanished from view, letting Diablo crumple lifelessly to the floor. Rhinox belted out a roar of rage as he let loose with his guns, firing all around him....
* * *
"So much for that plan...."
Rattrap grunted as he dragged Bantor's injured form down the corridor, away from the action. The Fuzor was missing both of his lower legs, having lost them to the razor-sharp pincers of some monstrosity of an Insecticon. A trail of energon was left in his wake as Rattrap pulled him around the corner and propped him up against the wall.
"All right," Rattrap said, straightening up. "You stay here while I fine somethin' to patch you up with."
Bantor smirked in spite of his condition. "It's funny. Just a few minutes ago, you were ready to blast my head off."
"Yeah, well... that stunt you pulled back there, savin' my hide... that proved to me you're a true Maximal."
"Really?"
"I mean, it was still stupid of ya, but... honestly?" Rattrap shrugged. "I think all of us are stupid just for simply existing."
"Cynical as ever."
Rattrap jumped as he turned to see a familiar white and teal mech coming from down the hall, accompanied by two others.
"Tigatron?" Rattrap cracked a wide grin. "Well, that didn't take long. Glad to see you're okay."
Tigatron nodded. "Likewise. Are the others here as well?"
Before Rattrap could answer, Cheetor flew into the wall behind him, followed shortly by Wolfang. Their Insecticon opponent lunged at them only to be tackled from behind by Rhinox.
"Never mind then," Tigatron murmured.
"I don't have time for this," scoffed the gold and black spider-bot that had followed him here. "If it's all the same to you, I'll leave you to your fight while I find my way out of here."
Tigatron frowned at her. "We had a deal, Blackarachnia."
"You have your way out of here. I have mine." The spider grabbed the blocky gray mech by the arm. "Just be glad I didn't change my mind about sparing you."
With that, she turned to leave with Cerebros, but the Autobot did not budge. Scowling, she shot a glare at him.
"Come on. You're my ticket out of here."
Still Cerebros did not respond. The others were staring at him as well, not even noticing the battle still going on behind them.
"Cerebros?" Tigatron asked quietly. "What's wrong?"
"He's talking to me," the Autobot murmured.
Blackarachnia scoffed, letting go of his arm. "Great, he's lost it. I knew I should've just done this on my own."
Ignoring her, Tigatron stepped up to Cerebros. "Who's talking to you?"
"The Titan." Cerebros looked up at the Maximal, fear in his eyes. "He wants to wake up."
* * *
"Well, this is just Prime."
Kick Back let out a yelp as Primal dug his two blades into the green Insecticon's shoulders, pinning him in place. Straightening up, the Maximal commander deployed an arm-mounted gun and shot down the two Insecticons that had Airazor and Sonar cornered.
As the remaining bugs proceeded to flee, Primal set his optics on the large Insecticon that was wrestling with Rhinox. Retrieving one of his blades, he kicked on his jet pack and flew straight for the Crawler, driving the blade into its face.
The Insecticon fell with a crash as Primal landed gracefully on his feet, sheathing his weapons. He then looked to the other five Maximals as they all got back up, faces struck with awe... and fear. He let out a sigh as he regarded Airazor carefully.
"I'll save the reprimands for after we're out of this mess," he said. "Right now... where's Rattrap?"
"Here." The gray and gold Maximal waved from an adjacent corridor. "Tigatron's here as well."
The others rushed over to join him. Upon seeing Tigatron, Airazor flew straight for him and launched herself into his arms.
"You're alive!" she cried out.
Tigatron smiled as he returned the hug. "Good to see you too, love."
Leaving the two to their reunion, Primal shifted his attention to see the other two bots that were present, in particular the one with the Autobot insignia.
"And who would you be?"
The mech said nothing, instead turning heel and running down the hall. Blackarachnia let out a snarl as she slung a web at him, rooting him to the floor.
"Let me go!" he cried.
"Not until you explain yourself," Blackarachnia hissed. "You promised you would get me out of here."
"I can't! The Titan wants to be awakened. If I do that, Chela will know and we'll all be dead!"
"What grievance would Chela have with a fellow Titan?" Tigatron asked, breaking away from Airazor. "Non-Eukarians, I understand, but Titans? As I understand it, they all have a close connection among one another."
"It's not Chela herself that we should be worried about," Cerebros murmured. "It's her master."
Rhinox stiffened. "Onyx Prime? But... shouldn't he be dead by now?"
"No. He's still alive. He and the other Primes... they're on the rise."
"How do you know this?" Primal asked.
Cerebros started to answer only to immediately seize up. "No!"
"What is it?" Tigatron asked.
"The space bridge..." Cerebros turned to them in alarm. "It's been activated!"
* * *
Now that was strange.
Airachnid did not recall ever activating the Titan's space bridge, yet somehow there it was, glowing brightly in the night. Considering it was a long way back to the control room, she decided it would be better to examine it up close. Perhaps there was a manual switch of some sort....
Emerging on the Titan's surface, she spotted a pair of figures standing near the device itself, their back turned to her. Moving slowly and quietly, she increased her audio sensors' reach to pick up on any frequencies she could detect.
"--rious moment," one was saying.
"Indeed," said the other. "One that has been over seven thousand years in the making. We should be honored to play such an important role in the forging of this new era."
"We are honored."
Airachnid started to move closer only to suddenly find herself unable to move. One of the two figures turned around, a hand stretched out to her.
"As should you."
An invisible force pulled Airachnid forward, drawing her into the grip of the tall, white and blue figure, his massive wings encapsulating her.
"It is clear Onyx Prime chose you to give us life," the large Fuzor said. "It is as the stars foretold: You have weaved the web of fate that shall pull all of our destinies together."
She glared at her creation with baleful eyes. "Are you still spouting that nonsense of yours, Tigerhawk? Is that how you've gotten the others to follow you?"
Tigerhawk smirked as he glanced at his companion. "What do the stars say of her fate now, Noctorro?"
The other Fuzor flashed a grin from his scarlet face. "It shall be decided on the other side."
"Very well." Tigerhawk smiled as he looked back at Airachnid. "No need to be so apprehensive, my friend. All of our fates are in good hands now."
Unable to do anything else, Airachnid screamed as they were all consumed by light.
* * *
"What is going on?!"
Gnashteeth stormed down the front steps of the Predacon fortress. Before his eyes, a tempest of energy swirled between the twin prongs of the Talon Valley space bridge. It was not at all like anything he had seen before.
"Who activated the space bridge?" he bellowed. "Only I have the activating codes!"
"The space bridge is not yours to command." Standing in front of the device were two Eukarians Gnashteeth did not recognize, both bearing bizarre features. The one speaking to him was green and blue with features of both a lizard and a dragonfly. "It belongs to all of Eukaris."
Gnashteeth sneered at them. "You dare question my command? I am Eukaris' rightful ruler! All of it belongs to me!"
"No," the other Eukarian said, a permanent grin on his bulbous head. "Only Onyx is supreme."
Onyx? Gnashteeth opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off by a loud cackle.
"Oh, this is just brilliant," Tarantulas said, clapping his hands. "If only Prowl could see this now. He would be so incredibly jealous."
Gnashteeth whirled on him. "Do you know anything about this?!"
Tarantulas chuckled. "Let me put it this way: You should actually be grateful for this."
"Why?!" Gnashteeth snarled.
"This is a much better way to conquer the world."
The Predacon leader could only stare at him in confusion as behind him the space bridge exploded in a blast of energy.
When the sun rose again, not a single soul remained on the world of Eukaris.
TO BE CONTINUED
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