CHAPTER SEVEN
Infinitus blinked as he realized he was still alive.
Just seconds ago, he and Fortress Maximus had been on a collision course for Luna 1. They had crashed into the moon, tearing through it... only to end up here, over the organic world known as Earth. Why were they back here? How did they end up all the way here from Cybertron?
As Infinitus asked himself all this, he heard something transform and fall. Turning around, he saw Cerebros -- no longer in the form of Fort Max's head -- picking himself up from the floor, rubbing his own head.
"Ugh. What...?" He looked around the room in confusion. "What happened? Where are we?"
"My thoughts exactly," Infinitus commented. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Cerebros muttered. "Bit dizzy, but fine."
"The Quintessons aren't controlling you anymore?"
"I don't think so. I hope not." Cerebros looked over to the Titan's monitors, seeing the blue-green world they had arrived at. He then shifted his gaze to an adjacent monitor and saw a large white ship docking alongside them. "We have visitors."
"Friendly, I hope," Infinitus said.
"I think so. It looks like Rodimus' ship... thought I don't see how it could have caught up with us so quickly."
Infinitus shrugged. "Guess we'll find out soon enough."
* * *
"The transmat pad is ready," said Brainstorm in a monotone voice that didn't at all sound like the egotistical scientist.
"Excellent," Apex said, rising from his seat. "It would be a long drive otherwise." He turned to two Autobots standing nearby: Hardhead and Broadside. "Stay here and guard the two Primes. We'll summon you and Firedrive once everything is done."
With that, the bot controlling Optimus Prime's body strode out of the room, following shortly by everyone else. Soon, all that remained on the bridge were Rodimus, Vector Prime, and the two guards.
Once the door had hissed shut, Rodimus let out a sigh. "This is not how I thought my tenure as Prime would turn out."
"I have never known a single Prime who has ever enjoyed a sufficient period of relaxation," Vector replied.
"Yeah, well, from what I heard, Nominus had it pretty easy. It sucked for everyone else, but at least he was happy."
"Yes, but he was not a true adherent, merely a pretender like Septimus Prime," Vector said. "He never carried the Matrix like you or Optimus or Nova Prime had."
"What about you?" Rodimus asked. "Have you ever carried it?"
"Not physically, but it was unanimously agreed that it belonged to all member of the Thirteen." A gloom fell over Vector's face. "That is, before we fell apart...."
Rodimus spared a glance at the two guards, who didn't seem to be paying the Primes much attention, before whispering to Vector. "Do you know what's going on? You called Optimus 'Apex' earlier...."
Vector sighed. "They are called Titan Masters. They've taken control of you and your friends' bodies by replacing your heads."
Rodimus' eyes widened. "What?! You mean like Headmasters? So my head's actually a tiny robot?"
"Yes."
"But... how? How would they have been able to do that without anyone noticing?"
"Several Titan Masters carry special powers," Vector said. "My guess is one of them used their powers to 'paralyze' or block your sensors while the other replaced your head."
"So does that mean my real head is laying around somewhere?" Rodimus made a face, perturbed by his own suggestion. "Because I remember that's how Brainstorm pulled his Headmaster stunt...."
"Titan Masters aren't quite as... messy. It's more of an... integration. They are Cyberdroids by nature, meaning they can easily interface with larger bodies with few ill side-effects."
"That sounds... so wrong when you say it like that," Rodimus muttered. "What about Apex himself? Is he their leader?"
"It would appear so," Vector murmured. "During the Bronze Age, he was loyal to the Arisen and was leader of a triumvirate which included himself, Diac, and Ginrai."
"Wait, what?" Rodimus stared at Vector in surprise. "Ginrai is a Titan Master? As in, all this time?"
Vector nodded. "Much like Infinitus -- or Sentinel Prime, as you know him -- he upgraded into a larger body and hid himself among your ranks. He and I had a brief reunion on the Lost Light, but we never knew each other that well during the Bronze Age. Delta Magnus would have, but he had already departed by then."
Rodimus' mind was still reeling from everything he was hearing. He wondered if there were more than just Ginrai and Infinitus who had been hiding in plain sight. Then he remembered another Headmaster-like robot he and his crew had become acquainted with over a year ago....
"What about Doomshot?"
Vector glanced at him. "What about him?"
"Is he here? I remember Brainstorm had been trying to help him get his memories back. He is a Titan Master, isn't he?"
Before the ancient Prime could answer, the door to the bridge opened again and a silver and red bot appeared. Hardhead and Broadside both turned around to face him.
"Doomshot," Broadside said. "I thought you were with Apex and the others."
"Someone had to stay behind and operate the transmat pad," the Megatron-lookalike said with a shrug.
"Then shouldn't you be back there waiting to receive them?" asked Hardhead. "Because we don't need any help here."
"Actually, Furos, I think you do." Without warning, Doomshot threw his fist into Hardhead's face, knocking the green Autobot to the ground. Broadside moved to tackle him but was downed with a single shot from an arm cannon.
"Well," Vector said with a smirk. "Speak of the devil."
"Dude," Rodimus exclaimed as Doomshot began undoing his and Vector's restraints. "I have, like, a billion questions right now."
"They'll have to wait," Doomshot said. "We have to stop Apex before it's too late."
"Right," Rodimus said as he punched Doomshot in the midsection.
As Doomshot keeled over, Vector Prime lunged forward and tackled Rodimus from behind. Grabbing the younger Prime's head, Vector pulled with all his might and tore off a block of metal attached to the back of the head. The block transformed into a tiny robot and began squirming in his grasp.
"Firedrive, if you value your life, you shall cease resisting and do as I say!" Vector barked.
"Burn in the Pit, you relic!" the Titan Master screeched at him. "Your time is over! All Primes must fall in order for the new age to succeed!"
"Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before," Rodimus grunted, getting back up. "Now how about cooperating with us for a change and tell us what Apex is up to."
"Rodimus, there's no time!" Doomshot exclaimed. "Apex will have already made it to the control center! Once he gets access to the Titan, he'll--"
"He'll what?"
All three bots turned to see a large red and blue bot standing in the doorway, his gun trained on Doomshot specifically.
"Apex!" Doomshot exclaimed. "I thought you were at the control center! How did you get back here?"
"Did you really think I wouldn't have a backup teleporter?" Apex said snidely. "Besides, there was a reason I put you in charge of seeing us off; I knew you would pull off a stunt like this. I just wanted to see if you would actually do it."
"Apex, you can't do this. You... you would be endangering your entire race."
"I know, Doomshot. That's the whole point."
With that, Apex fired his gun and Doomshot's head -- or rather, his entire Titan Master body -- exploded in a million pieces. As the headless Transtector fell to the deck, Rodimus and Vector stared on in horror while Apex fixed his weapon on them.
"Now then... who's next?"
No comments:
Post a Comment