EDITED 8/20/2019 Replaced Overbite with Hellscream (forgot I had already had with the G1 Seacons)
CHAPTER NINE
"I think that's the last of 'em," said Topspin as he shot down the final EVE drone, freeing the Lost Light from any harassment. "Let's rejoin Springer and the others. Looks like they could use our help."
Cyclonus circled around to follow the Jumpstarter only to notice a familiar blue shape flying out from the Lost Light.
"Rotorbolt?" he said tentatively as he approached the blue helicopter. "Are you--"
"It's Whirl, horn-head," the helicopter shot back. "Now shut it; there's wreckin' to be done."
Were it in his nature, Cyclonus would have smiled as he flew alongside Whirl and followed Topspin to the ground below.
* * *
"Enough of this!" Leo Prime roared as he struck Springer in the face with the hilt of his sword. "This was amusing at first, but we've already wasted enough time as is. Stand aside and no further harm will come to you or your friends."
"I guess you're not as familiar with our exploits as you claim," Springer grunted, swinging his blade at the lion. "Otherwise, you'd know that Wreckers never stand aside."
Leo Prime deflected the blade with his own. "Well, then... I guess you leave me no choice but to--"
"Prime!" Carnivac cried out. "Fliers inbound!"
The leader of Mayhem looked up to see a trio of flying vehicles advancing towards the ground. Before Leo Prime could give out an order, the three fliers opened fire and began taking out Monstercons and Chimeracons alike.
"Fall back!" Carnivac howled, already prancing away.
"No!" Leo Prime bellowed, grabbing the wing of a Crowcon that had been about to take off. "We didn't come all this way just to give up now! Stand and fight!"
"It's a lost cause, Prime!" Carnivac snarled. "We weren't prepared for any of this! We'll have to regroup and try again another time!"
"No," Leo Prime said, his voice dangerously soft. "There is no other time." He reached behind his back and drew a large red gun, aiming it at Carnivac. "The time is now."
The wolf's eyes went wide. "What? No! Don't--"
Leo Prime fired his gun but a surprise attack from behind by Springer set his aim askew. The blast missed Carnivac but created an explosion that sent the wolf flying. Leo Prime snarled as he spun back around to face Springer.
"You're going to regret that, Wrecker."
"Make me," Springer said as he plunged his sword into the lion-bot's shoulder.
Leo Prime cried out in agony as he staggered back, dropping both of his weapons. All around him, the remaining Monstercons and Chimeracons were beginning to retreat, some of them going after Carnivac. Too weak to stop any of them, Leo Prime could only fall to his knees as the Wreckers closed in on him.
"Can I kill him?" Guzzle asked. "Please? I wanna crush his head. Pretty please?"
"Not now, Guzzle." Springer held out a hand to Kup. "Stasis cuffs."
"Wait!" Roadbuster called out, pointing upwards. "One of 'ems climbing the building!"
Springer and the others all looked up to see a blue-gray wolf-bot scaling the Onyx Tower, already nearing the top.
"Steel Jaw?" Leo Prime murmured. "No... you fragging idiot...."
"Someone shoot him down!" Springer ordered. "Without damaging the tower!"
"Aww," Guzzle whined. "And I was just getting ready."
Roadbuster began taking aim with his rifle while Cyclonus and the other fliers began circling around the building. Steel Jaw was undeterred by all this as he reached the top of the tower, where a radar dish was situated.
"As always," the wolf Monstercon proclaimed as he produced the two Onyx devices Mayhem had procured. "It's up to me to get things done."
"Steel Jaw, don't be a fool!" Leo Prime cried out. "You don't know what you're doing!"
"I've been working with sub-sonic machinery since before you were forged, kitty-cat," Steel Jaw snarled. He tore open the dish's control panel before hooking up the two devices into it. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
Leo Prime was about to retort when the radar suddenly released a high-pitched frequency. The Wreckers all cried out in agony, with the three fliers losing control and crashing to the ground. In the sky above, the Lost Light began to veer as well, plummeting towards the ocean below....
* * *
"Gah!" Twin Twist let go of his drill, letting his Sharkticon victim fall into the sea with it, and clamped his hands over his audio sensors. "What the frag-- argh!"
Next to him, Arcee was reacting the same way while Broadside spun out of control. With Ragebyte dead and Hellscream lost to the waves, Hammerstrike was left the only bot standing on the battleship.
That's strange, she thought to herself, looking back towards the shore where the Onyx Tower was emitting the long-awaited signal. She hadn't expected it to come so soon, and without any word of warning from Leo Prime. Still, her Chimeracon body was made to be immune to the signal, leaving her unaffected unlike the Autobots.
With a shrug, she transformed to her shark form and jumped back into the sea, just as the Tidal Wave began to shift....
* * *
"Abandon ship! All hands, abandon ship! All haghk!"
Stronghorn sputtered out fluids as Cannonball dug his blades into his neck before separating his head from his body. Letting his former first mate's corpse fall to the deck, Cannonball resumed stalking around the bridge as all around him his crew jumped out of the morphing ship.
"We had a deal," he muttered to himself, throwing his body into the command chair. "You said you would alert us."
He stared out the viewport, noticing how the ground was growing further and further away. Behind and on either side of him, the room began to close in on him, the walls threatening to crush him. He did nothing to try and stop them. It was already over. The reign of Cannonball the Fifth had come to an end.
Still, as deaths went, it certainly beat being mutinied or falling into a lava pit.
As he gazed at the world one last time, he said: "For hate's sake, I with my last breath spit and curse thy name, Leo Pr--"
The walls did not wait for him to finish as they came together and crushed his body.
* * *
Leo Prime stood amidst the screaming Wreckers as he watched the Tidal Wave stand up on its legs for the first time in nearly two thousand years. The infamous Decepticon giant had been mode-locked in the final days of the First Great War and appropriated by the Star Seekers as their flagship.
Now Tidal Wave stood on the shores of Santa Cruz, poised to wreak havoc once more.
"Why the long face, Prime?" Steel Jaw asked, suddenly appearing at his side. "I thought this was what you wanted."
"Not like this," Leo Prime growled, clutching his shoulder wound. "He was supposed to come in later, after we had broadcast our message."
Steel Jaw waved a dismissive claw. "Who has time for preamble? We are called 'Mayhem' for a reason, Prime. This is what we do, and we're good at it."
A large shadow fell over the both of them. "You're also good at ruining everything."
Leo Prime turned in time to see a large purple claw fall onto Steel Jaw, smashing him into the ground. At the same time, another claw grabbed Leo Prime by the waist and the Mayhem leader was turned around to see the face of his nightmares.
"You made this mess," Scorponok said to him with a ravenous grin. "Now, you're going to help me clean it up."
TO BE CONTINUED
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