CHAPTER THREE
"It is with great honor that I would wish to present you: His Maximum Superiority, the First Resistor, the esteemed Beast King of Eukaris... Leo Prime!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as Leo Prime stepped onto the stage, crimson royal robes cascading from his shoulders all the way to his feet. He stopped to gaze upon his subjects, a number of them Maximals who had served under him during the Beast Wars. Even some of his detractors were among those chanting his name.
"Yes, no more shall we suffer from Magmatron's iron grip. Today is a new day for Eukaris. A day for peace. A day for freedom. A day...."
Suddenly, a pair of claws grabbed onto Leo Prime's robes and tore them off. The crowd's cheers turned into gasps of shocks.
"...for lies!"
Leo Prime looked down at himself and his optics went wide in horror. No longer was he in his Maximal lion form but in the body he had when he was an Autobot; when he was known as Lio Convoy.
"All this time, your valiant leader was a pretender to the throne! Rather than a true-born Eukarian, he was in fact an Autobot hidden among your ranks; molded from the same cast as the oppressive Nova Prime!"
Boos and jeers rumbled from the masses. Even those who had once been Autobots themselves, such as Primal and Rhinox, were taunting him. As the mocking grew louder, Leo felt himself be grabbed from behind and hoisted up in the air.
"Let the Sword of Liege Maximo fall where it may."
With that, the disgraced Prime was thrown into the crowd... and landed onto nothing. The crowd, the stage, all of it had disappeared, leaving him in an empty white void containing only himself and the giant looming over him.
"You know," Scorponok said as he stepped over to Leo, "one cannot help but take a step back and truly admire the irony that is here on display."
Leo Prime clenched his fists as he slowly rose to his feet. "What irony?"
"Here we have you: an Autobot who masquerades as a Maximal and seeks to rule over Eukaris." Scorponok gestured aimlessly into the void. "And on the other side, we have a former ruler of Eukaris who thinks he's the Autobot leader himself."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you want to know why I came to Earth?" Scorponok did not wait for an answer before continuing. "Nearly two hundred years ago, I learned that a ship of Eukarians had landed on Earth around the time of its Ice Age. Which would have been... twenty thousand, two hundred thousand years ago? I forget."
Leo Prime looked up at him in surprise. "That long ago? Our history barely covers a fraction of that time frame."
Scorponok grinned. "Oh no, that's just where they ended up after their special cargo started acting strangely. The crew themselves hailed from more... modern times. Of course, some say Domitius Major is old enough to have served alongside Onyx Prime himself."
"Domitius Major?" Leo Prime recognized that name as that of the first Beast King of Eukaris. "But... Magmatron killed him when he took the throne."
"Were you there when that happened?" Scorponok asked pointedly.
"No, but--" Leo Prime shook his head. He knew that Scorponok was trying to toy with him. "Forget it. So what did you do with the crew when you found them?"
Scorponok chuckled. "Oh, I didn't have to do anything; Shockwave had already beaten me to the punch. I don't know how, when, or why, but I had discovered from some of his notes that he had found Domitius' crew and brainwashed them into thinking they were Autobots and Decepticons of high note. Domitius became Optimus Prime, Cyclops became Shockwave himself... and since then they've been fighting a Great War all their own, here on Earth.
"When I first came to this world, I was only in search of a special energon ore Shockwave had seeded the planet with. But then I uncovered his other devices and that led me to something that could be of much greater use than some modified energon."
"Go on then," Leo Prime muttered when the Decepticon fell silent. "What was it you found?"
Scorponok laughed. "Oh, you won't be getting me to spill the beans that easily. Besides, I prefer to keep some surprises in the mystery box. But don't worry; when the world comes crashing down around you...."
Leo Prime suddenly started to scream as his sensors were assaulted with white noise.
"...all will become clear."
* * *
No one was present outside the Onyx Tower by the time Scourge, Bumblebee and his human allies got to it. There weren't even any automated defenses to be had, which Verity thought would have been a given after having a bunch of giant robots at their doors.
After driving to a halt, Bumblebee let out his passengers before transforming to join Scourge at the entrance. "So how do you plan on getting in?" the yellow Autobot asked.
"One would think it would be simple enough to just blast their way in," Scourge mused aloud. "But I don't think it would be that simple. Do you?"
Bumblebee gave him a confused look. "Um, I guess. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try."
"Oh, it very well could. It could even be lethal. Imagine if one of our shots bounced off and hit us directly in the--"
"Okay, we get it already!" Verity snapped. "Can you just do something already?"
Scourge chuckled. "Feisty, that one is," he murmured to Bumblebee as he drew a large red blade from his back. It flashed with energy as he plunged it into the front of the tower, effortlessly cutting an opening for the two robots.
As the metal wall fell away, they were greeted to the sight of over a dozen human workers, all staring at the sword-wielding Scourge in fear. One of them, a man with blond hair, looked in Bumblebee and the others' direction and his eyes went wide.
"Charlie? Miko? What are you--"
"Do not panic, humans!" Scourge boomed to the frightened crowd. "We are only hear to tear down your life's work. Stand aside and no harm shall come to you."
"Scourge, wait!" Bumblebee protested. "What do you think you're doing?"
Scourge fixed him with a weary look. "I just said, didn't I?"
"You can't just destroy everything in sight without regard! That's not the Autobot way!"
"Who says I'm an Autobot?"
Bumblebee frowned. "You said--"
"I said I was a bit of both Autobot and Decepticon," Scourge snapped. "But in truth, I am neither. I am something much, much more."
With that, he turned on his heel and charged further into the building, sword raised high. The human workers scrambled out of the way as the black robot began trashing the room, hacking and slashing at computers and terminals.
While his colleagues ran to safety, the blond man made a beeline for Bumblebee and the others, throwing himself into Charlie's awaiting arms. After embracing her for a moment, he stepped back to regard her and Miko.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice croaking with both fear and relief. "You should have gotten as far away from here as possible."
"We would've been," Verity muttered. "But Herbie here wanted to go back."
"Hey, now," Bumblebee said defensively. "I told you guys to stay put. It's not my fault--"
He was cut off by the ground shaking. Everything stopped -- even Scourge had ceased his rampage -- as all eyes turned to the open entrance, looking in the direction of the beach.
The ground quaked with each step the giant, skyscraper-sized Transformer took as it lumbered out of the ocean and onto dry land. As rotary cannons swiveled out from its chest, a deep booming voice reverberated from the robot in a constant chant.
"Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave!"
Moving quickly, Bumblebee scooped up his human companions and pulled them into him as he transformed, driving off just as the giant unloaded his artillery....
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