EDITED 5/23/2021 Changed the end of the last scene to not make the story even more convoluted as it is....
CHAPTER NINE
“This is why I hate machines.”
It was all Captain Fanzone could say to himself to make sense of the chaos unfolding before his very own eyes. When he had gotten a call to Sumdac Tower (or Onyx Tower or whatever it was now), he had a feeling in his gut that it would have something to do with robots; it wouldn’t have been the first time Isaac Sumdac’s inventions had gotten out of hand, at least in Fanzone’s many years in the force. However, as soon as he and his boys got to the scene of the crime, he could already tell that these weren’t Sumdac’s usual inventions.
The first thing that tipped him off was the giant gorilla wrestling with a velociraptor. At first he thought that this was all the result of a breakout at the zoo as well as the attractions at the local amusement park going haywire. But then the gorilla deployed a pair of guns from its wrist and fired them into the raptor’s face, eliciting an angered shriek before it fired laser beams from its eyes, scaring off the gorilla.
As if that wasn’t enough, not that far away a rhinoceros was charging through a horde of giant bugs, among them a fire ant that changed shape into a humanoid robot and drew a pair of blasters, unloading them on the horned beast. Then there was the giant rat having it out with a scorpion with a cobra for a tail… and then there were the giant spiders.
It was all too much for Fanzone to handle. He felt like he was having a fever dream.
“Sir?” One of his officers shook him by the shoulder, rousing him from his stupor. “What are your orders?”
Shaking his head to clear his addled mind, Fanzone said, “Just do what you can to keep citizens out of harm’s way. Don’t provoke any of these… things unless told to.”
“Are we just going to let them fight?”
“For now,” Fanzone muttered. “At least until I call in the big guns….”
* * *
“You still don’t understand, do you?”
The only thing Sari knew she understood was to avoid the fire-breathing dragon at all costs. As she hurled two orbs of energy at the raging Onyx Prime, she flew over to Verity and moved the unarmored girl out of the way as the dragon unleashed a column of flames in their direction. While Kicker proceeded to strike at Onyx with his blade, Sari escorted Verity back out into her father’s office before closing the entrance and returning to the fight.
“In my age, there were dozens of Primes,” Onyx went on, swinging a tail at Kicker to knock him aside. “After the Quintessons were driven off Cybertron, many of us were eager to assert dominance over our own planet. We claimed the name ‘Prime’ as a title; it had been a designation used by the Quintessons to distinguish the best of the best from each ‘production line,’ though most people simply associated it with Primus to give it some semblance of divine meaning. Before long, you had Primes ruling over every corner of the planet.”
Unsheathing her arm blades, Sari lunged at the dragon and delivered a quick series of slashes to its face. A low growl rumbled from its throat as it snapped at her and she barely moved out of the way in time before she could be consumed by its mighty jaws.
“But that’s the problem with power. When you divide it between so many people, it’s only a matter of time before it gets to their heads and they start hungering for more. Before anyone knew it, fifty Primes had become twenty-six and twenty-six was soon whittled down to just thirteen.”
He unleashed another blast of fire from his maw, spreading all around the room. While Sari and Kicker managed to avoid it, the vats and machinery that occupied the room were not so lucky and were quickly beginning to melt. The Underbase remained unscathed however, continuing to light the room with its golden glow.
“I only claimed the title for myself out of necessity. To protect my own kind from those who would oppress them. In a perfect world, I would have spent all of my years as lonely shepherd, helping those in need of guidance. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We never have.”
“You realize that still makes you part of the problem you’re trying to solve, right?” Kicker said as he went in for another slash with his blade. “By calling yourself a Prime and everything.”
Onyx chuckled. “I am aware of that. It changes nothing.”
“So what happens when your plan doesn’t work out?” asked Sari. “If people don’t turn against Optimus Prime or Rodimus Prime like you think they will, what then?”
The dragon shrugged. “Then I’ll kill them. And anyone else who claims the title of Prime.”
“Then, what, you’ll kill yourself? Or are you thinking about getting a name change?”
“By the time I’m done, my name will be irrelevant. Only when the universe is rid of all Primes will I be able to rest and return to my simple life as ‘Onyx the Shepherd.’ But until then, I will proudly carry the title until it is properly done justice once and for all.”
“Oh. I get it now,” Kicker said. “You’re just a maniac. Gotcha.”
“Question my sanity, will you?” Onyx growled. “Then you may join your precious Primes in the AllSpark!”
Just as the dragon opened its mouth to release another breath of flame, Kicker dove in and drove his sword straight into the beast’s maw, striking something within. Onyx started making gagging sounds as Kicker drove his blade deeper and deeper. Suddenly, a small explosion erupted from the dragon’s mouth and Kicker was sent flying back, crashing into a wall. His sword clattered to the floor while sparks sputtered out from the dragon’s mouth.
“Im— impressive.” Metal clanged together as the dragon changed shape, taking on the form of a winged bipedal robot. “Perhaps I’ve underestimated you two. I’m sure you would have made excellent warriors under my command. It’s a shame I have to destroy you both.”
“Shame this,” Sari said as she flung two orbs of energy from her hands. They simultaneously struck Onyx Prime in the face, which was enough to push the ancient Transformer a step back. Not giving him a second to recover, she lunged and attacked him with her arm blades, slashing at his face in a flurry of motion. Onyx growled in irritation and moved to grab her only for her to move out of his reach.
“Your efforts are futile,” Onyx Prime rumbled. “Techno-organic or not, you are nonetheless susceptible to the same vulnerabilities as any other human. Sooner or later, you will become too tired to continue attack me and thus be left at my mercy.”
“He’s right,” Kicker said weakly from where he laid. “We can’t keep at this forever. Something has to give.”
“Well, we can’t give up now!” Sari protested. “There’s no way I’m backing down and letting him do whatever it is he plans to do.”
“You won’t have to.” Pulling himself up, Kicker retrieved his sword before levitating up into the air. “Besides… he can’t carry out his plans with the Underbase… if he doesn’t have an Underbase to work with.”
“What do you think you’re—” Onyx Prime’s eyes narrowed before widening in realization. “No. You wouldn’t. You don’t know what effect that would have!”
“I think have a pretty good idea,” Kicker said, turning to face the Underbase. “And it’s a price I’m willing to pay.”
“Kicker?” Sari said quietly. “What are you doing?”
“It’s been nice getting to know you, Sari,” Kicker replied as he raised his sword. “I’m sorry it had to come to this.”
“Wait, don’t—”
“NO!” Onyx Prime lunged forward, but it was too late. Kicker had already stabbed the Underbase with his blade and the entire world went white.
* * *
“Give up, Maximal!” Terrorsaur squawked as he clawed at Cheetor’s face with his talons. “We outnumber you! There is no hope for—”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before,” Cheetor snapped as he threw a fist into the red pteranodon’s face, knocking the Predacon to the ground. “We’ve dealt with you guys before and we’ll do it again ten times if we have to!”
“Don’t be so sure!” Terrorsaur cackled. “Our glorious leader has something up his servo. I have no idea what it is, but I’m sure it’s going to be stupendous!”
“That’s heartening to know,” Cheetor muttered before throwing another punch at Terrorsaur, leaving the pteranodon laying on the ground in a disoriented state. Turning away from the Predacon, Cheetor could not help but grimace as he beheld the scene around them. Indeed, the Predacons vastly outnumbered the Maximals and Autobots, with many of his comrades being forced to take on two or even three Preds at the same time. If this kept up, they were going to need reinforcements; otherwise, he had no idea how long they were going to last.
“Big Bot!” he called out to Primal, who had managed to subdue Dinobot for the time being. “Any chance we could call Elita for some backup?”
“Already tried that, Cheetor,” Primal replied. “I think the Predacons are scrambling communications.”
“Well, the way I see it, I don’t think we’re gonna last long against these guys,” Cheetor said, drawing his gun and firing on an earwig Predacon that had been trying to sneak up on him. “Dumb or not, they’ve still got the edge in numbers.”
“I wouldn’t give up just yet, Cheetor,” Primal said. “Not until we—”
He was abruptly cut off by an explosion of energy erupting from the nearby Sumdac Tower. The ground shook violently, causing the battle between Maximals and Predacons to come to a halt as yellow energy flashed all around them. Raising a hand to shield his optics from the flash, Cheetor was able to make out a giant winged figure emerging from the tower, their dark silhouette highlighted by the crackling energy surrounding them.
A sinking feeling gripped Cheetor’s spark. As difficult as it was to make out the figure’s details, it did not take long for him to associate a name with its appearance. Even then, he could barely bring himself to so much as whisper it.
“Onyx Prime….”
* * *
Everything was proceeding exactly as he had foreseen.
The Predacon who now called himself Megatron watched as things continued to unfold below the Darksyde. Onyx Prime had just made his appearance, bringing the battle to a standstill. The Underbase had seemingly been destroyed, though its residual energies continued to crackle like lightning in a storm. The window of opportunity for the next part of his plan was quickly narrowing, but Megatron was confident that it would go just as smoothly as everything else had.
Besides, the Talisman had already showed him just how things were going to go. When he and Steel Jaw had interacted with the ancient device during their scuffle, it had flung him into a dimension that laid beyond space and time. All of his history was laid out before him like an intricate tapestry, allowing him to see every event in great detail and even how they were intimately connected with other events. It had allowed him to witness everything that had happened leading up to his creation… as well as everything that would happen upon his return.
That was how he came to realize who he was meant to be; the name that was rightfully his. He had seen his future, his destiny, and he was going to do everything he could to bring it to fruition.
This was just the beginning, of course. There was still much, much more that needed to be done.
While the Predacons and Maximals below gawked at Onyx Prime’s arrival, Megatron directed his attention to the communications unit. Moments earlier, it had intercepted a message transmitted from one of the Maximals to their giant Autobot base in the sky and blocked it from reaching its destination. Now that the right moment had finally arrived, Megatron pressed a switch to allow the message to finally transmit to its intended receiver.
With no one else present on the Darksyde’s bridge, Megatron allowed himself to laugh, loudly and proudly. It felt so good to be in control of what would become a historical event like this. He could get used to this.
And he knew he would.
* * *
“Sari? Sari! Are you okay?”
Sari coughed as she burst out of the rubble that had once been the Project: Cadmus facility. Her entire body ached while dust and soot covered her armor plating, getting into the vents of her facemask which caused her to inhale them. As the dust settled, she could make out a concerned Verity trying to dig her out, using all of her might to move the piece of rubble that was currently pinning Sari’s legs.
“Hang on,” Sari coughed. “I’ve got it.” She unsheathed one of her arm blades and, once Verity had moved out of the way, brought it down on the slab of concrete. The blade neatly sliced it in half and released her legs. Verity then helped her to her feet, though it took her a moment to find her balance.
“It’s a miracle that you managed to survive all that,” Verity remarked. “Looks like your friend wasn’t so lucky.”
Sari couldn’t bring herself to look in the direction where Kicker and the Underbase had been, not wanting to see the grim results of his sacrifice. “Is Onyx Prime still here?” she asked quietly. “The big dragon robot?”
“Yeah, he’s right behind you,” Verity muttered. “He hasn’t done or said anything yet. His back’s turned to us, so it should be safe for you to look.”
Taking a deep breath (which simply triggered another coughing fit), Sari turned around and looked up at Onyx Prime. The ancient Prime stood there with his wings spread wide, the residual energies of the Underbase flashing around him. The explosion had blown a wide enough hole in the tower that gave her a good look at what was happening outside. The Maximals and Predacons — good and bad beast Transformers from what she had been told — appeared to be in the middle of a battle along with her three Autobot companions. A claw-shaped starship hovered in the sky above, watching over everything like a vast, predatory bird.
Time seemed to have crawled to a standstill. No one was moving or doing anything; the combatants below were frozen in shock staring at Onyx Prime and Onyx Prime himself was immobile. The crackling energy seemed to be the only thing that was actually moving.
Frowning to herself, Sari turned to Verity and was about to say something… only to realize that the other woman had also frozen in place. It was as if someone had just pressed the pause button on a movie. Before Sari could wrap her mind over what was happening, she felt a shadow fall over her. Swallowing hard, she slowly turned around to look up at the large robot standing over her. From the black and purple armor plating and the spider-like appendages hanging off his back, Sari immediately recognized him as one of the Predacons she had encountered back in Verenya.
“So this is it, then,” she exhaled. “This is how I die.”
Tarantulas cackled in response. “Now that, little one, is dependent entirely on whether or not you do exactly as I say.”
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