ELEVEN: ALPHA AND OMEGA
Autobot City, Earth
As soon as he had materialized on the transmat pad, Prowl began running in the direction of where the Timemaze was being kept. He could already hear Elita-One calling after him, but there was no time to waste. Converting to his motorcycle form in order to pick up speed, he eventually made it to Perceptor’s lab where the device had been installed. There, both the Autobot scientist and Brainstorm were standing in front of the Timemaze, staring at its multitude of screens which appeared to be going haywire.
“What’s going on?” Prowl asked as he shifted back to his robot mode.
“It just turned on all by itself!” Brainstorm exclaimed. “Thought we heard some voice coming from it… like someone was trying to call out to us.”
“That could easily have been a form of interference,” said Perceptor. “Still, I can corroborate that neither of us were near the Timemaze when it started—”
He was cut off by a blast of static coming from the monitors. On one of the screens, Prowl could make out the vague shape of someone’s head through the veil of white noise. His audio receptors automatically readjusted themselves as they picked up on what indeed sounded like a voice.
“Hel-o? C-n an-on- -ea- -e?”
“See?” Brainstorm said. “I told you it sounded like a person.”
Prowl shushed him before stepping closer to the monitors. Tentatively, he asked, “Who is this?”
“M- -ame i- G-gawa-t. I- cal-in- fr-m—”
Static obfuscated the rest of the speech. Frowning, Prowl looked over at the Timemaze’s controls, which connected to the device’s archway. “Perceptor, is there anyway you can pinpoint where they’re calling from?”
“I have not had the opportunity to properly study the Timemaze and how it operates.” Perceptor sighed. “But I can try.”
“Please. And quickly.” Prowl then paused as a thought crossed his mind. It was not a pleasant thought, but as he began to think about what could possibly be at stake, he realized that he may very well not have any other choice. “Actually, on second thought, give me a minute.”
With that, he quickly departed from the lab and made his way down to the brig, where Tarantulas was still sitting in his cell. As Prowl approached the cell, the Predacon scientist looked up and began to cackle.
“It’s already begun, hasn’t it?”
Prowl glared at him. “What are you talking about? Do you know what’s going on?”
“Come now, Prowl. Haven’t our conversations taught you anything?” Tarantulas brought his hands up and tapped his fingers together. “I have finally gotten their attention, despite your efforts to stop me. It won’t be long now.”
“Whatever.” Prowl opened the door to the cell and brought out a pair of stasis cuffs. “I need you to come with me. Someone is trying to contact us through the Timemaze and I need you to help us figure out where they are calling from.”
Tarantulas laughed. “As if I would help you, especially now of all times. Come now, Prowl. How naive can you really be?”
Prowl scowled. “If you won’t come willingly, then I will drag you there myself.”
“You can do that.” Tarantulas tapped his chin. “Or… you can check on your little techno-organic friend.”
Prowl’s scowl became a frown. “Sari?”
“I said: Or you can check on your little—”
Without waiting for him to finish, Prowl closed the cell again before running off again, this time searching for Sari Sumdac. As he went from room to room looking for her, Wheeljack came running up to him with an incredibly concerned expression on his faceplate.
“Prowl, I just got a call from Prime. He says that—”
“Not now, Wheeljack,” Prowl snapped. “Have you seen Sari?”
“Uh, not recently. Why?”
“Scrap.” Pushing past Wheeljack, Prowl continued his search, his spark pulsing rapidly the entire time. Eventually, he found a room that was occupied by Professor Isaac Sumdac and, to Prowl’s relief, his daughter Sari. Upon seeing Prowl, Sari got up from the chair she had been sitting in.
“Prowl? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Prowl replied. “But it involves you.”
“Me?” Sari’s expression was one that wasn’t so much confused as it was worried. “How?”
“I’m not sure yet. Someone seems to be calling us through the Timemaze and Tarantulas is being ominous as usual. I need you to come with me.”
Sari nodded before donning her armor and using her repulsors to follow Prowl back to Perceptor’s lab. As soon as they arrived, Prowl saw that the viewscreens on the Timemaze were no longer showing static but were instead blank, showing nothing but a black screen.
“Did it shut off?” Prowl asked.
“I do not believe so,” Perceptor replied. “I’m still detecting an output of energy. Plus, I can still hear it humming as if it were still activated.”
“We didn’t hear anything else from… whoever that was,” said Brainstorm. “We’re still trying to pinpoint just where exactly—”
He was cut off by the sound of skidding as Wheeljack came peeling into the room, rolling on the tires built into his feet. “Prowl, this is really serious,” the Autobot scientist said. “Prime just called me and he says that the Ark’s records have been entirely erased!”
Prowl stared at him, mouth agape. “What?”
“And what’s more is that I can’t even get access to Teletraan-I! I haven’t gone to the Command Center yet, but I radioed Elita, and she said—”
“Uh, guys?” Sari said quietly. “Something’s happening on the monitors.”
Prowl turned back around, and instantly froze. The screens of the Timemaze were back on, and a face was now clearly visible on the screen. A face that, while not an exact match, was a dead ringer for Megatron.
From all screens, a cold yet smooth voice spoke. “I am alpha and omega. The beginning and the end.”
At that moment, the Timemaze’s archway came to life as a portal materialized within it. Through the portal, Prowl could make out the outline of a large figure with massive, almost dragon-like wings. While he did not recognize the strange mech, Sari appeared to, as she immediately deployed her arm blades.
“No. No! Not you! It can’t be…”
She let out a cry of rage as she lunged at the incoming figure, moving too fast for Prowl to stop her. The face on the screens continued speaking.
“I am that which is, which was, and is yet to come.”
“Sari!” Prowl ran forward, summoning one of his throwing stars to his hands. The silhouetted figure raised an arm, which seemed as if it ended in a dragon’s tail, and extended it towards Sari, catching her with its clawed end. The figure then raised their other arm and unleashed a stream of fire at Prowl, causing him to stagger back.
“And you will know my name is Megatron when I lay my vengeance upon you.”
When Prowl recovered from the attack, the figure was already walking back into the portal, taking Sari with him. Without a second thought, and ignoring the warning cries from Perceptor and the others, Prowl ran after them, stepping through the portal and falling towards whatever destination awaited him.
Savage Land
Grimlock groaned as his systems booted back online. His visual sensors came on and he was greeted with the sight of a ceiling made of green. He quickly realized that the ceiling was in fact a canopy of treetops, and that he was back in the jungle rather than in the Predacons’ fortress.
Sitting up, he saw that the other Dinobots were nearby, coming back online as well. Slash was tending to them, and as Grimlock looked down he saw that Wheelie was by his side.
“What… what happened?” Grimlock asked. “How did…?”
“The fortress collapsed,” Wheelie explained, forgoing his usual rhyming scheme for the sake of clarity. “Sky Lynx managed to dig us out, and then we found you. The Predacons are all scattered; no idea what they could be up to. They’re probably just as confused as we are.”
“Where’s Sky Lynx now? Did he say what happened to him when we lost contact with him?”
“He says he had spotted Predaking arriving on the island. He went to confront them but got knocked out. He’s out searching for them and Tripredacus now.”
“Shouldn’t do it alone,” Grimlock grunted. “Should have waited until we were available to help.”
“I know,” Wheelie said. “I tried to tell him, but… he seemed pretty confident about his abilities.”
“Hn. Just like Sky Lynx to do that.” Grimlock looked around, noticing the presence of several Maximals. Many of them appeared to be wearing morose expressions, not just out of confusion or shock from what had just happened. “Did everyone make it out okay?” he asked tentatively.
Wheelie looked down. “Some Maximals were lost in the fight with the Predacons as well as the fortress’ collapse. I believe one of the casualties was Vicarius, your… doppelganger.”
“Hn,” was all Grimlock had to say to that.
The next several minutes passed on in solemn silence; a silence which was broken by the sound of thrusters as Sky Lynx swooped in from above and landed amidst the impromptu Maximal-Dinobot camp.
“My friends, I am afraid I have lost sight of the two terrible titans,” the massive Autobot said. “But not to worry! I can carry us all back to Autobot City so we can regroup and strategize our next plan of action!”
“Are you sure you can carry us all?” asked Rhinox from the group of Maximals. “There’s quite a few of us…”
“Oh, you would be surprised, my friend. Size can be deceiving, especially when you take mass-shifting into account!”
“Wheeljack told me that mass-shifting was a myth,” Rhinox muttered.
Sky Lynx seemed to disregard the remark as he converted to his transport mode, lowering his ramp. Figuring that there was not much point in arguing otherwise, the Dinobots and Maximals began to board the large Autobot. As they did, Grimlock spotted Primal and moved over to walk alongside the Maximal leader.
“Were you able to rescue everyone that the Preds had captured?” he asked.
Primal dipped his head. “I did a headcount and we seemed to have gotten everyone… save for the ones we lost in the fortress’ collapse. Also… we haven’t found any sign of Lio Convoy.”
Grimlock stopped to look at him. “Should we go back for him?”
Primal sighed. “We looked everywhere for him—you guys were out for a long time—but there’s still been nothing. Everyone else is accounted for, dead or alive, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t have turned up. Unless, of course, the Preds have already taken him.”
“So, what? You want to leave without him?”
“Of course not… but a part of me feels that if he wanted us to find him, we would have.”
Grimlock tilted his head. “What makes you say that?”
“Reintegrating with us hasn’t been easy for him ever since the whole Mayhem incident.” Primal shrugged. “Even I still have a hard time trusting him now. I feel that, if he is still alive, he’s probably gone off on his own again, perhaps to find atonement through some other means. And if that is the case… then I feel that we should leave him to it.”
Grimlock grunted. “Not sure how I feel about that.”
“I know,” Primal said. “But at this point, we don’t really have many options. Maybe once we’re back at Autobot City, we can figure things out once we’ve talked with Elita and Optimus.”
With that, the two of them followed the others in boarding Sky Lynx, and within moments they were taking off, leaving the Savage Land behind. None of them knew why a portion of the land had inexplicably broken off and was now floating in the sky, but right now Grimlock did not want to dwell on such questions. There was still too much for him to sort out.
Making his way to where the other Dinobots and Wheelie were sitting, Grimlock took a seat opposite the rest of them. When he spoke, he addressed them all, but his optical sensors were focused on Slag.
“How is everyone feeling?”
Snarl shrugged. “Glad to finally be leaving this place.”
“Same,” agreed Sludge.
“Hope I don’t see any more Predacons for a while,” said Swoop.
Slag met Grimlock’s gaze and snorted. “Better than earlier, I guess.”
Grimlock merely nodded. The Dinobots had never been the most vocal or open bunch; what they said here was probably the best he was going to get.
And he didn’t see much problem with that.
A quarter of an hour had passed when Sky Lynx’s voice cut in over the intercom. “We… seem to have a problem, I’m afraid.”
Grimlock stood up from his seat, as did Primal. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t get in touch with Autobot City. In fact, I can’t get in touch with anyone.”
“Could be interference still,” suggested Primal. “Just fly us straight back to Autobot City and we can—”
“That’s just it, Primal; Autobot City is gone!”
“What?!” Grimlock exclaimed.
“Apparently the Savage Land is floating just above where Autobot City would be… but it isn’t there. In fact, nothing is there. It’s all just vegetation and animals and… I don’t see even the smallest hint of human life!”
Murmurs broke out among the crew. Grimlock exchanged a glance with Primal, who seemed to share in his consternation. Before either of them could say anything, Sky Lynx spoke again.
“And… this is the strangest part, and I wanted to save it for last because there was no way I could lead with it… but there’s a second moon in the sky.”
To this, no one had anything to say. No one but Primal Major, who crossed his arms and huffed.
“Well, that’s just prime.”
* * *
Light years away, on a discreet alien planet, Bug Bite was filled with glee.
Everything was going exactly as he had hoped. Expanse was still locked in his alternate mode, unable to transform or escape. No one had any idea where in the galaxy he was, and even if they did there was no way they could stop him at this point. It was all about to go down. He had finally won.
There was just one last matter to address.
“It’s happening,” he said to the gathered holograms of Cybertronians projecting in front of him. “I’m finally about to set things right.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Crasher, crossing her arms. “After all these years, you really think this wild plan of yours is going to work?”
“Patience is always rewarded, old friend,” Bug Bite replied, grinning wickedly. “We may have had our setbacks, but it is all going to be worth it in the end.”
“’We?’” Bad Boy laughed rudely. “Don’t include all of us in this, pinhead. I certainly didn’t want any part in your lunacy.”
“Well, if you want me to take all of the credit, I gladly will.” Bug Bite’s optics went from one hologram to the next until they finally landed on one mech in particular, whose hateful eyes were glaring back at him. “Anything to say, Cy-Kill, before I commence the atonement of our people?”
Cy-Kill, leader of the Renegades, scowled at him. “If any of this ends up screwing things up worse than they already are, I’m going to have your head, Bug Bite.”
Bug Bite smirked. “I appreciate your support.”
He then pointed a remote control at Expanse, and with the press of a button the ex-Decepticon converted to robot mode, still unable to move or speak. He pressed another button and Expanse’s transwarp drive was immediately engaged.
“You know,” Bug Bite continued, “I had prepared a speech, but I don’t think any words would do this momentous occasion justice. So instead, all I shall say is… long live Gobotron!”
All the gathered Renegades could do was watch from afar as a great bright light emitted from Expanse’s transwarp drive and engulfed the whole world in white.
* * *
Prowl grunted as he landed on the ground, face first. The floor was metal, but it didn’t look like the floor of Perceptor’s lab. If anything, it made him think of Cybertron more than anything else.
He quickly got up to his feet… and immediately saw that he was, in fact, on Cybertron. Great metal spires stretched towards the sky, rising higher than any building he had seen on Cybertron, both before and after the Great War. From where he stood, he could see a variety of Cybertronians walking and driving about, both Autobot and Decepticon alike. But what stood out to him the most were the Transformers that looked unlike anything Prowl had seen before, with alien forms that looked almost as much organic as they were robotic.
As Prowl tried to take it all in, he noticed the approach of two Cybertronians, both bearing the same “alien” look. One of them, bearing a silver and maroon color scheme, nodded their head in greeting to Prowl.
“Welcome, offworlder. I understand that you may have some questions.”
“Offworlder?” Prowl frowned in confusion. “This is Cybertron, isn’t it? I’m from here.”
“Yes, but this is not your Cybertron. This is Axiom Nexus.”
“Axiom Nexus?” Prowl shook his head. “I… I don’t understand. You see, I stepped through this portal and…”
“Don’t worry,” said the other strange mech, clad in yellow armor plating. “We’ve heard all kinds of stories about how one ends up in Axiom Nexus. You are not the first, nor will you be the last.”
“Can you send me back then? Someone captured a friend of mine and I’m trying to find her.”
The silver mech frowned. “I’m afraid that we cannot do that. Not because we do not want to, but because….”
“Because what?” Prowl snapped.
“Because,” said the yellow bot, “there is nothing to send you back to. Your universe has been erased.”
All Prowl could do was gape in shock, unwilling to accept the words he had just heard. The silver bot picked up on his distress and stepped forward to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. At least, it was supposed to be reassuring, but it hardly did the trick.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Silverbolt, New Arrivals Coordinator for Axiom Nexus. I will help you through processing and we can—.”
Prowl was no longer listening. Before this “Silverbolt” even had a chance to finish, he kicked his legs up onto the other bot’s body and struck Silverbolt’s face with his foot. He then launched himself off the other mech and transformed to his motorcycle mode, speeding past the pair and zipping into the streets of Axiom Nexus, dodging security bots left and right.
“We’ve got a runner!” he heard the yellow bot cry. “This is Commander Cheetor to all units! We’ve got a Prowl from an undesignated Primax stream fleeing through the streets!”
From all directions, security bots came running towards Prowl, transforming into their alternate modes to take pursuit. However, many of them had bodies that were far more wider and clunkier than his, and his sleek motorcycle form allowed him to navigate through small and narrow spots much easier than they could.
For once, he was actually thankful for Tarantulas for giving him this new body….
Still, he knew that his pursuers would not be giving up any time soon. He needed to find a place to hide, but even if this planet was Cybertron, this “Axiom Nexus” place was foreign to him, its layout nothing like Iacon. As he took a detour down an alleyway, he saw a robed figure standing in the middle of his path. Converting to robot mode, Prowl jumped up onto the walls and was about to run across them in order to avoid the obstacle only for the robed mech to suddenly reach out and grab him, pulling him off the walls.
As Prowl struggled to escape, the mech spoke to him in a hushed tone. “Come with me. I can help you hide.”
Something about the mech’s voice sounded awfully familiar, but he could not place it as he instinctively followed the mech into a small alcove. He could still hear the sirens of his pursuers wailing as the robed mech inputted a code into a hidden door, which opened and the pair quickly entered a small dingy room. The door slid shut behind them and the sounds of the city were muffled into silence.
Prowl exhaled to cool his overheated systems before looking to the robed mech. “Thanks for the save, stranger. I have no idea what’s going on…”
“You are not the first, nor will you be the last.” The stranger’s voice was definitely ringing a bell to Prowl’s audio receptors, but he almost did not want to believe it. It was too good to be true, and at this point he was quite fed up with deceptions and lies. “Rest assured, however, I can help you find a way home.”
“Right,” Prowl said, not bothering to conceal his doubt. “And just who do I owe my thanks to?”
The stranger turned on a small overhead light and pulled down his hood, revealing the visage of a purple and crimson mech with metal protrusions extending from his face. Not for the first time in the past ten minutes, Prowl was rendered speechless, unable to even speak the name of the bot standing before him.
“Judging by your expression, I think you know quite well who I am,” said Alpha Trion. “And rest assured… all shall be explained.”
TO BE CONTINUED
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