With the Autobots now welcomed to Canterlot City, their hunt for the AllSpark resumed, but now they had the aid of everyone in town. Wheeljack and Twilight were calculating possible ways for how the other girls could activate their Armors as they showed some of the other bots around town.
In fact, at the moment; Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Sunset had just escorted their partners to Sugarcube Corner, which they were able to enter through the use of their avatars. “Nice place.” Bumblebee smiled as he looked around, pleased by the simple décor and friendly atmosphere. “Not exactly Maccadam’s, but still pretty good.”
“Easy for you to say; Maccadam’s doorman carded me every time I went in. He knew how old I was after the first time; cmon man.” Arcee rolled her eyes.
“Wait, what is this Maccadam’s place?” Sunset was right to ask; they didn’t know a lot about Cybertron.
Bumblebee just smirked. “Only the greatest bar ever to grace the face of Cybertron. Owner’s a bit eccentric; always says these weird things out of the blue that never really make any sense.”
“Except in retrospect; remember that skirmish at the Hydrax Plateau? I’m pretty certain he predicted that like three weeks before it happened.” Cliffjumper reminded.
“In the early days of the war, the bar was considered neutral ground thanks to Maccadam’s strict ‘no fighting’ policy. Nowadays… I dunno.” Arcee shrugged, glancing to the others. “You guys think he’s still there?”
“We can only hope,” Cliffjumper smirked. “After all, it’d be a shame to lose the bot with the best Engex in the universe, am I right fellas?” The others laughed in agreement at that.
“A no barfight rule in a warzone? Yeah, that doesn’t sound pointless at all.” Rainbow rolled her eyes sarcastically.
“Lemme put it to you this way; when that rule was almost broken once, even Megatron soiled his armor.” That was all Cliffjumper had to say to make sure Rainbow stayed quiet.
“Hey cmon bots, let’s not dwell on the past,” Beachcomber assured.
“Beachcomber’s right; we’ve gotta live life in the moment,” Bee smirked. “And right now, the moment calls for something to get the ol’ fluids pumpin’.”
“I hear ya.” Sunset smiled before she whistled over to the counter. “Hey Mr. Cake, can me and the girls get our usuals and four shots of espresso for our friends here please?”
“Comin’ right up.” Mr. Cake smiled back. It didn’t take long before the drinks were brought out.
Cliffjumper smirked as the bots picked up their shots. “Bottoms up, Autobots.” They clinked their glasses and knocked them back in a single move.
With Bumblebee reacting first. “Whoo! Tastes like bitter nitrous.”
“You guys drink nitrous? That’s awesome!” That seriously got Rainbow interested.
“What else is gonna get a bot awake in the morning?” Cliffjumper smirked before he noticed Arcee appeared a bit distracted. “You okay, Cee? You look kinda jumpy.”
“Sorry. Just kinda worried some ‘Con’s gonna see us parked out front and try to blow us up.” Arcee shrugged. “I’m gonna slip out, recalibrate my eyes.”
“Bathroom’s in the back; use the one with the skirt on the door.” Rainbow instructed as Arcee left. “Is she really okay?”
“She should be.” Bumblebee shrugged. “She’s ex-military intelligence; used to work with Prowl before the Ark took off. Got kinda paranoid after one assignment; won’t say what though. And I’m not about to pry.”
“I’m pretty sure Bluestreak knows somehow,” Cliffjumper smirked as he put up his feet. He was just getting ready to relax and unzip his jacket when he noticed something outside; a black Nissan Silvia S15 with red-tinted glass and brass hubcaps on the street outside. “Ah, scrap; Con, Con!” Quickly his avatar disappeared and his engine revved outside, prompting the black car to peel out down the street.
Naturally, the girls were more than a bit confused when they saw Cliffjumper take off after the car, as were the other bots as Beachcomber quickly turned on his com-unit. “Cliff, what’s going on?”
“It’s Deadlock; he was watchin’ us, and I’m goin’ after him.”
“Deadlock?! You can’t take him on alone! I’m on my way!” Bumblebee quickly deactivated his avatar and drove off after them at top speed. “Bumblebee to Prowl; Cliffjumper and I are pursuing Deadlock south down Fifth. We need backup.”
“Roger that, Bumblebee; Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are en route,” Prowl reported.
“Arcee, we’re gonna need some assistance just in case. Arcee?” The lack of an answer was scaring Bumblebee more than a bit. “Arcee, do you copy? Beachcomber, Arcee isn’t responding; find her.”
“Girls are already on it.” Beachcomber was right; Sunset and Rainbow had dashed to the restroom and kicked open the door to find Arcee on the floor, bound and gagged.
“Arcee, what happened?” Sunset asked seriously, ripping the duct tape off her mouth.
“Gah! Ow, now I know how you feel when you wax.” Arcee growled as she sat up. “It’s Flamewar; she knocked me out and I think she’s rigging my body to blow.” Beachcomber heard that and quickly deactivated his hologram, transforming into his bot-mode just in time to see Flamewar come around the corner behind the building holding a small block-like structure.
Quickly, Beachcomber raised a small pistol to the fem-bot to hold her back. “Whoa there, spark-sister. I’m gonna need you to put that down.”
“I’m not your sister, Autobot.” Flamewar snarled in derangement. “But Arcee… Oh Arcee, my beloved… we have so much catching up to do.”
She was about to attack but was interrupted by Arcee suddenly transforming and drawing two large Energon swords from her backpack. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll pass.”
“What? How? The inhibitor claw-”
“Ya mean this thing?” Rainbow yelled, tossing a small metal device at Flamewar, which latched right on to her breastplate, locking her bow – which she was in the process of drawing – on her back.
Flamewar snarled but laughed inanely at Arcee. “I don’t need weapons to defeat you, Arcee.” And she started to prove it as the two entered a powerful hand-to-hand battle, with Flamewar matching and parrying every one of Arcee’s strikes and eventually knocking her straight to the ground. “I’ve trained for countless cycles to destroy you in every way I know you hate. A pity he couldn’t be here to see you die.” That statement alone seemed to awaken something in Arcee as a bright red visor flipped in front of her optics. “You know who I mean, don’t you? Poor Ch-”
She almost dropped the name before Arcee spun around and backhanded her. Hard. The force of her attack even sent her spinning around in a daze before she faced Arcee again, who grabbed her by the shoulder plate. “I’ve tried to hold back. But just know, if you ever even think his name again, I will personally scrap you.”
“Not when I scrap you first.” Flamewar smirked… before Arcee felt a stabbing pain in her midsection, caused by the knife her rival had just stabbed into her right waist. “And I will scrap you.”
She nearly made good on her word when she ripped the inhibitor claw off her breastplate and drew her bow, aiming a plasma arrow straight at Arcee’s head… only to be reminded that they weren’t alone at the sound of Beachcomber’s pistol cocking behind her head. “I may not like this war, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight for my friends.”
Flamewar scowled over her shoulder at the dune buggy but smirked back down at Arcee as she lowered her bow. “Some other time then, my beloved. But first, a souvenir.” She swung her bow and bashed Arcee across the chest, knocking a small shard of her upper breastplate to the ground… which Flamewar dove to grab into her hands. She breathed in deeply and gave an almost aroused sigh before she transformed and roared away.
“You okay, Cee?” Beachcomber asked, extending a hand to help her up.
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be fine.” Arcee nodded as she stood, a bit concerned about the fairly massive gash in the top of her left breastplate, exposing her metallic flesh.
“What was that all about?” asked Rainbow.
“Flamewar’s been obsessed with trying to kill me since my days with Intelligence.” Arcee shrugged. “I’ve tried talking her down, but nothing I’ve said has ever worked.”
“I just hope the others are okay.” A reasonable concern from Sunset, especially since she didn’t know what this Deadlock bot was capable of.
Though the two muscle cars would know soon enough as they roared after him, soon joined by a red Lamborghini Huracan and a gold Lamborghini Gallardo – Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in reality.
“What took you guys so long?” Bumblebee asked seriously.
“Out on patrol; had to haul chassis to make it,” Sunstreaker assured.
“Some humans wanted autographs; Sunstreaker obliged.” Sideswipe corrected.
“Well, I hope you didn’t work your finger servos too hard Sunny, cause we’ve got work to do,” Cliffjumper smirked. “I’m thinkin’ we go for a Crystal City gambit.”
“Let’s do it. Sideswipe, get ready.” Bumblebee ordered as he and Sunstreaker pulled up along Deadlock’s sides as Cliffjumper swung around front.
“Brake-check!” Cliff laughed as he slammed on his brakes, prompting Deadlock to quickly transform to bot-mode and jump over Cliffjumper… only to suddenly be shot in the back by Sideswipe, who had also transformed and brought a really big gun, knocking Deadlock into a skid down the road.
Sideswipe smirked as he walked over, pinning Deadlock to the ground with his foot. “I love the Crystal City gambit. Never fails.”
“I’ll be ready for it next time.” Deadlock smirked back at the Autobots as they surrounded him.
“You don’t tell us what we wanna know, there won’t be a next time, Butcher of Vos,” Bumblebee assured, flipping a large electrically charged stinger out from his wrist and aiming it at his face. “Now why were you watching us?”
“Megatron ordered me to run recon. And keep an eye on Flamewar.” Deadlock shrugged.
“Flamewar?!” That was more than enough reason for Bumblebee to turn on the coms. “Arcee, you okay?”
“I’m fine, Bee.” The team was surprised to see her and Beachcomber roaring up with the girls on board before transforming, with Bee seeing the break in Arcee’s armor. “Flamewar just got a few lucky hits in, took part of my breastplate as a souvenir before she left.”
“Knowing her, she’s probably gonna self-polish while smelling it.” Sideswipe shrugged, shuddering at that image. “She is seriously messed up.”
“You don’t know the half of it. And unfortunately, neither do I.” Arcee shrugged as she walked over. “And who have we here; the Butcher of Vos.”
The girls were surprised to hear that title, but Fluttershy was even more surprised to see a strange almost pained look on Deadlock’s face when he heard it. “Watching Flamewar, I can understand but why did you feel the need to run recon on the girls?” asked Cliffjumper.
“To determine the best way to take their Armor from them.” Deadlock shrugged as best he could against the ground.
“And if you just happened to add four more notches to your Autobot kill-count, that would’ve been just fine too.” Sunstreaker shrugged.
“I’m trying to change my ways.” Deadlock scowled. “Though that’s a conversation I’d prefer to have upright.”
Bumblebee scowled but stepped back a bit. “Sideswipe, let him up. Everyone keep your guns on him.” They followed their orders as Deadlock carefully stood, only for Cliffjumper to reach over and gingerly remove two blaster pistols from his belt and a massive sniper rifle from his back. “Alright, now talk.”
Deadlock sighed as he raised his hands. “The Vos Massacre wasn’t of my design. I was under orders to carry it out… by my commander at the time; General Turmoil.”
That name seemed to shake the Autobots, but not nearly as much as Arcee. “Alright, you have our attention.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Keep talkin’.”
“That attack was what really opened my optics to how far the Decepticons had fallen.” Deadlock explained. “Turmoil told me that it was an Autobot stronghold, and instead… we found it full of neutrals. Innocent civilians.” That astounded the girls as to the cruelty of the Decepticons. “When Megatron ordered our siege of this city – another innocent civilization – I found myself unable to truly do my duty.”
“So what, you wanna defect?” asked Sideswipe.
“I may as well. Megatron already suspects my spark of weakening.” Deadlock shrugged. “Plus, if you let me join, I may be able to help in more ways than one. If I may?” He indicated to his belt, to which Bumblebee nodded, allowing Deadlock to pull a large data-drive. “This is data I pulled from the computers of the Nemesis before I left. It contains the ship’s exact specifications, including how to track it.”
Sideswipe just chuckled. “Hate to cut your lifeline short Deadlock, but we’ve already got a transponder in the Nemesis’ computer system.”
Rainbow just rolled her eyes. “Three, two, one.”
Sure enough, it was exactly then that Mirage came in on the coms. “Guys, I’ve got some bad news; the transponder I placed on the Nemesis just went offline.”
“What? How’s that possible? I thought you said you hid it really well.” Arcee brought up.
“Nothing can hide on that ship for long, especially not from Soundwave.” Deadlock reminded.
Bumblebee smirked as he collapsed his stinger back into his arm. “Guess we’re gonna need that drive of yours after all, Deadlock.” He moved to claim the drive from the warrior, scowling as he laid his hand on it. “But don’t think for a nano-cycle that this means we trust you.”
“I don’t expect you to.” Deadlock nodded. “I expect to have to earn your trust. I hope this will be a good way for me to start.” He promptly reached to his chest and pulled off the Decepticon insignia, crushing it in his hand before he dropped it into a nearby trash can, which raised an eyebrow from Sideswipe. “What? I’m an ex-killer, not a monster.”
“Um, that’s good enough for me,” Fluttershy said quietly.
“I guess the rest of us still need some convincing.” Sunstreaker shrugged, locking a large pair of handcuffs onto Deadlock's wrists. “Sideswipe and I will take him back to the Ark if you guys want to stay here.”
“Unacceptable.” That computerized voice frightened everyone, especially when they saw its source; Soundwave. “Deadlock, you are deserting your post and abandoning Lord Megatron. Punishment for desertion: Annihilation.”
“Scrap.” The Autobots all jinxed. This day was about to get a lot more difficult.