Transformers Prime: A Brave New World

by The Carolean

Chapter 23

Every set of eyes on the Nemesis fixed on Starscream. Megatron’s wide eyes looked up at the former Decepticon in shock, while Optimus and Celestia smiled at their savior. Suddenly, Megatron’s face morphed from wide-eyed shock to that of burning rage. Within an instant, the warlord returned to his feet, his gaze transfixed on Starscream. Before the traitor realized his former master had even stood, Megatron cut upward, drawing a short trail of energon from Starscream’s wing.

Starscream leapt backwards, putting some distance between his former master. He clutched his wing, feeling the energon periodically pulse onto his hands. Knowing he couldn’t survive a minute against Megatron if he was being generous, he ran, Megatron gave chase, as Starscream knew he would, his other two adversaries absent from the warlord’s mind.

Optimus had not been idle during Starscream’s distraction. The Autobot crawled towards his princess, his metal knees grinding against the deck of the Nemesis, creating an ear splitting tone. He finally reached the pony, rocking her gently in an effort to jolt her from her daze. She blinked repeatedly, focusing her mind again. “Celestia, are you hurt?” Optimus asked.

The princess tried to right herself, but howled in pain and sank back to the Nemesis’ deck. Megatron’s blow had shattered her wounded wing’s protective casing, leaving it a bloody mess of mangled feathers and crystal. “I can’t move, I’m sorry, I-”

“We have no time for apology,” Prime told her, his tone caring, but with a undertone of urgency. “Do you recall what we practiced in the forest?” he asked.

Celestia’s eyes widened as she recalled their session. “I don’t have that much magic left, but it might just be enough,” she told him.

Optimus nodded. “Do it.”

Celestia closed her eyes as she focused, using her horn as a conduit for the power contained within her. Again, Optimus felt the strength he had felt before begin to fill him, but it came to him more slowly this time than their practice session. The fight was taking its tole on Celestia.

As she transferred her strength, the light from the alicorn’s horn caught the attention of Megatron. He turned towards the light glistening out of the corner of his eye just in time to see Prime kneel in front of the white princess. He was clueless as to what they were doing, but he knew he needed to stop it.

Starscream also noticed the faint glow. Without so much as a hint of hesitation, he placed himself between his former master and the leaders. He caught Megatron’s blade in his hands, pinning its deadly edge between his armored palms. The mighty blow buckled the Seeker’s knees, a flurry of sparks raining down on his face as the blade met his hands. Megatron scowled, applying more pressure to his blade.

“Why Starscream?” Megatron asked. “You could have flead, and yet you stay. Why throw away your life so foolishly?”

“That’s a question you should be asking yourself,” the former Decepticon spat.

Megatron’s scowl intensified. He ripped his blade from Starscream’s glass, pulling the traitor with it, removing the shield that protected the Prime. He drew his blade back, prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

“Look out!” Celestia cried, her eyes wide as she stared up at the silver blade. Optimus turned, but the sword was already descending towards his mark. The weapon found a mark, spraying energon down on the alicorn under Prime. It ruptured the bot’s spark chamber, wounding him fatally. Energon sprayed down onto Celestia’s face, forcing her to close her eyes. More dripped onto her chest from Optimus’ face plate.

Starscream let out a pitiful groan as he watched his own energon drip off the point of Megatron’s sword. The warlord withdrew his blade, snarling as Starscream’s all but lifeless body clanged against the Nemesis’ deck. Energon coated the blade, and a small amount had sprayed onto the Matrix. He raised his blade again, but he soon realized he failed.

Optimus thrust his fist upward, a new fire burning in the Autobot’s eyes. His blow connected with the warlord’s jaw, liberating two more of Megatron’s captive teeth as it sent the Decepticon soaring over his warship. He slammed into the deck, creating a series of flashes in the metal hull before his head slammed into the console, nearly ripping it off the ship.

Prime leapt to his feet, rushing towards Megatron with his sword drawn. Just as he closed the gap, Megatron came to his senses, drawing his own sword just in time to block Prime’s strike. Their swords crossed as sparks darted in all directions, bouncing off their chests before their light was snuffed. The pair broke into a new flurry of motion, their blades meeting as each struggled to create an opening.

Finally, Megatron broke the constant clashing, parrying a stab from Optimus and grabbing the back of his brother’s head. He slammed Prime into the deck, pinning him with one hand as he lifted his other arm. Before Megatron could kill him, Optimus trust his elbow skyward, planting it between his warlord’s eyes.

Megatron staggered, releasing the Prime from his grip. He spun around, looking Megatron in the eyes, one of which was slowly becoming purple as dark energon leaked into it. The pair engaged in another series of clashes, the Matrix swinging as the two locked blades time and time again. Then, in one swift motion, Optimus grabbed the Matrix, severed the chain attaching it to Megatron’s neck, then slammed his shoulder into the center of the Decepticon’s chest. He staggered backwards, then jolted as he noticed his Matrix was gone. “Do you really think that relic can save you?” he asked Prime.

Before he could continue, Optimus gave him his answer. “No,” Without warning, he threw the Matrix off the side of the Nemesis, sending it plummeting to the streets below. Celestia smiled as she watched events from across the deck. Once he recovered from the sock, Megatron’s face contorted into a scowl, bearing his jagged teeth at Prime.

“You...you fool!” he growled, before firing a bolt from his fusion cannon. Optimus dodged the bolt, drawing his ion cannon and returning Megatron’s shot. The two exchanged several more vollies, each shot becoming increasingly harder to dodge, until one of Megatron’s bolts struck Optimus in the leg. The blast tore through his armor, breaking off part of his blue leg plate now a bent and deformed mass of metal. Megatron laugh, then gasped in pain as one of Optimus’ bolts struck him in the lower chest. Ordinarily, the bolt would have dissipated on impact with his thick armor, but the Autobot had aimed carefully, causing the bolt to impact on the gash he made earlier in their melee. Megatron grunted in pain, clutching the place where the energon bolt had impacted; he could feel that the shot had bent back his armor, allowing more dark energon to leak from his body.

“Why won’t you die?!” he howled in anger, before he changed forms and rammed Optimus. The Decepticon flew over the side of the Nemesis, pulling up as he soared towards the sun. The air around him cried out in agony as he cut through it, then exploded as he pierced exceeded the speed of sound. All the while, Optimus lay pinned to his brother’s nose by the insurmountable strength of the air behind him as it pressed against his back.

Suddenly, Megatron’s engine’s wails were silenced. He fell, freeing the Autobot from his nosecone. As soon as Prime was far enough away, Megatron opened fire, sending a volley of purple energon bolts streaking past his adversary, searing the paint off his head and shoulders as they flew skyward. Optimus quickly recovered from the shock of Megatron’s attack, drawing his ion cannon and sending several bolts of his own flying towards his brother in one elegant motion.

The two exchanged fire for some time, before one of Prime’s bolts struck Megatron on the outer part of his wing, shearing off the silver tip. The Decepticon turned end over end, spiraling back towards the ground. As he did, Optimus pulled in his arms, then angled his head downward. He dropped towards his brother with tremendous speed, latching onto his brother when they feel half the distance they had ascended moments ago. Once Megatron felt his brothers touch, he changed forms, latching onto Prime in turn. The two grappled with each other, landing small, insignificant blows born from desperation.

Suddenly, gravity cut their fight short. Both warriors slammed into the deck of the Nemesis, creating a pair of shallow, Cybertronian shaped dents in the ship’s hull. They separated, bouncing away from each other in a series of metallic clangs. The impact shattered Optimus’ windows, sprinkling the Nemesis’ deck with tiny, glittering shards of glass.

The two warriors writhed in pain, groaning as they aimlessly rolled. Megatron was the first to recover from the impact. He smiled wickedly as he realized Optimus had not yet recovered, then drew his sword and slowly strolled towards Prime. He drew his blade back, angling it down towards the still dazed Prime. As the Decepticon thrust this sword forward, his brother regained his senses, He rolled out of the way, escaping the blade with only a scratch on his paint, before drawing his own sword and slashing Megatron across the gut.

The warlord fell to one knee as he clutched the fresh wound in his abdomen, forced to draw his sword and huse one arm to stabilize himself. Optimus didn’t waste his opportunity, quickly severing the Decepticon’s fusion cannon in one swift swipe. The weapon clattered to the deck, and he hastily kicked it away. The two stared at each other for a moment. The fight was over, and the outcome managed to surprise them both.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Finish it!” Megatron spat.

Optimus’ gaze hardened as he raised his sword, the sun glinting off its razor sharp edge. Still, despite his brother’s harsh words, his arm failed him, causing the blade to subtly shake, much to Megatron’s amusement.

“You still cannot finish me, can you?” he asked with a chuckle. “Despite all that I’ve done, millennia of ceaseless war, untold millions dead by my hands, you’re still too weak.” He began to stand, but Optimus was quick to deliver a jabbing blow to the side of his face. Megatron was quickly forced back to his knee, his brief smile now gone. He began to rise again, this time more slowly. “Oh, come now Optimus, we both know you’ll let me go, just like you always d-guh!”

Without warning, a glowing golden slance embedded itself in his chest. It had entered from his back, using one of the holes created by Starscream’s claws to impale the Decepticon. He remained standing for a moment more, his eyes wide in shock, then fell to his knees, then his chest. The lance dissipated allowing a torrent of dark energon to flow from Megatron’s fresh corpse.

Without looking, Optimus knew the source of the projectile that killed Megatron. He stared at the body a moment, before limping over to Celestia. She’d managed to crawl away from Starscream’s corpse, leaving a thin trail of her own blood back to the fallen hero. Her knees buckled and gave out from under her, forcing her to lay belly first on the deck. After managed to drag his mangled body for what felt like miles, he turned his back towards the princess, and fell onto the deck beside her. He landed with a loud thud, which sent the princess flying into the air for a brief period. He stared upward, letting out a long sigh as his face mask retracted.

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Dreadwing lay on the stone road of Canterlot, clutching the stub where his arm once resided as his life blood leaked out into the world. Suddenly, he felt the very ground under him disappear before he fell through a glowing blue and green portal. Gravity shifted as he plummeted, forcing him onto his feet. He nearly fell over, but a pair of long, thin arms caught him. Soundwave stood next to him, supporting him as he threatened to fall. Knockout aproatched from his other side, helping Soundwave.

"Wh-where is Lord Megatron?" Dreadwing asked.

"Dead," Knockout answered bluntly.

The lieutenant recoiled in horror. Lord Megatron was invincible, how could he have been killed. "That...cannot be!" he shouted in denial. He struggled against the two Decepticons, unable to accept his master's fate.

"Listen, you can stay and get scrapped if you want, but the rest of us are getting while the getting's good," Knockout told him, motioning to a medium sized ship in front of them; it was nowhere near the size of the Nemesis, but it could carry about fifteen bots through deep space. Deadwing stopped struggling, then begrudgingly entered the ship, cursing under his breath as his head hung low. As he boarded the ship and Knockout began to dress his wounds, he knew who was responsible for this, and he would have his revenge on them. This planet had not seen the last of the Decepticons.

Comments

[Draconicus the Reaper]

That was a awesome chapter but poor starscream How are the CMC going to take the news that there friend is dead