Transformers Robots in Disguise 107 - Close Combat: Battle by Mike Watson The rain had certainly helped put out the flames, and Prowl and X-Brawn had rescued the large majority of the people in the building. He hoped Sideburn and the trains were having this sort of luck as well. Allowing Megatron to get five new Decepticons on his side would be devastating. Optimus put out the last of the flames. "Is everyone out?" he asked Prowl, who was walking out of the building. "Yeah, they're all evacuated," Prowl said. "Any idea where the real rescue workers are?" "They'll be here in a few cycles," X-Brawn said. He had been behind them in the street, repairing a rather large hole by filling it in with bits of dirt and concrete and stomping it flat. "I picked up a radio signal before. This is a communications building, so it knocked out the phone systems for a few miles when Scourge hit it, which is why there's a delay." "No reason for us to stay around then," Optimus said. "Transform and let's go help the others." Prowl and X-Brawn both transformed and followed Optimus towards the construction site. From this distance Optimus could make out Scourge's battle station again. However it was dormant. Hopefully they had gotten past him. But there was another figure. Then more. A lot of Transformers were down. Then he saw Megatron. "Megatron!" Optimus yelled, realizing he was about to extinguish Rapid Run. Optimus quickly transformed and drew his gun. He fired three shots at Megatron, who had heard his call and dropped Rapid Run. "Ah, Optimus, nice of you to come welcome my new Decepticons," Megatron said, joining his swords together to form his staff. "Not today," Optimus said, his gun trained on Megatron. Prowl and X-Brawn pulled up behind him and transformed, then aimed at Megatron as well. "You're outnumbered, Megatron," Optimus said. "Give it up." "Outnumbered?!" Megatron yelled. "Not for long! Dragon mode!" he transformed to his two-headed dragon mode and flew above the confused Autobots. "Sorry I can't stay and kill you all, but I have a prior engagement." With that he flew towards the pods. Prowl fired a few shots, but they all missed. Optimus looked at the fallen Autobots, then at Prowl and X-Brawn. "Get them to a safe place, I'm going after Megatron." Prowl and X-Brawn looked at each other, then back at Optimus who was already running towards the pods. * * * * * * The outside world was unknown. All life was, was all he saw. Darkness. How long had he been off-line? I could have been millions of stellar cycles. Or it could have been a few clicks. One never could tell. Something, or someone, had activated him. He could feel the energy going through his systems. He opened his eyes. Still blackness? How is this possible? Did his optics not work? Run diagnostic. He couldn't talk either! What was happening? He raised his arms. They moved, but they were weak. A few inches from his face there was something solid. All around him! He was in his own coffin! They had buried him while he was still functional! How could something like this happen?! He had to get out! Who was he? He couldn't remember. Maybe he was no one. Maybe he deserved to be buried alive. What had he done? Then the blackness turned into light. He could see! What was he? His hands and body and everything, they were not anything he had seen before! Had he seen anything before? Was this the Pit? More flashes of light. His body began to change. Now he looked familiar. Then the top of his coffin opened. He was free! He was alive! What a feeling! He stood up, ready to face the world. * * * * * * "Ahh, our new Decepticons are on-line and ready for battle, I see," Megatron said as he approached Dark Scream and Gas Skunk. "Just got them going," Dark Scream said. Megatron looked at the five of them. He spoke to the tallest one. "You, what is your name, Decepticon?" The new Decepticon stared at him. "You will answer me when I ask a question!" Megatron yelled. "I don't know," the Decepticon finally spoke. He looked around him. Predacons? And this was not Cybertron. It was all coming back to him. Mega-Octane. "Mega-Octane," he repeated his thought. "Mega-Octane, excellent," Megatron said, visibly more calm. He looked at the rest of them. "And you four?" The green one at the end spoke up. "I'm Rollbar," he said. Megatron smiled. "I'm Megatron, your new leader," he said. "I'm Ro-Tor," another one said. "Sir." Excellent, this one had called him sir without needing to be told first. "You can call me Movor," another one spoke up. "I'm Armorhide, what's it to ya?" the final one said. Megatron walked over to that one. "It's nothing to me, Decepticon," Megatron said coldly. "Just as you are nothing to me. Speak to me like that again, and they will be the last words you ever speak." Armorhide looked at Megatron like he was insane. We've got a live one here, folks. Better play it cool. If this really was the Predacon general Megatron, Armorhide probably didn't want to mess with him. "Sorry, sir," he replied. Megatron smiled and looked at the rest of them. "Excellent. Now, he turned around and pointed at Optimus Prime, who had watched the five Decepticons emerge from a distance, horrified. "Your very first mission under my command will be to scrap Optimus Prime. "Scrap! How about we liquefy his skidplate?!" Rollbar said excitedly. "Just as long as he stops functioning," Megatron said. The five Decepticons all stepped out of their pods and walked over to the helpless and very outnumbered Optimus Prime. Mega-Octane grinned. "Combaticons! Destroy him!" he commanded. Optimus was faced with no choice but to fight. How nice it would be if he had some armor, he thought. He glanced back at his trailer, laying there unmoving in the rain. Great. He was now surrounded by the Combaticons, each with their weapon drawn, ready to fire. They could have killed him already, he thought. What were they doing? They were toying with him. What a way to go. In desperation Optimus fired at Mega-Octane. The blast hit him in the chest, but he did not fall. Mega-Octane looked down at his chest, then up at Optimus. "Destroy him!" he yelled. Just then there was a surge of energy from Optimus. It was as if he'd been hit by lightning. Then Rollbar and Movor were knocked over by something. They were, red, something? What was going on?! Then Optimus Prime was taller and much more powerful looking. Optimus knew what had happened, and he wasn't going to waste it. He swatted at Armorhide and Ro-Tor with his arm, knocking them over. It was him and Mega-Octane now. "I don't know what you did, Autobot," Mega-Octane said. "But you aren't gonna be doing it again any time soon!" He bent over revealing two very large cannons on his back. He fired both of them at Optimus who was knocked backwards a good deal, but still functioned. Optimus slowly got to his feet. "That wasn't very nice," he said. "And now you've gone and ticked me off," he said very slowly. Mega-Octane was stunned. How had he survived that blast?! It was impossible. He looked back at Megatron and the other two Predacons. Megatron did not look very happy with the situation either. Optimus fired his wrist cannons at Mega-Octane and the other scrambling Combaticons. This was working out very well. He just needed to hope the armor would hold out until he could get the Preds to retreat. He was doing a good job of getting them to fall back. He almost had the entire lot of Combaticons rounded up. "We need to do something, Mega-Octane!" Ro-Tor yelled nervously. "Yeah, I don't wanna die on my first day of being alive!" Movor said. "Quiet, fools," Mega-Octane said. This was a bad situation. Bad indeed. He had a feeling they weren't going to get out alive. "Concentrate your firepower on him! We need to keep him from advancing!" he yelled. They did so, but the blasts only slowed Optimus down slightly. Then Mega-Octane and the others stopped. What were those fools doing!? Megatron could not believe they had just stopped firing on Optimus Prime. Then a surge of electricity, similar to what had happened to Optimus moments ago, overcame the Combaticons. Could it be? Were they? Mega-Octane felt the immense power overtake him. All the energy of the other four was now his to command. They were one with him! He looked at his hands. He was now taller than Optimus Prime. In his hand was also the largest gun he'd ever seen. Mega-Octane grinned. No, he was not Mega-Octane. Ruination was his name. He pointed his gun at Optimus's chest and fired. * * * * * * The blast sent Optimus flying backwards, smoke pouring out of his chest. He had to hold it together. Those new Decepticons, they had combined. Just like the trains. This was not good at all. Optimus was in a great deal of pain. He somehow managed to stand up. He looked at the new foe he had to face. Not good. "Optimus Prime, prepare to meet the Matrix," Ruination said. He fired another blast which missed Optimus, but tore up the ground and caused him to fly back another considerable distance. Megatron, meanwhile, was enjoying the show. The destruction of Optimus Prime. How he loved it all. And this new Decepticon, he was more powerful than Optimus Prime with his armor. With the Autobots out of his way he could clean out the energon on this miserable planet and return home to Cybertron where he would crush what remained of the rebel Autobots. This plan was working out quite well. "Decepticon!" he yelled. "What is your name?" Ruination turned around and eyed Megatron. "Ruination," he responded. He would destroy the Predacon later. Right now Optimus was his. He turned back around and received a swift and hard blow to the head. He stumbled back. Another large Transformer, an Autobot, had struck him. "Don't you know it's not nice to gang up on a fella," the Autobot spoke. He seemed to have three voices. "Fool! I will crush you, and then destroy your leader," Ruination growled, raising his weapon towards the newcomer. "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Rail Racer said, raising his weapon at Ruination as well. "Well, well, looks like we've got a standoff here, don't we?" Ruination eyed Rail Racer. He did not like this Autobot at all. Behind Rail Racer, Optimus got to his feet again, still smoking. "You need any help guys?" he asked. Rail Racer shook his head. He and Ruination had their weapons pointed at each others neck. "I'll be back then," Optimus said. He ran off towards Megatron. "How?! How did they awaken!" Megatron growled. Now he would have to face off against that super Optimus Prime freak. Injured yes, but still very powerful. He looked at the slowly approaching Autobot. This would not be a wise battle. "Retreat," he said quietly. Dark Scream looked up at Megatron. "What?" "You heard me," Megatron said without looking at Dark Scream. "We'll return for our injured later." With that Megatron transformed to jet mode and flew off, followed by Dark Scream in beast mode carrying Gas Skunk. Optimus just watched them leave. "Hey pal, you're buddies are leaving," Rail Racer said. Ruination's back had been facing the Predacons so he didn't see them leave. Ruination ventured a glance backwards and he saw them flying away. Accursed Predacons. He looked back at Rail Racer. "Another time, perhaps," he said. He lowered his gun, engaged his jets and took off behind Megatron and Dark Scream. Optimus walked over to Rail Racer. "You know how to control it yet?" "I'm gettin' there," Rail Racer responded. "Let's get everyone back to base," Optimus said. "The CR Chamber will be the place to be tonight." * * * * * * Optimus sat in front of the television feed, his face in his hands. He was exhausted. He had opted to be the last to use the CR chamber, and he was feeling it now in the late hours of the night. Sideburn alone had taken six mega-cycles to fully heal, and the three trains each needed a few mega-cycles as well. He looked up at the feed. The news. He turned the sound on. "-more visits from the Transformers today. In the business district of Denver today, where the small group of them seem to have manifested, a building was attacked by one. However, three others were able to rescue the majority of the people inside the severely damaged building before casualties reached the astronomical amount they would have by the time the fire department and police department reached the area. So proof is seen, first hand, that some of them, as with the previous group, are good, and some aren't." Optimus clicked off the feed. Twenty people. Twenty had died today. Fifty more had been injured. He felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Twenty lives had been ended, and countless more changed with the loss of a spouse, sibling, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, friend. All in the name of this petty war. Humans were so frail, and this did not involve them. They needed to get the Decepticons and Predacons off this planet. Easier said than done. They were outnumbered by five now. They had been lucky with this victory, but next time they probably wouldn't be. This was not good. Not at all. Optimus looked up at the blank screen. He saw his reflection in it and looked back at the ground. THE END