"Fine," Bonecrusher growled, immediately agreeing to the plan.
"Then I leave the ground to you. I will deal with the one in the sky!" Starscream declared. He transformed and rocketed into the air, desperate to get away before Bonecrusher could reconsider and leave him to face Optimus Prime.
While still at a distance, Starscream unleashed a salvo of missiles at Tony, denying him any chance to close the gap. Tony reacted instantly, maneuvering his armor through a series of tight, evasive rolls, but the projectiles locked on and stayed hot on his tail.
"Still tracking. Jarvis, deploy countermeasures," Tony commanded. Small interceptor missiles launched from the Iron Man suit, creating a fireworks display of mid-air explosions as they took out the incoming threats one by one.
Having closed the distance, Tony fired a pair of repulsor blasts from his palms, testing his opponent's capabilities. He had engaged Starscream before, but that had been a stalling tactic, not a true head-to-head fight.
Starscream executed a simple barrel roll, effortlessly evading the blasts. Tony raised a metallic eyebrow, opened his shoulder-mounted pods, and fired a swarm of micro-missiles, attacking Starscream from multiple vectors simultaneously.
In response, Starscream's own armaments whirred to life, spitting a stream of high-caliber rounds that detonated most of the incoming projectiles. A few managed to slip through the defensive screen, however, their explosions buffeting Starscream and knocking him from his flight path.
The aerial duel began in earnest. Starscream would launch an attack, only for Tony to dodge it. Tony would retaliate, and Starscream would slip away with frustrating ease. The battle devolved into a predictable pattern, and Tony grew increasingly agitated. He needed to get past this Decepticon, but his opponent's flight performance was clearly a cut above his own armor's capabilities. It felt less like a fight and more like a performance, as if Starscream was simply running out the clock with no real intention of winning.
On the ground below, however, the battle between Bonecrusher and Optimus Prime was anything but a performance. Fueled by a zealous fire, Bonecrusher charged with an overwhelming ferocity, as if he were facing not the revered leader of the Autobots, but just another grunt.
In his gray minesweeper alternate mode, Bonecrusher barreled toward Optimus Prime, his massive shovel blade clearing a path of destruction. Cars were sent flying, smashing into the bridge supports.
"Optimus Prime, you will not ruin Lord Megatron's plan!" Bonecrusher roared. He transformed at full speed, launching himself from the road and tackling the still-truck-formed Optimus. The sheer momentum of the impact sent Optimus careening over the side of the bridge. As he fell, Optimus rapidly transformed, and the two titans crashed onto the ground below, immediately locking into a brutal wrestling match.
Seemingly emboldened by Megatron's earlier praise, Bonecrusher was unusually brave. He landed two powerful punches on Optimus before the Autobot leader could even find his footing. Drunk on his momentary success, Bonecrusher raised his fist for another blow, but this time, he was not so lucky. Optimus, now firmly planted, caught the incoming fist. With his other hand, he delivered a devastating punch that sent one of Bonecrusher's mechanical eyes flying from its socket.
Bonecrusher tried to block the follow-up attack, but it was futile. Optimus swatted his defensive arm aside, grabbed the Decepticon's head with one hand and his chest with the other, and with a powerful, twisting motion, ripped Bonecrusher's head clean from his shoulders. Optimus tossed the severed head aside, stepped over the sparking, lifeless body, and began walking toward Megatron.
"He was a brave warrior," Optimus said, his voice a low rumble—a solemn tribute to a fallen foe.
Following Bonecrusher's valiant but foolish charge, several lesser Decepticons swarmed Optimus, forming a barrier to protect Megatron.
"A warrior should fight for his beliefs, not become a mere cog in the machine of tyranny," Optimus declared, his powerful voice resonating with conviction. He held up his hand, and fragments of Bonecrusher's armor fell from his fingertips. "It is not too late to turn back."
The remaining Decepticons instinctively took a step back, intimidated less by the speech and more by the visceral proof of their leader's power held in his hand.
"It seems you are all prepared to be warriors, then. Come!" With his piece said, Optimus Prime charged. The fight was brutally efficient. He could fell a Decepticon with two precise shots or tear out a Spark with a single, well-placed punch. Thanks to the absolute gap in power, the remaining Decepticons were swiftly dispatched.
He continued his charge toward Megatron, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "Megatron! Whatever you are planning, it ends now!"
Megatron, who was still manipulating the controls of the Allspark amplifier, glanced over at the approaching Optimus and let out a classic villainous laugh. "Hahaha! Optimus Prime, you are too late! I will finally claim this planet!"
The device had reached its final activation sequence. Megatron slammed his palm down on the main console. The amplifier hummed to life, and the Allspark within began to spin wildly as its energy was drawn out. Ripples of raw, transformative power pulsed outward. All across the area, electronic devices began to shudder and contort. Cars on the road, cameras on the lampposts, even the cell phones in the pockets of distant civilians began to tremble, their forms shifting as if they were about to be reborn as Decepticons.
"Stop, Megatron! You will destroy this world!" Optimus yelled.
Megatron remained unmoved, silently watching, waiting for his new army to rise.
But then, a flicker of confusion crossed his mechanical eyes. The transformation was happening too slowly. Why hadn't his army emerged? He scanned the area and saw that the very machines that had begun to change were now settling back into their inert forms, as if nothing had happened. The wave of energy had been like a gentle breeze instead of a transformative storm.
"What is happening? Is the device malfunctioning?" Megatron snarled. He slammed his fist against the amplifier, but nothing changed. He tore open the device's housing and removed the Allspark. He stared in disbelief. The cube, which had once pulsed with what seemed like infinite energy, was now dimming rapidly. By the time he held it in his hand, its light was gone.
The Allspark itself was becoming translucent, almost ghostly. Baffled and enraged, Megatron squeezed the cube. It didn't resist. Instead, it shattered into a cloud of countless, shimmering motes of light, dissipating from his grasp like an exploding galaxy of faint stars.
"What!" Megatron's optics widened in horror. He couldn't believe the Allspark had just disintegrated in his hands.
He frantically clawed at the fading light in the air, trying to reclaim the source of his power, but the motes of light vanished, leaving no trace. It was as if the Allspark had never been there at all. This source of fire was, in reality, a historical projection Amon had pulled from the annals of time. Squeezed by the immense power of the amplifier, it could not maintain its existence in the current timeline and simply ceased to be.
Megatron continued to grasp at the empty air, his voice a choked roar of disbelief. "Impossible! Impossible! How could it just disappear? Impossible!"
Though Optimus Prime didn't understand the specifics of what had just occurred, he knew one thing for certain: Megatron's plan had failed. He strode forward and delivered a powerful kick that sent the stunned Decepticon leader flying. The impact seemed to snap Megatron out of his stupor. He scrambled to his feet, his eyes burning with pure hatred as he glared at Optimus.
"This was your doing!" he shrieked, his voice raw with fury. "You insidious Autobots! You forged a fake Allspark!"
__________________________
"Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider donating Power Stones and joining our patreon
[patreon.com /coolperry]
for early access to future chapters.(+30 chapters)