Zeke grew nervous as the Marley military approached headquarters two days later. The warrior in training made it back just fine. He even heard Magath saying Colt showed some promise. But that wasn't what he was worried about. He was worried that Matthew and Yelena wouldn't be back here. How long did the meeting with the island go anyway? Dammit!
The titan shifter was surprised; however, when he saw the two of them at the front gate. Zeke noticed Yelena had her arms wrapped around Matthew's right one while Matthew looked irritated as hell.
"I see you managed to bring Matthew back," Magath remarked as he walked up to them while the rest of the soldiers walked inside the compound.
"To our agreement," Yelena smiled, "And Matthew and I had a wonderful time, didn't we?"
"...splendid," Matthew hissed.
Magath then turned to Zeke. "We meet with the General soon. Rest up and be there in 30 minutes."
Zeke saluted Magath before the captain walked away. Zeke then turned to Matthew who immediately pulled his arm out of Yelena's grip.
"Do that again and I'll break it," Matthew warned in an ominous voice.
"Which one?" Yelena asked with a smile.
"Everything," Matthew answered.
"Can we meet in my office?" Zeke asked, not wanting to make a scene right now.
---------------------------------------
Paradis
Erwin was lying on his couch, thinking over what the hell he just agreed to. He agreed that he would help Megatron in the event the alliance with Zeke turned south. But Megatron, of all beings?! What was he thinking?! He already gave his position to Hanji and he found out the truth his father theorized! Why was he throwing himself back into the crossfire again?!
"It must be so hard," Megatron began, "It must be so hard going to sleep at night, knowing every action you did led to an every bigger pile of mounting corpses. Knowing every action was practically in vain as they fought for a dream that never existed."
Erwin groaned to himself. Damn that titan. He forced himself to sit up as he remembered the conversation from last night.
---------
"You need help," Megatron began.
Erwin looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand."
"When Zeke and his team arrive on the island," Megatron began, "You need someone to spy on them as they are here."
"I could spy on them just fine," Erwin retorted.
"And what happens when you get caught?" Megatron retorted, "It'd be easy for them to find a one-armed male that had previous connections to the Survey Corps. That would cause more problems than it is worth. You need to find someone that they wouldn't suspect."
"Why don't we just tell Hanji or Optimus?" Erwin suggested.
"They'll be working too closely with them," Megatron answered, "Optimus doesn't enjoy using deception and I don't necessarily trust the mad scientist to keep her mouth shut. So I need you to find someone who can track their movements. You have a week to do this."
-------------
Erwin sighed to himself. It didn't help that Megatron gave him a limited amount of time. He could find someone in the military like Nile, but it wouldn't be fair to him to drag him and his family down a dark path. Pixis? Maybe. They could discuss plans while playing chess.
But if Zeke had access to the Survey Corps, he would have access to the rest of the military. One slip up, everything goes to hell. So it would have to be someone who knows the military, but is also no longer apart of....
Erwin widened his eyes. No! That was a psychotic option! He'd get in trouble and be thrown in jail, or worse. But before then, he might injure him and escape.
But he heard that was part the council and the king's right hand man. Someone who had access to the military. It could work, but it would be dangerous.
Erwin looked over at the cloak on his chair and sighed before walking over and grabbing it. He was out of his mind.
--------------------------------------------
"So how was the discussion with them?" Zeke asked as he sat at his desk.
"Fairly well," Yelena admitted as she sat on the couch, "They did say that they were still apprehensive of forming an alliance, but they didn't say no."
"Will you inform me if they say yes?" Zeke asked Matthew.
"I will," Matthew answered, "One one condition,"
"Condition?" Zeke questioned, "You never specified a condition?"
"Well now I am," Matthew declared, "I heard the Colossal Titan still remains alive."
"So?"
"I need him dead," Matthew stated bluntly.
"What?" Yelena asked in surprise.
Zeke folding his hands on the desk and sighed before looking at Matthew. "No."
"What?" Matthew growled.
"You heard me: no," Zeke declared as he stood up, "Not until you tell me exactly why Bertholdt needs to be killed."
"I have no reason to trust you, let alone tell you why the Colossal Titan needs to be destroyed," Matthew proclaimed.
"And I should trust you?" Zeke exclaimed as he sat up, "You're sudden;y asking me to kill the Colossal Titan. Not any other titan. Just him. I can't just execute a plan like that unless you tell me why."
Zeke felt his hands trembling as Matthew glared at him with such hatred in his eyes, almost as if it could kill him. His expression told a thousand different stories that Zeke couldn't be able to fathom. Something told him that he shouldn't know the answer.
"It is because of the dark energon that lingers in his systems," Matthew relented, "Which is extremely deadly to both humans and Cybertronians for different reasons."
"Different reasons?" Yelena asked.
"Different species, different effects," Matthew declared, "Of course both are just as deadly."
"What exactly are these effects?" Zeke demanded.
"For your species, it would be death," Matthew explained, "However the only way for dark energon to be counteracted is with a heavy dosage of energon. Of course, your species doesn't even know how to use energon. So if the military keeps tampering with the substance, a hypothetical scenario would be the death of your species. An uncontainable virus that would wipe out all life on the planet save for Paradis because they have chosen to remain isolated behind the walls."
"And...the other?" Zeke pressed.
"...Dark energon revives dead Cybertronians," Matthew answered.
"What?" Yelena breathed as she sat up, "It can bring people back to life?"
"Not in the way that you think," Matthew proclaimed, "The Cybertronian will come back as a mindless brute, with no recollection of the life it had before. It's only purpose will be destruction and chaos. If you humans somehow managed to recreate that with a pure titan,"
Matthew snapped his fingers in emphasis. "As you humans say 'All hell breaks loose,'"
"But you...you have that inside of you," Zeke remembered, "You have the dark energon inside of you. That's how Bertholdt was infected in the first place. How the hell are you still walking around? You're supposed to be a mindless, undead corpse. How the hell are you still alive?"
Matthew leaned into Zeke's ear and whispered. "There are worse fates than death."
Zeke began trembling as Matthew made his way to the door and opened it.
"Find a way to have the current Colossal Titan exterminated," Matthew ordered before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
Zeke began shaking as he slumped into his seat. This couldn't be real could it? An energy source that could kill humans and revive the dead. The flying titan was proof of that. He was a literal devil, a walking corpse. He defied death.
"Sir, what will you do?" Yelena asked, "What do we do?"
"We-...we need to get rid of Bertholdt," Zeke spoke, "We need to find a valuable reason to have him killed. Or else all of us are doomed."
"But what about him? What about Optimus?" Yelena asked, "We have to go through them to get to Eren."
"We wait, and we bid our time," Zeke answered before standing up, "Head back. I have a meeting to go to,"
"Yes, sir," Yelena nodded.
"Before I go," Zeke began, "Did you manage to get Matthew's real name?"
"No," Yelena shook her head, "Everyone let me refer to him as Matthew."
Zeke sighed in defeat. "You're dismissed."
--------------------------
Megatron sighed as he walked towards the balcony of the training grounds. He leaned against the railing and looked down to see The four humans he was training still alive, running with supplies on their back. It wasn't even hours after they returned and they were still training! They were sparklings!
"You would have done the same," Unicron commented, "What differences do you even have with Marley any way? Conquest, destruction, prejudice. Where do you have any right to judge these humans?"
Before Megatron could tell Unicron to shut up, someone threw something at him, causing him to immediately react and catch it. He glanced over to see Commander Calvi relaxing his arm and lowering it before walking to him.
"Thought you had a meeting," Megatron remarked in his other voice.
"I have a few minutes to talk," Calvi explained.
Megatron raised an eyebrow before looking at his hand to see a roll of cash tied with a rubber band.
"I thought I didn't get paid," Megatron remarked.
"I decided to," Calvi admitted, "Magath was about to throw you in prison the moment we returned from the battle. Magath thought your training wasn't helping. Turns out your training paid off with Colt. He showed a decent amount of promise. Not as concise as you, but with some more training, he would definitely be more of a threat to the demons on Paradis."
"So do I have a weekly salary now or what?" Megatron demanded.
"You'll have a biweekly salary," Calvi answered, "Should be a positive incentive for you,"
"Doesn't change the fact that I'm a prisoner," Megatron shot back.
"Suppose not," Calvi sighed.
"What about the other warriors?" Megatron asked out of curiosity, "Reiner and Zeke, why don't I train them?"
"They'll be busy with fighting in this war," Calvi explained, "That should help with strategic thinking."
"Aren't there other ones?" Megatron asked, wanting to see if he could get the man to talk about Annie and Bertholdt.
"They'll be unavailable for the time being," Calvi answered.
"Isn't that a little concerning, considering the war you're currently in?" Megatron asked.
"...We have a solution, one that I must discuss with my advisors," Calvi answered, "I hope to see more progress with the others."
Megatron watched Calvi walk away before cursing to himself. He knew that they were talking about using energon to power the titans.He couldn't do anything to stop it in his position, not without creating a scene. He should have killed Lionheart, but he got careless. They have Cybertronian metal and energon at their disposal that they could use to their advantage. The unfortunate truth of all of this was that he had to count on that stupid monkey to at the very least prevent them from using dark energon. If Zeke couldn't do it, then he'd might as well just destroy the slagging place. He wasn't, under any circumstances, letting the dark energon get out.
------------------
Zeke sat down with the Marleyan officials while Magath sat right next to him. They turned their attention to Calvi as he walked into the room and sat down at the end of the table. Calvi folded his hands together and sighed.
"We may have won this battle, but we all saw that our enemy has been advancing in greater weapons," Calvi began, "With the Colossal Titan incapacitated and the Female Titan undergoing experiments, we can no longer afford to wait."
"Sir, what are you suggesting?" Magath asked.
"I'm suggesting that we start the energon experiments effective immediately," Calvi declared.
Zeke grew worried as the other commanders discussed among themselves. "Is it just the blue energon?"
Calvi nodded his head. "The substance known as 'Dark energon' is too volatile for Bertholdt. Injecting that into another Eldian may not benefit us in the slightest. However, there are positive results with Annie Leonhart and her compatibility with the blue substance may be a good thing in combat with pure titans. As long as you can control them, Zeke,"
"So if anything goes wrong during the experiment, you need me there?" Zeke asked.
Calvi nodded his head.
"But couldn't we also use the dark energon for pure titans?" another commander asked.
"It is not beneficiary at this time, not until we know it's full effects," Calvi declared, "We start the energon experiments today. We can't afford to wait."
"What about Bertholdt?" Zeke asked, "What do we do with him?"
"We keep him in isolation for the time being," Calvi answered, "We're heading out to the titan research facility. Dismissed."
The others got up and left the room with Zeke following close behind. He had to be patient and bide his time. If this experiment doesn't work, they might become desperate and send reinforcements to Paradis to grab Eren.
--------------------------------------------
Paradis
Erwin hid behind a wall as a soldier walked down a hallway with a rifle in hand. He adjusted his hood before continuing to run through the underground prison. Luckily he knew where he was before he resigned his position as Commander. It made things a little bit easier. He made another turn down the hallway, but stopped when he heard...really bad singing.
Erwin carefully followed the noise to a door. He tried to open it, but found out that it was locked. Erwin sighed to himself before pulling out a pin and messing with the keyhole. He never thought he'd be doing something like this on a gamble. On second thought, he's done plenty of stupid things over a gamble.
The door opened and Erwin stepped inside before shutting it behind him. He turned to see Kenny Ackerman lying on the bed, singing badly at the top of his lungs, not paying attention to anything around him.
Erwin walked over and knocked on the metal bars, causing the Ackerman to sigh.
"What do you want you-!" Kenny stopped when he saw Erwin remove his hood, causing the Ackerman to stand up.
"So the shorty got bored and sent his master to come and get me," Kenny hissed.
"I'm here of my own volition," Erwin explained, "I'm no longer the Commander of the Survey Corps."
"So...you're breaking the law right now?" Kenny smirked, amused at the situation, "What for?"
"Have you heard the news about Grisha's basement?" Erwin asked.
"That humanity ain't extinct, and the world wants us dead," Kenny answered, "That's all any of these guards have been talking about."
"Yes," Erwin nodded his head, "And there is a chance that the island may be making an alliance with the Beast Titan."
"The ape in the last attack?" Kenny asked, "This doesn't mean shit to me. None of it does. And it shouldn't mean shit to you. Why do you care?"
Erwin felt guilt rise up in him, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kenny. Kenny sighed in irritation, realizing what was going on.
"You're a slave," Kenny muttered.
"A what?" Erwin questioned.
"Not the point," Kenny proclaimed, "So you care, clearly, but why come to me?"
"I need someone to spy on their team when they get here," Erwin explained, "I can't do it. They'll notice me, but you've been sneaking around for the royal government for years."
"And I am currently the most dangerous human in this place," Kenny retorted, "I get out, everyone will go after my head. I'm not dealing with that."
"You can stay at my place," Erwin offered, "They won't suspect that I'm haboring you."
"You're willing to protect someone that killed your own and is known as 'Kenny the Ripper'?"
Kenny questioned with an amused look, "Wow, you are more psychotic than I thought."
"I've been only given a week to find someone," Erwin retorted, "You're the only one I know who isn't in the military but knows their way around it."
"'Given a week'?" Kenny asked, "By who?"
Erwin hesitated, but he had to be truthful, in the event he decided to join. "The Flying Titan."
"Hell no," Kenny immediately shot down.
"Wait-!"
"You're helping out that asshat?!" Kenny demanded, "I thought I was insane, but you clearly are nuts! He's got a track record longer than the time humans probably existed."
"I know," Erwin agreed, "But his intuition is usually right."
"Intuition my foot," Kenny declared, "I'm not getting myself entangled in that mess."
"Don't you want your freedom?" Erwin asked, trying to appeal to Kenny from a different angle, "Don't you want to be free? Do you really want to live here for the rest of your days?"
"There's a difference between surviving and living," Kenny declared, "And I lost my will to live. I'm just too much of a coward to actually do anything about it."
"Then find a different one," Erwin advised, "Find a different path that you can travel. That's what I'm doing right now."
"Because you're fucking guilty," Kenny hissed as he turned away from him, "I'm not doing it. Not helping you."
Erwin sighed to himself. "There must be something you can still fight for. There must be something or someone you are willing to protect. If you don't want to live for yourself then that's fine. Do it for them."
"Everyone I care about is dead," Kenny quietly said.
"Then help me protect the island, so that you can honor them and the dreams they wanted," Erwin pleaded.
Erwin threw the pin he used to unlock the door into the cell. "That's your ticket out of here. If you want to run like a coward, then go ahead. If you want to join me, I live in the Wall Rose region south of Utopia. Make your choice."
Kenny heard Erwin open and close the door before sighing to himself. Erwin was really taking a stupid gamble with this. What should he even do? He had the option to be free once more, and now that he knows that humanity's extinction was a lie, he could find a way to book it off the island. But...he was second guessing himself? Why?
"This world will come to ruin one day," Uri told him.
Kenny gripped the side of his head in pain.
"Until that day, I wish to create a paradise," Uri continued.
Kenny remembered Uri's smile as he stared out into the lake, seeing something that he could never understand. Kenny hissed to himself before looking down at the pin left in his cell. He began doubting himself, and questioned once more of the life he wanted.
------------------------------
Titan Research Facility
The Eldian struggled in fear as he was brought to the research facility where the titan consumption ritual takes place. Commander Calvi and the rest of the generals stood behind a bullet proof window to protect themselves in the event that the experiment went array.
"The titan will remain a 5 meter class in order to prevent damage," Calvi explained.
"Sir, what do we do if the experiment doesn't work?" another commander asked Calvi.
"We'll think of something," Calvi answered.
Zeke glanced at his superior officer before looking to see the Eldian being chained up. They were testing the regular energon and were expecting some positive results, but he hoped that this didn't work so the experiment could be scrapped all together.
The scientist injected the Eldian with the energon serum before quickly running down the stairs. The Eldian screamed as blue lightning consumed him, causing everyone to cover their eyes. When they opened them, they watched in horror as the titan...looked more mostorous than before. They heard the titan's bones practically cracking as it's body contorted in a way they weren't able to comprehend. They could see blue glowing veins as the titan positioned itself on all fours. The titan's head twisted in their direction in a sickening manner before locking eyes with them. The titan rushed towards them and slammed into the wall, breaking the glass, trying desperately to devour them. Almost all of the commanders stumbled back and hit the floor while the titan kept slamming it's face into the wall.
"Stop him, Eldian!" one of them shouted at Zeke.
Zeke immediately stood up and tried to tell the titan to stop, but he ended up stumbling back as the titan continued slamming it's face at them.
"I...I can't!" Zeke yelled, "It won't listen!"
"What?!"
"Out the room! Now!" Calvi ordered.
Everyone rushed out the room and shut the door. When they did, they saw the scientists running to them.
"Sir, what do we do?!" one of them yelled.
"Dim the lights!" Calvi ordered, "And blow that damn thing up!"
Zeke could only watch in horror as everyone kept running. Why didn't his powers work? Why did it fail?!
------------------------------------------
Meanwhile
Megatron continued walking around the compound, wondering if he was allowed to step outside of the premis. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the money he was given. What was he supposed to do with this? He had no need for it. He didn't need food or water. Didn't need a place to call home, even if he bothered to save this.
Megatron lost his train of thought and didn't realize he stumbled into a weapons room with Reiner and Pieck resting up.
"Matthew, hi," Pieck greeted as she adjusted her seating position on the couch.
Megatron lifted his head and took notice of the two. "I didn't mean to come here. I'll let myself out."
"Oh, you can stay," Pieck said, "We're all friends here, right?"
Reiner seemed nervous at the prospect while Megatron deadpanned.
"I barely know you two, and I don't do friends," Megatron declared.
"I don't see how we can try," Pieck smiled.
Megatron thought it over and decided to sit down in one of the chairs present. Maybe he could find out more about Annie and Bertholdt through them.
"I didn't know you got paid," Pieck remarked, "I thought you're a prisoner."
"Colt showed progress, so I have a biweekly salary now," Megatron explained.
"Good thing too," Pieck commented, "Magath was ready to throw you in jail."
"I still don't know what to do with it," Megatron admitted, "I get housing and food here, and frankly, I'm a minimalist. I'd use money for rather quick things, or if it's an emergency."
"Maybe there's something that you want?" Pieck questioned.
Megatron merely shook his head. Something was off about this one. Why did this feel like an interrogation? He had to change the topic.
"Where's your friend?" Megatron asked, "Pollo?"
"Porco," Pieck corrected, "He's off trying to convince any commander available to let you train him,"
Megatron raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He already read the boy's files and knows that he's next in line to inherit one of the titans, but he didn't consider him a threat. "Didn't he complete his training?"
"He did," Pieck answered, "But he's been rather insistent about it because of the flying titan."
Now that got Megatron's interest. "Flying titan? I thought Porco wasn't on the island."
"He wasn't, but...I'm not sure if it's my place to tell," Pieck admitted, "Sorry."
"It's fine," Megatron reassured, "I understand."
Megatron noticed Reiner having a guilty look on his face. Something wasn't adding up, or at least someone was hiding something. But he had a name, and this 'Porco' wanted to be trained. He might come to him eventually; he just has to bide his time.
"So are you going to save your money then?" Pieck asked.
Megatron thought it over before standing up. "I'll save some of it, but...I think I'll get Colt something as a reward."
Pieck and Reiner stared at Megatron in surprise.
"Wait, you are?" Reiner asked, "But...why?"
"He did well, according to the commander," Megatron explained, "Besides, positive reinforcement is sometimes a good motivator."
"But...we're devils," Reiner reasoned.
"I don't see why that has to be an excuse," Megatron admitted, "War's complicated, and people die. Sometimes the simple things can help with motivation."
Megatron waved goodbye to them before walking out of the room, leaving a baffled Pieck and Reiner behind.
"Wow," Pieck began, "Matthew's really interesting. I never thought I'd meet someone who's at the very least indifferent to us."
"Yeah…," Reiner trailed off, "Can't he get in trouble for that?"
"He's making a good impression on Commander Calvi," Pieck reminded, "He ranks higher than Magath, so Matthew could get away with a few things here and there."
"But they'll think he's a devil," Reiner reminded.
"Something tells me he just doesn't care," Pieck shrugged.
Reiner grew even more concerned at that. When he got the chance, he had to warn him. Associating with them was dangerous.
-----------------------------------------------
Titan research facility
Calvi, Magath and Zeke could only watch as the titan still ran around rampid in the cage, despite the fact that they tried to blow up the neck as many times as possible. The titan clawed and clawed at the walls, searching for a meal, but it couldn't find it as the three watched from a higher floor in the vicinity.
"It seems to go after large groups of people," Calvi observed, "And has been shown to have a faster regeneration time."
"What the hell did we even create?" Magath hissed as the titan twisted its neck and growled.
"Can you try to control it?" Calvi asked.
"I...I tried," Zeke spoke, "Nothing's been working."
"This is unreal," Magath breathed.
"No, this is good," Calvi declared.
"Good?!" Magath demanded, "Are you out of your mind?!"
"A practically indestructible titan with an increased level of speed and strength," Calvi began,
"And that's without you controlling them."
"Then how do we get rid of it now before it tears up the place?!" Magath demanded.
"We'll figure something out," Calvi answered, "After all, Annie is completely stable with the energon in her system. Once we determine it's safe, we can administer it to you, Zeke."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Zeke asked, "What if it doesn't work and Marley loses the
Beast Titan as a result?"
"That's what further experimentation is for," Calvi countered, "Don't tell me your having doubts?"
"No," Zeke answered, not wanting to get into trouble.
"So what do we do now?!" Magath demanded, "We can't control the damn thing, not enough to use it in war!"
Zeke saw this as an opportunity and spoke. "We could try to get the founding titan from Paradis."
Calvi and Magath turned their attention to Zeke.
"Zeke, this is hardly the time," Magath reminded, "Not with those two titans on the island."
"But we can't control this one," Zeke gestured down to the titan still squirming, "We could use the founding titan to control it before administering the energon."
"That's even if we can get our hands on it without being spotted by that flying titan!" Magath exclaimed, "That being shows no remorse!"
"But we might need to try," Calvi agreed.
"Sir!" Magath exclaimed.
"Two of our titans are currently out of commision," Calvi continued, "We have no time to advance our weaponry to the efficiency of the Middle Eastern Nations. We need to find a way to get the founding titan now more than ever. We could interrogate the devil before we feed him to someone else too. He's been training under this Optimus Prime; he might know some of his weaknesses."
Calvi turned to Magath. "We must try to reclaim the founding titan."
Zeke nearly sighed with relief before turning his attention to the sporadic titan. What the hell was he going to tell Matthew?
--------------------------------------------
Later that evening
Colt yawned to himself as he held Falco's hand and walked over to the exit of the compound. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Matthew leaning against the gate staring at him. He felt Falco let go of his hand and hide behind him as Matthew walked up to them.
"Sir!" Colt saluted.
"You don't have to salute me," Matthew declared as he walked over to them with a bag in hand.
"What are you doing?" Colt hesitantly asked.
"I heard you did well in battle," Matthew said.
"Um...I guess," Colt said in hesitation, "I managed to hold my own against three enemy soldiers before Zeke showed up to take the stronghold.
Matthew hummed in response. "Suppose I'm grateful to you."
"You are?" Colt asked in surprise.
"Magath was going to put me in jail until he saw your progress," Matthew informed before giving the bag to Colt, "Consider this my thanks."
"But...I'm the reason you're here in the first place," Colt reminded.
"That was my choice to help you," Matthew proclaimed.
Colt opened the bag given to him and was surprised to see it full of fresh fruit like oranges and apples.
"Eldians aren't exactly given good food," Matthew said, "I know you're given enough to prevent you from starving, but you're not granted luxuries like that."
"Matthew, these are expensive!" Colt exclaimed, "You can't just-!"
"I have housing and food," Matthew reminded, "And I'm a minimalist. It's fine."
"But you-!,"
"It's fine," Matthew repeated, "You should head home."
Colt was about to protest one more time, but merely sighed in response. "Thank you."
Megatron nodded his head as Colt walked out of the compound with Falco in tow. He noticed the boy staring at him as he held his brother's hand, but didn't pay any mind. He turned his attention to Zeke, who came running to him, out of breath.
"Office now!" Zeke exclaimed as he grabbed Megatron by the arm. Megatron allowed Zeke to pull him, sensing it was urgent. He noticed the hand of the holoform slightly glitching, meaning he would have to turn it off soon.
Zeke managed to drag Megatron into his office before shutting the door behind him. Megatron noticed Zeke having a worried look on his face as he shut the windows.
"You said energon was toxic to humans," Zeke hissed.
"It is," Megatron proclaimed.
"Then why the hell did it create a titan that has faster regeneration time and can't follow my orders?" Zeke demanded.
Megatron stared in surprise. "It did what?"
"It was this abomination!" Zeke exclaimed, "Contorted and twisted! The damn thing is still alive and nothing we have is able to kill it!"
Megatron immediately had an expression of pure rage and was about to storm out the room, but Zeke quickly grabbed his arm before he could reach the door.
"They still want it alive," Zeke told him, "You kill it now, all hell breaks loose."
"I'll destroy it along with the rest of that titan research facility," Megatron declared.
"And have it traced back to you?" Zeke demanded.
"I've seen what humans can do when tampering with Cybertronian biology," Megatron declared,
"I am not going to allow that to happen again."
"We have to bide our time!" Zeke hissed, "They aren't to use it yet, but they will test it further. I did manage to throw in a recommendation for the time being."
Megatron pulled his hand from Zeke's grasp and glared at him. "Explain."
"I told them that we should try to send fleets to Paradis," Zeke explained, "It will take time for them to set up the arrangement, but I can place my followers on the ship and they should be able to assist Paradis."
"How fast can they get there?" Megatron demanded.
"I don't know yet," Zeke admitted, "It could take months to prepare-,"
"Months?" Megatron hissed, "You humans are too inefficient. And primitive."
"We do what we can," Zeke proclaimed.
Megatron nearly growled before contacting Optimus. "Prime, we have a problem."
"It will have to wait," Optimus declared, "We have a situation on the island."
"What could possibly be going on over there right now?" Megatron demanded.
"Kenny Ackerman escaped prison," Optimus answered.
Zeke saw the stunned expression on Matthew's face before it turned into one of anger. The titan
turned to him and glared.
"I need you to cover for me," Matthew declared, "There's an issue on the island."
"When will you be back?" Zeke demanded.
"In the morning," Matthew answered, "Say I'm sleeping or something."
Before Zeke could respond, Matthew deactivated the holoform.
---------------------------------
Later that night
Erwin stiffened when he heard a knock on his door. He sighed to himself as he got up and walked to the door, calming himself down and hoping that it wasn't Megatron. He wasn't ready to deal with him yet. He did give him a week, but depending on the urgency, he might not stay true to his word.
Erwin opened the door and stared in surprise to find Kenny standing at his door in a black coat with a hat to match.
"Surprise," Kenny said.
"I didn't think you'd come," Erwin remarked.
"Well, I ain't got nothin' better to do," Kenny declared as he made his way inside, "So what exactly is the plan?"
"Were you followed?" Erwin demanded as he shut the door.
Kenny deadpanned. "Who the hell do you think I am?"
"Someone is going to notice you're gone," Erwin declared.
"I know," Kenny agreed, "But they won't come after me,"
"And how are you so sure?" Erwin asked.
"I left something," Kenny answered, "Something that they need."
---------
Levi grimaced at the opened prison cell as two guards looked through it frantically. Damn it. This couldn't be happening.
"Do you have any idea where he may have gone?" Optimus asked in his holoform.
"No," Levi answered, "If he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be."
"Doesn't make any sense," Hanji proclaimed, "He didn't punch his way out."
"He picked the lock with something," Levi hissed, "A utensil maybe. Probably took it with him so we couldn't track him."
"We should've added a few more soldiers here to at least spot him," Hanji sighed, "Now we have to go and find him before he causes anymore trouble."
"Sir!" a soldier spoke as he walked up to the three with a box in hand, "We found this."
Levi took the box and noticed a carving on the top. "A trade."
"Kenny must've written that with the utensil he used to break out," Hanji concluded.
"But what does he want to trade?" Optimus asked.
Levi opened the box and the three stared in shock as they saw a syringe with a small vial of the energon-titan serum.