Optimus and the Autobots raced toward the Decepticon ship, all ready to go into battle to avert disaster.
"How I wish I could transform." Bulkhead said, his joints aching from all the running.
"The terrain is uneven for vehicle mode, it would end up slowing us down more than anything else." Optimus said, leaping over a tree root on the ground.
"I could transform and take the lead," Arcee suggested, also irritated by the uneven terrain.
"Arcee, we can't split up like this, especially in an environment like this, I would never forgive myself if another one of my companions died under my command." Optimus said, looking at Arcee, making it clear that he did not approve of the idea of splitting the group. "We're stronger together than apart."
Before the argument could escalate, a large pulse of energy hit them, knocking everyone but Optimus back, confusing everyone, but they didn't have time to say anything as they saw the trees emit a blinding glow, forcing them to cover their eyes with their arms.
"What was that?" Arcee asked, noticing that the light was fading but that an earthquake was building beneath her feet.
Realizing that the blinding light was fading, Optimus opened his eyes to see what had just happened, ignoring the shaking that was occurring. His eyes opened in amazement as he saw the gigantic metal tree, which defied logic and was an imposing sight to his eyes.
"By the Allspark..." Optimus said, but quickly fell silent as he felt his Leadership Matrix resonate, seemingly synchronizing with the forest. "That can't be... the forest..."
[[OPTIMUS, THE ENERGON LEVELS AT YOUR POSITION ARE AT CRITICAL LEVELS, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!]] Ratchet yelled over the comm, seeing that the energy readings were ridiculously high. [[I'll try to synchronize the arrival portal, you can't waste time!]]
"Optimus, whatever is happening is not good, we need to get out of here now, this is way out of our control." Arcee pleaded, trying to keep her balance from the increasingly violent shaking.
Optimus knew it was a logical decision to leave as soon as possible, if even they could not withstand the large amount of energy, then it would be a mission in vain. However, he felt a resonance of his leadership matrix with the forest, a pulse of life that was strangely familiar when he became a Prime on Cybertron, the same feeling he had when he first saw Primus as Optimus Prime.
Before Optimus could give the order to retreat, a large 33-foot robot flew toward the Autobots; by reflex, they managed to dodge in time, but the Cybertronian himself, being thrown, crashed into a metal tree, hitting his back hard and falling to the ground, one of his knees touching the ground.
Optimus and the Autobots' optics expanded to their maximum as they saw who the Cybertronian who had just crashed into the tree was, causing some to instinctively take a step back.
"It can't be..." Arcee whispered in disbelief.
"Is that bastard immortal?" Bulkhead asked, turning his arms into cannons.
Optimus was in disbelief, part of him was disappointed to see him again, but a small part of him, deep inside his Spark, was happy to see his brother alive. "Megatron." Optimus said, regaining his composure, though confused at how he had just arrived.
Megatron, hearing the voice of his greatest rival, opened his red eyes, which glowed malevolently. He rose to his feet like a king and spat Energon from his mouth as if he did not care, even though he was visibly injured. "Optimus Prime and his Autobots, I did not expect our reunion to be like this." Megatron looked up to see his warship immediately awaiting his return.
"Megatron, what have you done to this forest?" Optimus asked, for something so unusual could only be explained by the presence of his greatest archrival in the place.
Megatron simply remained silent for a few seconds, noting that his greatest rival was completely unaware of the situation, suspecting that Optimus might have some resonance with the Primus blood that was in this forest, and that he would guess the reason for being here. "Unfortunately, Optimus, I don't have time to deal with you right now, as I have someone else on my priority list." Megatron gave a small, imperceptible nod and opened a portal beside him.
Megatron, as much as he wanted to finish his last duel with Optimus Prime, he could not challenge him in the physical condition he was in, much less without the power boost of Singular or Dark Energon coursing through his veins. He was no fool; he knew how strong Optimus was when he was at his full potential, thanks to the Leadership Matrix.
"STOP MEGATRON!" Optimus commanded, transforming his right arm into a cannon, ready to fire even though Megatron was clearly damaged.
"I already told you, I have no time to waste with you." Megatron looked at the Master Tree and saw the pulsation of Energon, which was clearly becoming more powerful as it prepared to be released. "When I'm fixed, we'll settle our business, but right now I want to be far away from the explosion." Megatron stepped into the portal, surprising the Autobots with his unusual posture.
"Explosion? What explosion?" Bulkhead asked, turning to see the giant tree.
"The energy that must be causing this disturbance must be coming from that tree." Optimus said, guessing that Megatron had come to this place in search of something, something that resonated with his leadership matrix. [[Ratchet, what is the likely size of the energy release?]]
Distraught, Ratchet decided to make this calculation as quickly as possible, as he wanted Optimus to get out of there as soon as possible. His mind calculated the mass of the energy and the radius of the release, and was astonished to see the damage it would cause.
[[Optimus... if my calculations are correct, the energy release will be nothing short of catastrophic.]] Ratchet said, realizing the gravity of the situation. [[There is nothing you can do to stop it.]]
Optimus clenched his fists, frustrated with himself for not being able to protect Earth, now that he could only see what would result from such a massive release of energy. "Autobots, fall back to the arrival zone!" Optimus ordered, pointing to the side where they had arrived.
The Autobots began running back to where they came from, using the Earth's Edge portal, with Bumblebee leading the way and Optimus running behind to make sure none of them were left behind.
Bulkhead looked up to see the Decepticon ship slowly moving away into the sky, leaving the mysterious forest behind. "Those tinheads are really getting away, the situation is more critical than I thought."
Arcee nodded silently, still focused on keeping up with her companions, but her attention was stolen when she noticed that the animals didn't even seem to care about the large pulses of energy, seeing how some clearly carnivorous animals were seriously watching them, curious about their presence. "Why don't they run away? Don't they realize that everything is about to go up in smoke?" Arcee asked, suspicious of the animals' attitude.
"This is an ecosystem we do not understand, they will not behave as one would expect wild animals to." Optimus replied, watching as an eagle with a wingspan of over 20 feet stared at him from the top of a tree, its metal claws clearly visible, glinting in the light.
***
[Decepticon ship]
As Megatron entered his warship, he was quickly attended to by a medical team that had been waiting for his return, ready to take him to the infirmary where Knock Out was currently located.
[[Soundwave, I need a report on the energy readings from this forest.]] Megatron ordered over the comm, knowing that Soundwave was monitoring the energy activity of this practically mystical forest. [[Decepticons, launch into planetary orbit.]] Megatron ordered, supporting his arms under the Decepticons as they helped him to the infirmary.
Megatron was irritated, today was a rather humiliating day for him, he felt extremely irritated with Airachnid, especially the human who knew how to handle the power of the Singular Energon. Entering the medical wing, he saw Knock Out using his microscope to analyze the black Energon fragment, seemingly engrossed in his work, while Starscream struggled to breathe as his body showed visible damage to its metallic structure.
"KNOCK OUT! Master Megatron needs your attention!" One of the Decepticons shouted, scaring the Decepticon's best doctor and making him jump a little.
"WHAT THE FUCK, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M WORKING..." Knock Out fell silent as he saw Megatron looking at him seriously. "Excuse me, leave Master Megatron in that seat, I'll arrange the repairs immediately." Knock Out quickly changed into his medical persona, transforming his right arm into various medical tools and equipment.
As he settled into his resting place, Megatron looked at Starscream, remembering the original shard of Dark Energon he had used to link with Unicron's power, which had supposedly been lost in the explosion. "Knock Out, fix Starscream when you are done with me, I have a special matter to discuss with him and I will need him to be able to survive my interrogation."
"Yes Lord Megatron." Knock Out replied, knowing that Starscream would be a recurring patient in his infirmary.
Meanwhile, at the command post of the Decepticon ship, Soundwave was extremely focused on analyzing the forest, studying the energy spikes that were growing considerably, but his attention was distracted for a single moment when he detected 2 points of Energon concentrated in two positions far apart from each other.
Due to the massive amount of Energon spreading, it would be difficult to notice this small detail, but being an expert in navigating through portals, he recognized the way the sudden energy appeared, creating a passageway between space and time.
Soundwave knew that one of the portals belonged to the Autobots, but the second energy signal he detected was unfamiliar, leading him to suspect that it might somehow be connected to the particular human causing trouble.
While Nemesis flew to a safe distance to avoid being hit by the energy release, Soundwave used the ship's powerful external cameras to observe and record what was happening to the forest, focusing on the main tree where the energy concentration was greatest. The expressionless Decepticon watched as the giant tree began to emit a bright green glow, releasing a large amount of energy vertically into the sky like a pillar, surpassing the clouds to a height of 8 kilometers, until suddenly this energy spread out like a physical layer of energy that covered the entire territory of the Metal Forest, marking the boundaries of that territory.
If Soundwave could show his surprise, he would, but it was obvious that he was fascinated by the way he was observing the event, until his receptors picked up a pattern of energy pulsation from the forest that he had not noticed at first glance, but that he was quickly surprised to realize what it was.
TUM!
TUM!
TUM!
TUM - TUM!
TUM!
TUM - TUM!
Soundwave fully understood what was causing the energy ripples, realizing that the signal was not simply an unstable discharge of energy, but rather a heartbeat, a Cybertronian heartbeat.
With each heartbeat, the barrier that had been erected to protect the forest had ripples in its energy dome, a pattern that would obviously be noticed soon enough, but it did not hide the fact that pumping out so much energy in such large and significant quantities revealed that something gigantic was patiently waiting to awaken.