Optimus Prime is at his house as he looks at the board wall that pictures of Cybertronions, locations, lethal weapons, strings connected that all go to a photo of Megatron. Optimus Prime places a photo of Cliffjumper on the board and a drawing of an invisible noose as he places a string between them before connecting it to Megatron. He goes towards another board that has a map on it, there were "X"s and "O"s that present the victims and Megatron's sighting. He marks an "X" of the entrance of the Opera, which is where Cliffjumper was killed.
He examines the map as the "X"s are where the victims are killed and the "O"s are the sightings of Megatron when he interviews the witnesses. He knows that the victims' deaths were near the Opera House, while Megatron's sightings were far from the Opera House. Elita-One, Optimus' fiancé, came in and saw Optimus glancing the board. Unlike the others, Elita believes Optimus Prime's murder connections of Megatron, but she gets concerned about his safety, when a witness named Starscream almost got killed by Megatron, but he managed to escape as he is placed in The Witness Protection Unit.
Elita One approaches Optimus Prime and places her servo on his shoulder as he turned his attention to her "Still doing your case?" she stated "Yes, Elita" Optimus said as Elita glances at the board of strange murders that involved Megatron "Why is Megatron keep killing these individuals that are near the Opera House?" Elita-One asked "I believe these murder locations and Megatron's sightings are connected to the Opera House" Optimus said as he goes to the map and taps on one of Megatron's sightings "These sewers are where Megatron is seen as witnesses saw him coming in and out of there, and he has a motive that is involved with the Opera House" Optimus deduced.
"What kind of motive would that be involved with the Opera House?" Elita-One asked "I'm not certain, but tomorrow, I'll interview the staff and performers to know if anything has got to do with Megatron" Optimus explained as he and Elita leave the basement and went to the living room to relax.
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Arcee is at the bar after she found Cliffjumper dead and decided to take a drink to drown her sorrows as five empty glass cups were standing there. "Another one, please," Arcee said as Maccadam pulls out a clean empty glass cup. "This will be your last one, Arcee and I don't want to be passed out drunk again," he said as he fills the cup with high grade Energon and places at the booth.
Arcee picks up the cup and drinks it all up and lays her head sideways on the booth. "I'm sorry you lost your partner, Cliffjumper when you had lost Tailgate a few years ago," Maccadam said sympathizing Arcee's loss. Arcee was interviewed by Optimus Prime about the last time when she saw Cliffjumper, she told the detective that she and Cliffjumper left the park before Cliffjumper told her to meet him at the entrance of the Opera House. When she got there, she found him dead. Her previous partner, Tailgate died of an accident, the femme mopes as two mechs sit next to her, they are Knock Out and Breakdown.
Knock Out noticed that Arcee is going to throw up. "Need to throw up?" he asked. "No," Arcee replied. "You definitely need to," Breakdown said. Knock Out is medic and Breakdown is his assistant. "I'm not," Arcee protested. Later, Arcee is barfing at a wall of an alley as Knock Out and Breakdown are at her side. "You are right, I did need to throw up," Arcee said as the duo decided to escort her home as she is too drunk to go by herself.
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The next morning...
Optimus Prime arrives at the Opera House and enters the theater room. The staff were setting up the props and sets as the performers practice, they saw Optimus Prime as Moonbeam, Firestar's guardian and choreographer approaches him "May I help you Detective Prime?" she asked "I'm here to interview the staff and performers about the murders that are near this Opera House and I believe they're connected to the sightings of Megatron" Optimus said. Moonbeam became hesitant, but allowed Optimus to interview them.
While Optimus Prime interviews them, Slipstream; one of the performers told Optimus that she saw a stranger at the fly system where all the ropes, counterweights, and pulleys are. She had first thought it was one of the staff, but when she looked again, it wasn't one of the staff as the stranger is wearing a cape. Cosmos, a backstage worker told Optimus that yesterday, he had overheard Firestar and Inferno's conversation. "Tell me about this "Angel of Music"?" Optimus Prime asked, "From what I could hear about their conversation is that he was the one who taught Firestar to sing like an angel and from what she said that he is very strict and wants her to an audience with him alone in private," Cosmos explained.
"Do you what room that is usually private?" Optimus asked, "My guess is the dressing room, no one is allowed in the dressing room without permission," Cosmos said. "When I was cleaning the floors as I was near the door of Firestar's dressing room, I heard a confrontation between her and the Angel of Music, I could barely hear out what they're saying, but the Angel of Music said "Inferno is unavoidable," then there was Firestar crying, and she said, "Please don't leave me" then I have to resume my work without getting caught," the janitor explained. Optimus Prime moves to Firestar as he asks her about the Angel of Music.
"This Angel of Music...was he the one who taught you how to sing?" Optimus said, "Yes," Firestar replied "Since when?" he added, "When my dying father promised that he would send the Angel of Music to teach me to sing like an angel," she explained. "Do you what he looks like? Have you seen his face?" Optimus asked, "No, I only hear his voice," Firestar said, "What did his voice sound like?" he asked, "It was deep and powerful," she answered "Anything else?" Optimus asked, "That's it, the Angel of Music wants to be kept anonymous, he doesn't want other people to see him," Firestar said. "Okay, I'll take my leave," Optimus Prime said as he leaves the Opera House.
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Optimus Prime is at his office as he looks at the notes he has written during the interview at the Opera House. Optimus wonders if Megatron and the Angel of Music are the same person, "Inferno is unavoidable...Please don't leave me...There is something that is going on in the Opera House that has Firestar involved with this," Optimus said as he thinks back about his friendship with Megatron. He used to be a data clerk as Orion Pax when he was a teenager and Megatron as Megatronous was a wanderer as he was reading about legends of Old Cybertron, which was both their favorite story.
Later in their young adult years, Orion went to the police academy and Megatronous became a community service worker. Suddenly, things turned sour as when an explosion came during Megatronous' creation day as he got caught in it and getting a scar on the side of his face and he disappeared. He hadn't seen his friend ever since, until Megatron's first murder after he got promoted to detective and became Optimus Prime.
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Somewhere in a lair...
A stranger is playing an organ, wearing a formal suit with a cape, and a white mask that covers the left part of his face. He stopped playing the organ as his red optics glowed and knows that Optimus Prime is onto him for twelve stellar cycles. When he was in Firestar's dressing room, he overheard Firestar's co-workers talking about Optimus Prime interview about the case he's in and reached to the part of Firestar explaining to Optimus about the Angel of Music.
He realized that Optimus Prime is getting close and decided to take matters into his own servos and glances a photo of Firestar on a table, "I'm sorry that I have to do this, Firestar. But, I cannot let you tell Optimus more about me" he said as he places two tickets in an envelope that Optimus and Elita's name written on the front of it. "Stay in your seat, Old Friend. Because, I'm crashing the show tonight" he said as the stranger is Megatron.
YOU ARE READING
The Phantom of Cybertron's Opera
FanfictionNOTE: I do not own the rights of Transformers: Prime and The Phantom of the Opera. All rights belong to Hasbro and Gaston Laroux. Deep beneath the Opera House on Cybertron, there lies a Phantom who hides behind a mask to hide his deformity and is de...
