Little Gladiator

Chapter 35: THE Sparkling

The moment the sun dipped behind Cybertron's horizon, the two guards went into action. They unlocked the cell and freed them from their chains. As Megatron and Scythe were rubbing their wrists, the blue one whispered, "Do everything we say and don't make a noise."

Scythe pressed a digit to her lips and the two guards led the way. They slinked through the shadows, pausing whenever another guard passed by their hiding spot. Megatron almost gave them away when he heard a young scream in the distance, but the guard soon shrugged and kept walking. After waiting for a few more nanokliks to make sure he was gone, the three mechs and femme silently hurried out of the palace. Once outside, they were given light benders to clip on so they could hide in plain sight. Once they made sure there were well concealed, the couple followed the guards to an apartment complex a few blocks away.

Knock Knock

Pause.

Knock Knock Knock

The door opened to reveal a stocky mech. He took one look at the group and scowled. "Get in! Get in! Dreads, Quaker, what're you two thinking?! Do you want Sentinel to execute you for treason?"

"He's taken their sparkling," 'Dreads' said, gesturing to Megatron and Scythe.

"So? Sentinel's always been an aft. Sure, I wish I could do more, but-"

"That sparkling."

Shocked, the black mech repeated, "That sparkling?"

"The sparkling."

Realization dawned on the ebony mech's face as he rushed out of the main room.

"May we know the names of our rescuers?" Megatron asked.

The blue guard raised his servo. "My name Dreadwing. This is my brother, Skyquake." The green mech grunted in acknowledgement.

"And I'm Ironhide. Pleasure to the meet the mech who'll hopefully shove Sentinel's ideas up his aft where they belong," he said, dumping a pile of datapads onto the table. "So, ever heard of the Matrix of Leadership?"

x x x x x

Bumblebee peered out of the bars of the pet carrier. He hadn't been in one of these since Pitbull died, but it seemed smaller than he remembered. Or perhaps he had just gotten bigger. 'Forget the pet carrier,' he thought, 'I just wanna get away from the red demon.'

Sentinel was sitting across from him in the private shuttle. He didn't know where he was taking him, but he knew it wasn't going to be good for him if the nasty smirks he was getting were any indication of, well, anything.

He felt the shuttle slow to a stop. Sentinel jerked the crate up and Bee watched as the mech's colors changed to something duller. However, he could still almost see his true colors under the electronic paint. The scenery blurred by through the crate door, but Bee saw a gaping hole in the ground ahead of them. Was the red demon going to toss him down the hole? They walked past a sign next to a staircase. Bee was able to read its words before they descended.

"Welcome to the Well of AllSparks!"

What did the AllSpark have to do with the Matrix?

x x x x x

"What does the Matrix have to do with anything?" Megatron asked.

"It's the symbol of a true Prime and Sentinel wants to get his greasy servos on it."