The researchers fled in a panicked swarm. Within moments, Skygnaw stood alone at the base of the AllSpark.
Up close, the sheer scale of the artifact was suffocating. With edges exceeding a hundred meters in length, the Cube made even Skygnaw—towering by human standards—feel insignificant. He reached out, his metal palm meeting the cold, ancient surface.
"Black Panther!"
"I am here, Master." The air shimmered, and the mechanical beast materialized from its cloak.
"Guard the transit tunnel. Do not let a single soul approach!"
"By your will." A laser cannon, previously hidden within its dorsal plating, slid into position. The panther turned and sprinted back toward the tunnel entrance.
The Isolation Hall was now a graveyard of abandoned clipboards and equipment. Only the humans in the observation gallery remained, watching from behind their glass cage.
Panther should be able to buy me a few minutes...
Skygnaw didn't hesitate. Strings of complex Cybertronian code flickered across his optics, converting into high-frequency energy waves. The pulse traveled down his arm, pooling at his fingertips.
Clang!
He struck the surface of the Cube. A ripple of crimson energy, like a stone dropped into a still pond, washed across the bronze metal. The point of contact erupted in a blinding red glare.
"We have to do something!"
Inside the observation room, Secretary John Keller paced like a caged tiger. He watched the alien giant perform some unknown ritual on their greatest treasure.
"Where are your men, Tom? You have a base this size and the security is this porous? Where is the emergency response?"
Banacheck didn't look at him. He tapped a sequence into his watch. "Thirty seconds. Twenty... ten... three, two, one..."
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Sudden, frantic gunfire erupted from the tunnel outside, punctuated by the high-pitched whine of lasers and the concussive boom of grenades.
"What now?" Keller demanded.
"It's the mechanical cat!" Maggie Madsen shouted, pointing through the glass. Her sharp eyes had caught the panther's sudden appearance. "It was with him the whole time—it just appeared out of thin air! It's holding the tunnel!"
Banacheck's radio crackled with a frantic voice: "Sir, we're pinned down! There's a... a robotic leopard firing high-intensity lasers from its back! we can't get a clear shot at the hall!"
"Damn it! There's more than one," Banacheck hissed, slamming his fist against the reinforced glass. "We can't stay here. They know Megatron is here, too. We need to get to the armory and then the cryo-vault. We cannot let them thaw NBE-1!"
Skygnaw heard the distant symphony of war—the barks of human rifles and the hum of his drone's cannon. He remained motionless.
The AllSpark's energy was a torrential flood, surging into his chassis, rewriting his core systems. It was a familiar sensation, yet far more intense than his previous upgrade. A true metamorphosis.
One by one, the humans fled the gallery. The hall fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the hum of the Cube and the thinning gunfire from the tunnel.
Suddenly, something fell from the scaffolding above. It hit the floor with a sharp, metallic clack.
Tink-clink.
Skygnaw's sensors twitched. He turned his head toward the sound.
Fifty meters away, a small, blue-and-silver mechanical head was wobbling, struggling to stand on six spindly, insect-like legs. It looked like a motorized face-hugger. When it finally steadied itself, four glowing blue optics and a twitching, mandibled mouth became visible.
"Frenzy?" Skygnaw muttered.
He looked up at the ceiling, wondering how the little spy had dropped in. The room was supposed to be a sealed lead-and-concrete coffin. But then again, Frenzy was built for the impossible gaps.
Frenzy shook his head, clearing his processors, and spotted Skygnaw. "Skygnaw? What are you doing here?"
Before Skygnaw could answer, Frenzy's optics locked onto the AllSpark. In a blur of skittering legs, the tiny Decepticon reached the base of the Cube.
"Is this... the Spark?" Frenzy's voice was a frantic, high-pitched garble of excitement.
"As you can see," Skygnaw said coolly. He pulled his hand back from the surface.
The evolution was complete.
His frame had shifted. He was no longer just an advanced soldier; he had ascended to the rank of Elite-Class Warrior. In the Decepticon hierarchy, he now stood just below the Commander and Leader tiers.
Status: Combat Decepticon
Armor: Cybertronian Steel (Reinforced)
Weaponry: 12.6mm Heavy Repeater (Right), Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Pod (Left)
Spark: 100% (Overcharged)
Chassis: Elite-Class
Combat Rating: Elite-Class Warrior
The data display flickered in his mind, highlighting his new status. He felt "reborn." He had more raw power, faster reflex processors, and a chassis that felt nearly indestructible.
Frenzy, preoccupied with the Cube, didn't notice the change. "A thousand years! Hidden by these flesh-creatures!" He let out a digitized cackle. "Haha! That human girl actually did me a favor. What do they call it? 'Coming to those who wait'?"
Skygnaw's processors refocused. "Don't celebrate yet, Frenzy. The humans aren't going to sit idle."
"Yes, those disgusting biologicals!" Frenzy hissed. "I'm in this state because of them! That human girl!"
He looked up at Skygnaw. "Did you transmit the coordinates to the Master?"
"The Master?" Skygnaw paused, realizing he meant Soundwave. "I just secured the site. I haven't messaged Soundwave yet. But I've confirmed that Lord Megatron is being held nearby, frozen by their primitive tech."
"Megatron!"
Frenzy began to pace frantically, his excitement reaching a fever pitch. To Frenzy, Soundwave was his direct master, but Megatron was the god of their cause.
"Skygnaw, I need your help! I need the Spark's energy to restore my chassis!"
"Fine," Skygnaw nodded. He reached down, scooped up the twitching mechanical head, and tossed it onto a ledge of the Cube.
Frenzy was too damaged to notice Skygnaw's new power levels. As the little spy began to siphon energy, Skygnaw sent a private ping to the tunnel.
A moment later, a battered mechanical beast limped into the hall. It was Black Panther. The drone was a mess—its armor was scorched, and the laser cannon on its back was bent at a jagged angle. Even for a low-tier warrior, holding off a military base for fifteen minutes was an agonizing feat.
Skygnaw's optics turned cold. He didn't like seeing his tools broken, especially one that had served him so well. He transmitted the source code for the AllSpark evolution to the drone.
"Black Panther. Go to the Spark. Heal yourself... and evolve."
The drone looked up, its optics flickering with raw emotion. "Thank you, Master."
"Go. I'll handle the humans outside."
As the panther limped toward the glowing Cube, Skygnaw's right hand shifted, his 12.6mm heavy repeater sliding into place with a lethal click. He turned toward the shattered doors.
"Time to see what Sector Seven is really made of."
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