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Mumu-Obscura--Sub-Levels

Tarn could clearly see the effect that he was having on Claw, and it was very much intentional, but that did not mean that he was not also interested in obtaining a practical answer to his question. It took some doing, yes, but one was eventually forthcoming.

"I...cared more about him...than you will ever care...about anything...He'll...heh...he'll kill you all...Megadeath will show you...throw you screamin-ngh!-...in to the Damned Pit...!"

That last sentence was practically a throwaway. Idle threats. Tarn had heard more of them than he cared to count in his day. When Cybertronians in general, and Decepticons in particular, were not fleeing in abject terror at the sight of any one of them, they were usually engaged in the opposite: threatening the Justice Division's own continued existence. It was riotously delusional.

That first statement though...something about the essence of it rang true. And Tarn appreciated something about that truth even if it was in his very nature and function now to be largely deceptive.

"How fortunate we few are to have someone like that in our lives, even if only for a brief time," Tarn said, waxing briefly philosophical. "Consider yourself truly fortunate."

Tarn's abilities began to manifest themselves once more as he continued to speak.

"And...far be it from me....to keep you from the one you cared for so deeply....any longer...than...is necessary," Tarn spoke pleasantly....melodically, even. And with each passing word, it was clear that more and more of Claw's vital systems were shutting down as Tarn toyed with the mech's very spark. In short order, Claw's optics darkened and the dimming spark of life that had been there only moments for had vanished completely. The Phase Six Decepticon dropped his current prey and looked at the other justices who were not occupied with their own engagements.

"Let us finish these imbeciles, gentlemechs. Our true quarry surely grows impatient by now and I'm not one to keep him waiting any longer than necessary," Tarn said, stalking off deeper into the facility.

Mumu-Obscura--Sub-Levels

In the heat of battle, or slaughter to be more honest, it's easy to miss a few things. Things like small Autoscouts, scurrying about to try to fix the elevator with their tiny manipulator arms. They were so far beneath notice, zipping around the charred corpses and large feet of the DJD, that it was easy not to notice one of the swarm carrying a little canister. Or two. Or three. Or four. It was even easy to miss a small platoon of them carrying a larger tank or a small spherical device. Surely, they were all just parts to repair all the damage...

It was much easier to miss them when an enormous holographic image of Megadeath's head, bathing the dead and dying and DJD members in blood red and harsh orange light, appeared in front of the door to his actual laboratory.

"Ahhh, to see you all work in person. Tarn! That is your name for now, yes? An absolute pleasure to see you again after all these cycles, but, I must say I'm a tad disappointed. Cavorting with gussied up simpletons swaggering about as weapons, and still wearing that ridiculous mask after all these years? Tsk tsk tsk, my but they are right: the brightest pupils are always the cause of the most disappointment...

More Autoscouts scurried about the entrance, around the DJD with enough space to leave them completely harmless as a few seemed to swarm out and up the elevator shaft...

Mumu-Obscura - Outskirts

A lone Hunter-Killer Aerial form zipped only meters from the ground, to the small and unassuming two-bot craft hidden near a rock outcropping.

Ferak didn't even slowdown as he transformed. He kept flying, even in robot mode, until he could see Tornado at the gangway for the ship. It'd taken him a few harrowing breems to slowly and surely make his way back out of the facility undetected, and he'd spared a quick moment to leave the DJD a small token on their ship.

They deserved that much for their help, and what they were about to go through.

But he didn't want to be on this forsaken planet for another moment. He slowed his flight until he hit the ground at a run, still making his way towards his cohort.

"Go go go! Prime for take-off! Keep us low til we're out of scanning range!" he hissed in a terse whisper to Tornado, unsure why he was keeping his voice low but well...with what he saw, he didn't want to take any chances...

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

“NYAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAHHHHHHH!!!”

Switchblade screamed from within Helex's smelting pool, trying to in some way avoid this grisly fate, but struggling only coated him in more of the boiling liquid metal. The screams abruptly stopped as soon as Switchblade's face submerged but his talon-like hands still wiggled and twitched above the surface until coming to a halt slowly.

Kaon smiled at the sound of Switchblade's screams. He nodded at Helex in thanks for blocking the earlier missile from connecting with the lean electrocutioner's frame. Feeling a sudden tap on his shoulder, Kaon turned slightly to see Vos standing beside him with an eager questioning expression. The communications officer grinned widely and nodded to Vos who then transformed.

Taking his fellow DJDer into his hands, Kaon slowly approached Ripsnorter who was peering at them from where he knelt struggling to regain his footing. Unnecessary. “You have been judged and found guilty,” Kaon said almost joyously. He lifted a palm at Ripsnorter and sent another bolt of electricity to shock the traitorous Decepticon before walking up to and kicking back down. He pressed Vos against Ripsnorter's head and blasted it open, kneeling down to examine for a moment the brain module inside.

“Hmmm...”

"Let us finish these imbeciles, gentlemechs. Our true quarry surely grows impatient by now and I'm not one to keep him waiting any longer than necessary."

Kaon straightened immediately at the sound of Tarn's voice and cast his optical sockets toward their illustrious leader. Promptly and decisively, the electrocutioner crushed Ripsnorter's brain in his hand and jogged to catch up to Tarn, still hefting Vos. The communications officer slowed and matched pace with Tarn, keeping at his side. Kaon smiled eagerly up at their de facto leader when a big image of Megadeath's rather hideous face popped up in front the door ahead.

”Ahhh, to see you all work in person. Tarn! That is your name for now, yes? An absolute pleasure to see you again after all these cycles, but, I must say I'm a tad disappointed. Cavorting with gussied up simpletons swaggering about as weapons, and still wearing that ridiculous mask after all these years? Tsk tsk tsk, my but they are right: the brightest pupils are always the cause of the most disappointment... “

Kaon frowned slightly. It appeared that Tarn and Megadeath were acquainted. That was bothersome. Not in that Kaon did not trust Tarn to do his duty, but in that his resistance might prove better coordinated than some others. Ah, well. It would make for a more interesting hunt. Kaon looked up at Tarn expectantly, awaiting his word. He hardly noticed the autoscouts milling about, nor did he particularly care about them.

((OOC: Permission from Em to NPC Vos))

Mumu-Obscura-–Sub-Levels

From a short distance, Tarn had watched another of Megadeath's crew suffer the same smelting fate that had befallen numerous lifeforms before him--both cybernetic and non. It was a confusing mix of being both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. Ultimately, however, it was necessary. The Division had given them every opportunity to flee and they had not taken it. Moreover, they had attacked. Attacked in whatever futile manner they had expected that to play out. Truly disappointing. My but these little regional warlords of Megatron could inspire some blinding loyalty, couldn't they? Such a waste. Had they only put their faith where it belonged, it would not have had to be this way.

Tarn prepared to move on, deeper into the facility, when a gruesome, holographic rendering of their quarry appeared before them.

"Ahhh, to see you all work in person. Tarn! That is your name for now, yes? An absolute pleasure to see you again after all these cycles, but, I must say I'm a tad disappointed. Cavorting with gussied up simpletons swaggering about as weapons, and still wearing that ridiculous mask after all these years? Tsk tsk tsk, my but they are right: the brightest pupils are always the cause of the most disappointment..."

Beneath his mark, Tarn's optics narrowed slightly. Watching the holoprojection as Kaon approached from his periphery, Vos having apparently decided to have a little fun in his alternate mode. The smile that was given was returned in kind, even if the mark covered it.

The trivial deceptions that were in play at their arrival were most clearly gone now. They had made the Division's ingress a little more smooth, and that had been their only purpose. At least it could never be said of Megadeath that he was not well-spoken. No. Indeed, had he not transmogrified himself into something that would have just as easily been found in Mortilus' nightmare's, he supposed he could have garnered a much stronger power base for himself within the Decepticon ranks. Sometimes, however, the sheep simply stray a little too far from the herd for their own good. Oh well. Ponderings for another day.

"The same could be said of masters, I'm afraid. See you soon," Tarn said, the cool eloquence in his voice remaining. He turned to see that Kaon's expression had changed slightly. A modicum of confusion perhaps? Disappointment? He had not always had the best time reading facial expressions. Words offered so much more clarity and insight.

"It was not Cybertron alone that had a hand in my forging. You know this," Tarn said before stalking off deeper into the Mumu-Obscuran facility

"Additional precautions, all. Now that the veil of deception and pleasantry has been lifted, our quarry will not hesitate to impede our progress."

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

"It was not Cybertron alone that had a hand in my forging. You know this," Tarn said before stalking off deeper into the Mumu-Obscuran facility.

“Ah, it makes sense now,” Kaon replied with a nod. How curious indeed if Megadeath had an actuator in creating what Tarn was today. “A shame someone with such talent has turned against us...” Kaon thought aloud, glancing to the side at some of the Autoscouts passing them in the facility. “Disappointing...though I suppose everyone on the List is. Some more than others to be fair. Wasted genius. Tch, tch, tch.”

"Additional precautions, all. Now that the veil of deception and pleasantry has been lifted, our quarry will not hesitate to impede our progress."

Kaon swung Vos down from his shoulder where his compatriot had been resting in his alternate form into his hands once more. Electricity crackled off of Kaon's tesla coils in anticipation. They were drawing nearer to their prey. He could not help but feel the deep thrill of excitement that all of them assuredly felt. But Megadeath would be prepared. He was not the sort to go without a fight.

“What sort of surprises do you think he has in mind for us, Tarn? Someone like Megadeath...he will be more tenacious than our usual fare.” Kaon thought for a moment, weighing that quality in his mind. “Both good and bad in different ways, but it will end the same.”

Mumu-Obscura--Outskirts

Tornado could still hear the telltale rumbling of cannon fire, deep in the distance, far, far below him. Whatever was going on, it had been an eruption of firepower on a pretty epic scale. And then it had faded to nothing again just that quickly. Tornado knew what was happening without even seeing it: the Decepticon Justice Division had encountered some resistance. The Decepticon Justice Division had then obliterated that resistance. And then they moved on, deeper.

Come onnnnnnn, Ferak. I'm bouts to leave you, not kidding. Really not. Reeeeaaaalllllyyy not kidding right now, Tornado chafed internally as he paced impatiently.

And then there he was! Like...coming out of nowhere. And coming fast.

"Whoa...easy killer, what're you doing?" Tornado asked rhetorically as he held up his actuators in front of him and stepped back gingerly closer to the ship's entrance. As if that was going to save him if Ferak had suddenly turned homi-suicidal and was now coming to end it for the both of them.

But at the last second he transformed and closed the rest of the distance in a solid run.

"Go go go! Prime for take-off! Keep us low til we're out of scanning range!"

"Yeah. Right. Go. Going. That's what I was waiting for you for," Tornado sputtered out, following his Squadron-X comrade up the walkway and into the ship itself, making a beeline straight for the cockpit cabin. He had never found the pilot's chair so fast in his life and he quickly started flipping switches and toggles.

"I'm sure Valve has a ride, right? Valve has a ride. Valve wouldn't come here without a ride," he said as the ship started its liftoff.

Valve better have a ride.

Mumu-Obscura - Sub-Levels

Helex's lowly humming had shifted into a quiet whistling as he converted back to his robot mode. Smolted metal littered his shoulder plating, though not enough to cause any sort of pain. Using his larger set of hands, Helex flicked the remnants of... Primus what was his name again? Could have sworn he heard it shortly before his demise... Was it Switchblade? Pretty sure it was that... Yes, yes it was Switchblade, he went down like a prick.

"Let us finish these imbeciles, gentlemechs. Our true quarry surely grows impatient by now and I'm not one to keep him waiting any longer than necessary."

"Agreed to that." Helex stated with a grumble before he continued to whistle his little tune from before.

The DJD,
The DJD.
Here to come
for you and me...

Three hours ago.


*Thunk* *Thunk* *Thunk*

The prisoner in his makeshift cell hammered on the door of the security box he had been crammed into with his forehead, he had little other option.

"Please, if you are going to kill me, do it now", his voice breaking with fear. "I don't know who he is!"

Tesarus stood silent in front of the door. Not even a data-slug class would have fit in this tiny storage locker, but the crudely severed arms and legs he held in each of his four limbs proved otherwise.

This mech was little sport, but he liked it that way. He had been there for the briefing on Megadeath by just like the rest of the crew, but he was just taking a bit of a detour beforehand and he was in no hurry as there was still fun to be had here. Tarn would have called him if he was needed anyway. Maybe this rustbucket who's appendages he was currently maliciously chewing upon really didn't have a clue who Megadeth was, but who cares? All were disposable in the service of Megatron's justice.

Tasarus effortlessly ripped the whole front off the storage locker and leant down until the giant red cross of his faceplate was mere millimetres from the whimpering victim who he had so deliciously enjoyed. He snorted in distaste.

"KILL YOU!?" he bellowed. "Oh, that's a certainty. The question you should be asking is... HOW LONG CAN I MAKE IT LAST?

His booming voice could shatter windows, and the terrified incarcerate felt his metalidermis shiver from the mere dominance as his captor continued. Intimidation was what Tesarus did best, and there were few in existence that could equal his imposing aura.

The captee's eyes began to widen from simple terror to the purest of horror at the dull grating of Tesasus' blades slowly increased in pitch. Sparks flew as the last remaining shards of the companion to this poor soul were digested like pamphlets through a shredder. The screeching of metal being carved amplified as Tesarus brought the grinder up to speed and, not taking his eyes off his terror-stricken subject slowly fed its own arm into the whirling blades. The noise was like music to Tesarus' ears and the pitch of the metal limb screaming wordlessly as it was devoured tipped the victim over the edge and its mind finally snapped. Catatonia had set in. The dangling face blankly stared at the giant Decepticon and uttered its final words before falling limp.

"Sub... Level..."

Tesarus raged. He had escaped his torment, HOW DARE HE! NO ONE GETS AWAY FROM ME!! With a mighty arm he lifted the limp torso and head before his face as if it was a micromaster. It's eyes were still lit, but they were glassy and blank; the cortex had shorted out and it was barely more than a coffee machine now. He yelled in fury and brutally ended its suffering using all four arms, savagely revelling in the screeching as metal was chewed apart by metal before expelling the last bits of debris with a grunt of satisfaction. He then turned to the next quivering subject.

NOW WE HAVE THAT OUT OF THE WAY, TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE HE IS...!

The siren song of the victims, mixed with the squealing of his grinders wove out across the darkened sky. Tesarus was in no hurry to finish his work.

...



Now.

>>YES KAON. I ALSO KNOW WHERE HE IS. Tell Tarn I will be there shortly. TESARUS OUT!<<

There had been no point shadowing his leader for 'protection' whilst these fools bowed and scraped in front of him like twisted nobility, so he had wandered off to find his own intel, and successfully at that.

He assumed his heavy tank mode and slammed into the ground, churning up the metallic floor like it was mud, giant grinder in place of a gun barrel, and smashed his way towards their quarry. "FIND! KILL! CLEANSE!" rang out into the night as he crushed all those who stood in his way. He intended for it to be the last words megadeath ever heard, "FIND! KILL! CLEANSE!"

For he was of the Decepticon Justice Division, and he would bring the terror of Megatron's to all those who believed themselves above their master.

Mumu-Obscura--Sub-Levels

“What sort of surprises do you think he has in mind for us, Tarn? Someone like Megadeath...he will be more tenacious than our usual fare. Both good and bad in different ways, but it will end the same," Kaon had asked as the Division began to descend down into the true depths of the facility. Megadeath had certainly carved a unique little base of operations for himself out here in the middle of nowhere. As he descended further, his mind ruminated on Kaon's query.

"Truly, I can only begin to guess. With a mind like his, I suspect he has gone to great lengths to protect his work. It will end the same, but I have no doubt he will give us a fun story to tell Megatron."

Ahead, Tarn came upon another set of doors and promptly leveled his fusion cannons in their direction. He had no time for such paltry encumbrances. True justice awaited.

Firing, the metallic doors all but evaporated in the sudden blaze of plasmatic flames. Stepping forward and through, Tarn found himself on the far edge of a large shaft leading down, down, down into what--from this distance--appeared to be a molten pit of some kind. Helex would certainly get a kick out of that.

Tarn looked up. At the top of the huge, cylindrical room was not a simple ceiling, but rather a surface covered in blades.

Trap number one, Tarn thought, bemused. How darling.

With only a brief moment's hesitation, Tarn began to descend the metallic stairwell that circled its way downward.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

>>YES KAON. I ALSO KNOW WHERE HE IS. Tell Tarn I will be there shortly. TESARUS OUT!<<

Out of sheer reflex, Kaon rubbed his audio receptor as Tesarus's booming voice shook his processor. Ouch. The shredder could do with taking his voice down a couple notches if anyone asked the communications officer. Ah, oh well. Soon they'd have a full complement. The electrocutioner looked back at Helex and the Pet trailing along at his side with a spark in his maw. Kaon gave the sparkeater a little pat, turned to Tarn as their de facto leader began to speak.

"Truly, I can only begin to guess. With a mind like his, I suspect he has gone to great lengths to protect his work. It will end the same, but I have no doubt he will give us a fun story to tell Megatron."

“Yes!” Kaon replied eagerly, grinning up at Tarn enthusiastically, “I simply cannot wait! Ah, by the way, Tesarus told me that he was on his way. It would be a shame if he were to miss the proceedings.”

As they came upon a set of doors, to which Tarn promptly leveled his fusion cannons and practically evaporated them. The crimson justice allowed Tarn to step through before following closely behind with Vos secured in his arms. It would not do to drop their newest justice into that molten pit. Ha, Helex would probably enjoy that.

As Tarn looked upward so did Kaon to note that the ceiling was covered in blades. “Hah, it's almost as if he drew the inspiration for these traps from us,” Kaon commented as he followed Tarn down into the shaft, circling ever downward. Electricity jumped from his tesla coils, betraying the communications officer's inner excitement. The Pet seemed to match his master's excitement, wiggling between Kaon's legs and bouncing ahead of even Tarn, looking at the masked justice and wagging his tail at him.

Kaon was fairly content to let the Pet do what it would. Confident that Tarn could deal with any traps ahead of them, the crimson electrocutioner took stock of the shaft, looking up at the bladed ceiling. “Wonder if that will fall anytime so-”

Clink!

Something wrapped itself around Kaon's feet. Reflexively, Kaon tossed Vos at Tarn before looking down. Stasis cuffs? Suddenly, the panel that he was standing on gave way. Kaon dropped with startling speed down toward the molten pit. He tried activating his foot thrusters but the stasis cuffs rather effectively inhibited that ability. Instead, Kaon attempted to grab onto any part of the shaft walls, but they were smooth. Slick. There was no purchase to be had. Only the molten pit below.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub - levels

With a thundering of footsteps, Kaon's descent was arrested with a sudden jolt that almost tore the servo's in his shoulder as Tesarus' timely arrival caught the slight con at the last second. Effortlessly his giant arms lifted Kaon until he was at eye level and a smaller arm snaked out from his midriff, slapped Kaon across the face, and snapped the cuffs off his feet. They hurled them into the giant grinder within Tesarus' chest cavity which gave a metallic screech of delight as it consumed the meagre offering, showering Kaon in sparks.

"THAT is a trap" rumbled the huge torture mech in his usual understated tone, pointing sarcastically at the pit with one secondary limb and making obscene gestures at the depths of the shaft ahead with the other.

He was rudely interrupted by a ticking from above; and instinctively he hunched over the fragile mech in his hands as the blades from above skewered downwards and sliced at his toughened hide. He silently winced from the pain, but centuries of unceasing combat had dulled many of his receptors and the fact that he actually felt anything at all gave his circuits a surge of adrenaline. The lacerating pain washed over him and steeled his resolve for the battle ahead. Megadeath would pay for this, and he would enjoy extracting that debt.


He dropped the dazed Kaon unceremoniously to the floor and, fired up from the traps and surge in power, he bellowed so loud the city itself could have heard him "YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP US?!! We are coming!" He looked up at the remaining blades on the ceiling and snapped one off, throwing it down into the pit of molten slag where in a second it had turned white-hot and melted away as a warning to his group that caution was paramount. "There will be worse to come."

Giving Kaon precious few seconds to collect himself, he greeted Tarn wordlessly, transformed into his alternate mode, his grey armour looking scratched from the scissor traps but by no means damaged, and lumbered down the shaft with a sense of purpose, knowing it would only take seconds for the others to catch up. He was focused.

He was fired up. He needed something to find. Something to kill. Something to cleanse.
And he needed it now.

Mumu-Obscura--Energy Transfer Conduit

Looking more closely at his cylindrical surroundings as he descended the steps, Tarn could make out the distinct patterns of energy wires snaking their way to and fro along the walls. Apart from being some kind of conspicuous death trap, Tarn surmised that they were in an area of Megadeath's little fortress that was responsible for routing power through all of its various levels and sub-levels. And that the molten pit below was likely one of the generators of said power.

Tarn had nodded obligingly at the update on Tesarus' whereabouts. He had no doubt that all of them would want to take part in this hunt in their own, unique ways. Something about high-profile treason elicited the carnal urges in all of them that made them candidates for Megatron's Justice Division in the first place.

“Hah, it's almost as if he drew the inspiration for these traps from us," Kaon had remarked. Tarn himself had quietly been drawing a similar conclusion. This room in particular seemed to originate in the realm of something for more interesting than mere coincidence.

"That it would seem. I am duly impressed by our host's ingenuity. What a shame that his genius got the better of him."

As Kaon's pet meandered ahead of them, Tarn was on the verge of issuing a word of additional caution when he noticed Kaon's next statement cut off in mid-sentence followed by the slight *klink* sound that had captured their collective attention. Tarn watched the stairwell retreat from underneath Kaon's feet, stepping forward to attempt some kind of intervention. Tesarus, thankfully, was there in short order. He reached to catch Vos smoothly before the electrocutioner could drop, but as Tarn himelf turned to look down, he felt the stairwell practically vanish beneath him, retreating into the sides of the walls, leaving the Justice to his descent. What became of Tesarus and Kaon after that point Tarn did not know.

He immediately attempted to activate his flight thrusters, but they appeared to be malfunctioning also. Slinging Vos over his shoulder with his cannon arm, a jagged blade shot forward from his other. He slammed it forward into the smoothly curved siding and finally arrested his fall a few meters or so above the churning liquid compound below. Heat sensors on his lower torso were already beginning to register slight--but gradually increasing--damage.

>>"Do be mindful of that first step. It's a killer,"<< Tarn transmitted smugly as he began to assess his new situation.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

“Ow,” Kaon said in a flat voice as his shoulder felt as though it were being ripped from its socket. On the bright side, his plummet toward certain doom had been arrested. He was lifted up to come optic to optic with his rescuer. Tesarus. The electrocutioner smiled at the X-faced executioner. In his usual way of showing that he cared, Tesarus slapped Kaon across the face and then snapped the stasis cuffs from around his feet. Kaon's optical sockets narrowed to slits as his comrade showered him in sparks from his grinder.

"THAT is a trap."

“Really,” Kaon uttered sarcastically, “Was the slap really necessary?” A ticking sound from above drew the justices' attention to the ceiling above. As Kaon looked up, Tesarus hunched over him protectively as the blades from above assaulted his hulking friend. So that was when that trap would kick in. Hm. Kaon's tesla coils sparked as his thoughts turned to Megadeath with more than a little malice.

As soon as Kaon felt Tesarus's grip loosening he prepared himself for the fall, which came swiftly. The electrocutioner crouched low to the floor and winced as Tesarus bellowed at the top of his vocals.

"YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP US?!! We are coming!"

“Mmm...” Kaon muttered as he stood cautiously. They had entered the den of the beast. Their trials were not over yet. Then, he noticed something wrong. Tarn. He was gone. Another thing too. He was falling again. How irritating. And his foot thrusters continued to malfunction. Without those cuffs on his feet to inhibit his abilities though, this time he could do something about it. Kaon's coils instantly came alive with massive bolts of electricity.

He projected a field around himself to disrupt any signals jamming any of his internal systems and attempted to fly once more. He was finally pleasantly surprised by his plummet suddenly arresting to a halt.

>>"Do be mindful of that first step. It's a killer."<<

Smirking a bit at Tarn's snark despite their situation, Kaon spotted the Pet desperately trying to cling to the wall. He flew down and snatched the beast up who for a moment writhed in his arms snarling until a word from Kaon reassured him. The Pet carefully maneuvered out of Kaon's arms and around to his back, clinging there and taking care to avoid the electricity rolling from his master's tesla coils.

As it was, Kaon was neither strong enough nor large enough to support Tesarus's weight in flight. His fellow justice would have to sort his situation for himself. Instead, he flew past Tesarus down to where Tarn dangled just mere meters from a molten grave. The electrocutioner seized Vos gingerly and increased his output of thrust carefully as he took on new weight.

With Vos safely in tow, Kaon focused intently. The electricity from his coils all but vanished. With a snarl, he suddenly released the charged energy into an electric disruption field that coated the bottom layer of the cylindrical death tube. “You should be able to take flight now. Tesarus as well if he doesn't halt himself before he reaches this point,” Kaon reported, the Pet peeking over his shoulder at Tarn.

Mumu-Obscura--Energy Transfer Conduit

Tarn felt a slight twinge of relief as Kaon appeared able to utilize his unique talents to counteract some of the measures that were being employed to send them to an early encounter with the Allspark. He also secured Vos, which allowed Tarn to maneuver himself as needed without worrying that he might accidentally drop the transformed Divisioner and thus subject him to a molten death.

“You should be able to take flight now. Tesarus as well if he doesn't halt himself before he reaches this point."

Tarn activated said flight thrusters and kicked himself away from the wall. Flying still felt....unnatural to him. He had been forged as a ground-based mechanoid after all. The upgrades and adjustments he had received as a member of Megatron's elite had done nothing to alter his comfortability levels with being attached to a solid surface. Still, all due gratitude where it was warranted:

"Much appreciated, my friend," Tarn said, raising his dual-fusion cannon once more and subsequently obliterating another section of Megadeath's laboratory and forging the Division a fresh entry into the deepest layers of the facility. What horrors might await them here? Tarn practically tingled in excitement, eager to find out as he and the remaining members of the DJD entered into the sub-levels. "At least there are now none among our number who can say Megadeath went down without making things entertaining. Are you not entertained? I am."

Underneath his mask, despite the scars etched on his metallic face, Tarn was indeed smiling.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

Auto-Scouts had been developed untold years ago as some of the simplest, most efficient task handlers in Cybertron's robotic repertoire. Noted for being occasionally used in military work with upgraded package suites, they were much more ubiquitous in maintenance and other engineering roles. The DJD could be absolutely forgiven for ignoring the teeming masses of them repairing the damage and tracing almost insectoid lines of drones around their feet as they tore through the Shanix crew; it was second nature, wasn't it? Auto-scouts were below notice. Some would zip by with a few wires. A few more with a few small replacement panels. Probably all following a formatted repair algorithm. No reason to care at all.

Until a few of them, carrying unique little bundles in their singular, primitive hands scurried around the individual members of the DJD...and then up them, moving with fearless insipidity to attack a group that could (and seemingly would, by the end of it all) take on Phase Sixers. Several Auto-Scouts seemed to commit a tiny suicide pact, launching themselves into Tesarus' chest cavity, all seeming to skewer themselves against the blades...but each one containing a tiny magnetic warhead from a Gauss Bomb, each activating as their delivery systems expired on the blades. There was little force available that could help Tesarus move the blades that made up his chest, and any movement he managed would likely be excruciating.

Another tiny squadron of Auto-Scouts poured across the massive Helex, and one by one all seemed to burst with the tiny cannisters in their pincers exploded...releasing a super cold, flash-freezeing chemical corrosive and nearly every access point on the titanic Decepticon's body that held the lines keeping superheated metal inside him for his alternate mode, the powerful hoses already starting to give way to the onslaught of minuscule attacks. The weren't the only ones carrying canisters, and the Auto-Scouts surrounding Kaon, seemingly less suicidal than their peers, tossed glass beakers of a bright blue superconducting gel at the communications officer of the DJD. While the breaking of the containers and oozing of the gel didn't seem all that painful, Kaon's displays alerted him to the fact that his electricity levels were rising slowly but surely up the incline towards their safety levels.

Two Auto-Scouts zipped toward Vos, and appeared to be more more directed than their peers. Likely because the smallest DJD member was also likely the nimblest, and the two Auto-Scouts carried and jabbed into the sniper wads of weaponized tissue that every Divisioner's bio-scanners would immediately recognize as Rot Algae, from the most perilous depths of the Rust Sea. While most newly designed systems were inoculated, older systems that more obstinate or 'traditional' Cons may have been using would've been given a nasty shock as their less modern systems worked to burn out the infection of rust before spreading.

Only one Auto-Scout approached Tarn. It wielded a small, old, tattered piece of Cybertronian armor in front of it as if it were giving the massive Decepticon a present.

On the small battered piece of blue armor, rested the scratched remnants of a Pre-War Autobrand.

Mumu-Obscura - Sub-Levels

The decent deeper into the heart of the facility only left Helex steaming as he grew tired of these charades Megadeath tossed their way. He just wanted this freak of nature to come out of his hiding hole, accept the punishments to his crimes, and by done with it all. Instead he had to put up a resistance, now his fellow supporters had to interject themselves into his facade and cut their lives short. Oh well, aiding and harboring a fugitive, suffer the consequences.

Following Tarn and Kaon into the makeshift doorway the leader of the division had blasted, Helex kept an optic on the auto-scouts that buzzed about around them.

Before the hulking blue Justice, or rather any of the DJD members could react, particular sets of scouts buzzed about and dispersed a series of countermeasures specifically formulated to halt their course. Helex felt several chills run down his spine, but t'was not fear that compelled this sensation, for the auto-scouts that targeted him where administering a flash-freezing chemical substance upon him. They crushed vials of the chemical substance above him and the liquid showered over chassis, dripping into every crook and cranny it could seep through to quell his metal-melting furnace.

"GEH-WAH AH AGGHHH!!!" Helex screeched in rare, yet still agonizing cry of pain as he felt his internal furnaces begin to rapid cool. "This fragger is g-g-going to b-b-be liquified when I get my s-s-servos on his v-v-v-very being!!"

With his two smaller arms fixated around his chest-oven, the gargantuan smelter drew two small handguns and began to try and fire back at the hovering drones before they could get the chance to escape. The flash freezing agent of Megadeath's latest surprise was beginning to take a noticeable effect on Helex as his movement grew to become more sluggish than usual.

"T-T-T-Tarn!" The divisioner called out through chattered teeth, "The others!"

Mumu-Obscura - Sub-Levels


The anger from the last trap set for them by Megadeath still unabated, Tesarus coasted down the steep slope using his caterpillar tracks in reverse to grind at the metallic floor and slow himself down. The screeching was like a scream of horror to his ears as he carved a deep groove in the ground beneath his giant wheels. As he reached the bottom he transformed back to his robotic mode and powered himself forwards into the air. As one of Megatron’s favoured he of course was able to fly in his robotic mode, but Kaon had left him an electrical net to arrest his descent so there was no need. He pivoted in mid-transformation and hit the net shoulder first. The net did its job perfectly and slowed the gargantuan mech down in a shower of sparks and energon leaking from his minor but numerous scratches, allowing him to roll with the fall, and he dug in his heels and skidded to a crouching stop, slowly drawing himself up next to Helix , Vos and Tarn, snarling. He still felt the presence of pain of his wounds, no matter how slight, but pain is what he had been bred on, how he learned his art - a torturer had to understand pain to truly know how to inflict it completely and without that knowledge he would have been but a charlatan to his title.

Looking up and signalling his appreciation for the aid to Kaon, he turned to address Tarn to question how many more of these cowardly traps Megadeath was likely to need, his grinder working overtime to diffuse some of the fury driving him forwards, steeling him for the task ahead.

Before he could even form the words the answer was presented to him. A pack of insignificant autoscouts, drones used for the most menial of tasks and usually found flittering aimlessly about their tedious duties began to round on the DJD members. The first he saw of them, Helix was attacked. The walking furnace was bombarded by freezing microbes and drained of his heat. Tesarus tuned to aid his compatriot but was attacked himself, as hundred of the autoscouts threw themselves into his grinder cavity, their magnetic field tearing at his insides, shredding the shredder as his blades were ripped from their housing and, in turn, began to grind into themselves. With a scream of intertwined fury and pain he dropped to his knees and began to tear at the blades within his chest, the harm it would do to his own hands was immaterial as his own weapon was turned against him. “The blades... MUST... not stop...” he intoned with great effort, as his small feeder-arms urgently helped to grab at the magnets, themselves being sucked into his own grinder, shredding them as efficiently as the informant he questioned not hours beforehand. "It ... CANNOT... stop. Megat... s’will... DEMAN-".

Unable to move. Unable to think. Near unable to even speak and almost certainly soon to be unable to function, Teasarus extended a giant damaged hand shakily towards Tarn as his commander was handed a symbol by a lone Autoscout. Recognising the Autobrand, it clenched into a fist so tightly that, had his grinder not been spewing twisted hymn of pain, his fellow division members would have heard various linkages in his fingers snapping under the tension.

All that he had left was his encompassing rage. The coward Megadeath’s existence, traitor to Megatron’s glorious cause, now fuelled him beyond anything any mythical ultra-energon could supply. Fighting the incredible pain as it washed over him like the unstoppable tide of the Sea of Rust, he forced himself back into a crouch, and then to his feet, near blinded by the waves of hurt. Slowly and deliberately he raised his arms above his head and roared with a ferocity that shook the ground, tearing the now-useless stumps of his smaller arms from their sockets, hurling them aside. The intensity of his pain, his anger and his desire for vengeance drove him on, a force unstoppable as a tectonic plate, as he made his way forwards inch by significant inch.

"KAON!!!" He roared, his voice breaking from the pain, "GROUND ME! ...will overload the magn-" and with that he collapsed. His grinder chest cavity, the implement of his art and his reason for existing fell silent as the chamber went dark. He was still alive, but it no longer mattered, he had failed in his duty.



"Find."



"Kill."



"Clea-"

Mumu-Obscura--Sub-Levels

Having blasted through into the sub-levels of Megadeath's facility, Tarn could truly begin to smell the proverbial innermost energon. Megadeath would not be far now and there would be only so many places he could go. Ultimately the Decepticon Justice Division would find him. Ultimately they would mete out the fate he had earned for straying too far from Megatron's will.

Ready to delve deeper into the facility along with the others, Tarn paid no heed to the ubiquitous little servitor drones that were scurrying around the surface and the walls. In a place like this, it only made sense that one with a mind like Megadeath's would be able to construct all manner of service mechs to keep the place running smoothly. No, Tarn would not be bothered with them. His focus was on the foolhardy mechs who might yet attempt to stand in their way and prevent them from capturing and punishing their quarry. And then, of course, there was the quarry itself. Mmm. Yes, this would be a satisfying display of justice indeed. Many would learn from the mistakes Megadeath had made.

And yet, seemingly all at once, the tide began to turn. Tarn noticed one drone in particular approaching him directly. He looked down at the device curiously. When he realized what the drone was carrying, it was as if everything that was going on around him had become muted. A dull roar of collective torture being levied against his associates that barely registered within the Justice's consciousness.

"GEH-WAH AH AGGHHH!!! This fragger is g-g-going to b-b-be liquified when I get my s-s-servos on his v-v-v-very being!!...T-T-T-Tarn! The others!"

“The blades... MUST... not stop...It ... CANNOT... stop. Megat... s’will... DEMAN-".

"Find. Kill. Clea-"

Tarn knelt down and took the tiny scrap of armor--his armor, his Autobrand, once upon a very long time ago--and the pain of that time stabbing more deeply into Tarn's psyche than any weapon likely ever could hope to accomplish: it was a tidal wave that instantly battered and demolished vorns of psychological fortifications.

The Justice Divisioner let out the tiniest gasp of anguish as he dropped to his other knee, staring blankly at the piece of armor that he clutched limply in one hand, the world around him frozen and mute.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

Kaon touched down through the entrance Tarn had blasted open for them while ensuring Tesarus caught himself on the safety net. Helex reunited with them as well, and the electrocutioner dropped the net as the Pet hopped down from his perch on his master's back. Kaon threw Vos over his shoulder and soldiered on. Little autoscouts flitted past him, but he paid them no mind. Of course Megadeath would have some sort of maintenance drones for this facility.

It was only when Helex cried out in pain did Kaon whirl about and take notice of what the autoscouts around the smoldering justice held. Some kind of instant freezing chemical agent. Instinctively, Kaon stepped forward to assist his friend, but soon was halted by the screams of Tesarus. A sound unlike any Kaon had heard before. He whirled again to see that the largest of them was being beset by the same autoscouts that had attacked Helex.

A little impact on leg drew the electrocutioner's attention to the autoscouts at his feet. They pelted him with glass containers of...something....no. Wait. Hastily, Kaon flung Vos away from him as his electricity levels reached their safety levels. Furious, the DJD comm officer unleashed his full electrical wrath on the autoscouts around him, but suddenly gasped as the arcs of lightning burst from his body with incredible intensity, frying everything around him in a large radius.

The Pet had managed to get clear. A quick glance confirmed that much.

"KAON!!!" Tesarus. Kaon's head snapped back around to look at his comrade, seeing the blades in his chest ground to a halt. "GROUND ME! ...will overload the magn-"

Without question or a second thought, Kaon pointed his hand at Tesarus and unleashed a torrent of purple energy. This much could kill Tesarus. As it arced through the air and lanced the giant justice with all of its force, Kaon could only collapse as his internal systems began to overload. He cut off the electricity escaping his body and lifted his head weakly to look over to Tarn. Only one autoscout approached their leader. And it carried an Autobrand.

Kaon felt a lance of despair impale his spark at the sight, which was only wrenched around in the wound as his dearest friend in this world or any other fell to his knees. Meanwhile, Kaon's own world grew darker and darker as his systems overloaded. He was screaming...maybe. He was in so much pain. He couldn't tell. Physical pain and death did not wound him the most though. That was reserved for...

>>”Tarn...”<<

>>”You are..."<<

>>"...one of..."<<

>>"..us...”<<

…

-

The Pet stalked cautiously to his master's side. The red DJD justice had collapsed. The sparkeater whined softly and pawed at the master's still body. Hanging his head low, the Pet nosed Kaon's hand gently, but it elicited no response. Whining again softly, the Pet looked with distress at Tesarus the other justice fell completely silent.

The Pet's ears perked as he heard movement from the little pesky drones that had done this to the master behind him. Snarling, he whirled only to find they had found a new victim in Vos. The turbofox lunged to attack one of them before stopping hastily, its senses telling it that the little thing had something very bad.

As they swarmed on Vos, the Pet snarled and growled with his hackles raised, but ultimately dared to do nothing. If he did, he would also be hurt like the master. Help. Needed help. Help the master. Help the others. The Pet hastily looked around, seeing that Tarn was not visibly injured.

The Pet bounded over to the masked justice, and pawed at Tarn's leg. He whined urgently. The master was in trouble! He needed help...the master...

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

Tesarus’ world fell apart as he couched on the ground, his huge bulk heaving with pain as the tiny electromagnets chewed away at his insides. He could smell the energon oozing from his now-still chest cavity where the blades had dislodged and pierced his internal circuitry, and if he concentrated hard enough, he thought he could hear his energon pump splutter and whine in protest at its increased workload. He would need to get repairs soon, but it no longer mattered. Without his grinder chamber he was just a mere bulkhead, useless to the Division.

Wallowing in his self pity, he paid no heed to his compatriots until he heard the sound of Tarn falling to his knees. His leader had been silenced, and he looked up to Tarn just as Kaon, overloading from the trap set for him by Megadeath heeded Tesarus’ request and grounded himself through him. His world turned white.

What could have been just a few seconds later, or it could have been hours, Tesarus awoke in a pool of his own energon. He stared into the liquid and glimpsed his own reflection in the viscous fluid. Similar to Tarn, he had taken on a unique appearance and a giant red cross glared angrily back it him from the shallow pool. He dipped one of his remaining fingers into the purple iridescent liquid and drew three glyphs onto the metal ground beside him. Three letters that reminded him of exactly who he was.

He checked his internal systems. His senor array was burnt out, his feeder arms had been destroyed, he had shredded 3 of his fingers trying in vain to remove the magnets and he had lost a vast quantity of energon, but he was alive and a slow rumbling noise meant his grinder was too. More worryingly though, was that the charge had burnt out his hydraulic pressure regulars. A mechanoid with near-super strength such as he was in constant danger of tearing his own limbs off when exerting his full physical power, and his safety cut-outs were now just cinders. He literally no longer knew his own strength. Megadeath would regret this quirk of fate, Tesarus swore to himself as he climbed unsteadily to his feet.

“Is... that...” he panted, fighting to sum up the energy to even speak “All you have... MEGADEATH!?!”

Once again driven by his anger, and rising to a standing position, Tesarus looked around the room at his fallen and catatonic counterparts. Those demons were for his fellow Judiciaries to deal with. For now, he would spend some valuable time regaining his strength, and planning painful ways in which to return the hurt to Megadeath, tenfold.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

From the darkness of the edge of the chamber, further down the path the DJD were blazing for their victim, a gout of nuclear fire blazed out like an angry god's finger stabbing from shadow. All at once swirling and controlled, torrential and focused, the near beam-like stab of radioactive and scorching energy poured over Tesarus. Megadeath had to admit that he was impressed. He'd used the intervening time to prepare a little further, but had not expected one of his new subject's to recover so quickly. Surely, he thought, it would've been Tarn...no matter, he supposed.

"What you need to understand, you overbuilt peasant-" Megadeath's mouth, between words, glowed an unearthly orange and another breath of nuclear fire washed over the one active Divisioner on the field. He began speaking again as it sputtered out, "- is that you are a weapon. I am a weaponeer. You are a note in a song I mastered and grew tired of ages ago. You may scare the grubby little masses Megatron believes of note...but you hold as much power here as a tool on a shelf."

Megadeath strolled closer, looking down at Tarn, far enough back to safely take in the sight of the felled DJD as well as their nigh-comatose leader.

"I saved that after the first round of procedures. I...I think I always knew you were the weapon Megatron would send after me. To be frank, I thought you'd have killed me by now, Tarn...but that isn't your true name, is it? Under all that ridiculous armor and purple paint and masking...I wonder...can you even recall what your name was, from all that time ago...?"

Mumu-Obscura-–Sub-Levels

>>"Tarn...you are......one of.....us..."<< a voice said. A voice that might as well have been worlds away. As Tarn stared down at the aged Autobrand, he was very much not one of them. He was not one of anything. He was alone. A single point of existence in a sea of infinity. Abandoned.

He ran through the empty Cybertronian plains, his body telling the story of the host of injuries he had suffered, but still he ran. He would meet up with them and everything would work out. It always worked out.

When he climbed to the last plateau, they were gone. They were all gone.

And he was alone.

The Pet's scrapings did nothing to pull the Phase Sixer out of the world of psychological torture he had been thrust into via the very careful and specific choice of weapon Megadeath had employed.

“Is... that...all you have... MEGADEATH!?!"

Standing at the edge of the plateau, he fell to his knees. Only a few short moments ago, a fierce battle raged here. His friends. He would save his friends. His friends would save him, just as he had for them so many times before. Now, save for the dead, everyone was gone. Gone. Alone.

"I saved that after the first round of procedures. I...I think I always knew you were the weapon Megatron would send after me. To be frank, I thought you'd have killed me by now, Tarn...but that isn't your true name, is it? Under all that ridiculous armor and purple paint and masking...I wonder...can you even recall what your name was, from all that time ago...?"

This voice cut through the others. It was stronger. Easier to latch onto. A lifeline in the abyss, however minimal it may be.

"None will stray from my will. You will see to it," Megatron said, his fierce red optics burning into his own.

Tarn's right hand slowly closed around the tarnished Autobrand, crushing it as easily as tin. From behind his mask, Tarn's optics slowly looked upward until they met Megadeath's. My but this was a treat. Tarn had known to expect no less from the likes of this one. Those memories were painful, tortuous even. Crippling. But Megatron had put him through similar paces over the vorns and worse still. He was not where he was now because he had been crippled. He was where he was because, in the end, he always crippled those who employed such tactics against him.

"I do. I do indeed," Tarn said, kicking one knee out and slowly rising again to his full height. "But he is dead now. As you shall soon join him."

Tarn began to steadily raise his dual fusion cannon.

"You have my sincere gratitude for making this a worthwhile hunt. I suspect none of us shall ever forget it."

Mumu-Obscura-–Sub-Levels

Focused as he was on tormenting Tarn, Megadeath paid little attention to the colossus of Tesarus once the trigger had been pulled. Still finding his feet after his magnetic ordeal, he reached for the closest thing to hand to protect himself from the atomic flame he was bathed in. Feeling an inert object in his hands, he brought it up as a shield, closed his eyes and braced himself as the white heat surrounded him.

A sudden jolt in his nervous system, a recognition of what this shield was, alerted him after a fraction of a second. He looked at his protector and under the light of the fire stared into the eyes of the near lifeless Kaon. This was his friend and ally, and he had just used him as he would a steel door. Now scorched and smoking, the Tesla coils on his shoulder were still inert, but the one thing he did know about Kaon stopped him from dropping the Justicar to save him from the heat; Kaons ability to absorb energy. If anything could reboot him after his energy expenditure to save Tesarus, then the sub-atomic force washing over them both would. He felt the heat was over him, his oil began to bubble as it reached ignition point, and gouts of flame burst firstly from his hips, then his shoulders, then his elbows and his knees, as the pressure built and his internal systems vented the excess from his linkages.

Only after the heat subsided did he look down at the far smaller mech in his hands. His strength failing and Megadeath using Tarn’s own weapon against him, Tesarus dropped back to his knees and placed Kaon back on the ground. Can we really do this..? he thought in a rare moment of weakness.

He was no medic, his function was to torture and main, not to heal. He just did what he knew how, raised his arms into the air and linked his few remaining fingers together, then slammed them down on Kaon's chest in frustration.

There was a jolt, and Tesarus was again sent to the floor, now unable to move apart from to listen to Megadeath’s jibes towards Tarn. An internal warning lit, system compromised - circulatory decompression imminent, but it was lost in the miasma of warnings and system messages that floated in front of his eyes. They were meaningless to him, all that mattered now was the target...

Megadeaths voice floated across his conciousness.
“...can you even recall what your name was, from all that time ago...?"

Out of the corner of his blurred vision, Tesarus watched the silhouette as Tarn planted a foot on the ground and begin to rise, as if reborn. Tesarus forced himself to do the same. Gently moving Kaon so he was out of his line of attack, Tesarus moved into a crouch, ready to pounce. His internal systems blaring, warning that any movement now could well be his last, but the anger was back. His determination was back. Tesarus was back. He willed his grinder back up to speed, reveling in the screeching siren song as metal tore against metal, clearing the last of the inert magnetic traps from his body. He felt reinvigorated as Tarn replied.

"I do. I do indeed, but he is dead now. As you shall soon join him.
"You have my sincere gratitude for making this a worthwhile hunt. I suspect none of us shall ever forget it."

And as Tarn raised his dual fusion cannon, Tesarus gave his commander a second to fire, roared and began to charge.

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

Adrift in a void of endless darkness and pain, Kaon only vaguely registered the addition of a new sort of searing, burning sensation. Like a nagging thought, it persisted, growing ever more pestilent as time passed. Like a wave of sound, this burning pain too slowly increased in magnitude like a crescendo into an overwhelming cacophony of agony. It overrode his former pain. Washed it away like a fiery tide. It instilled fire into his circuits.

The heat subsided eventually, but the fire blazing through the electrocutioner's circuitry did not. In a blink, sensation returned to him as Tesarus slammed down the remainder of what his hands and arms had been on the electrocutioner's chest. Kaon was alive once more. He could see. He could hear. He could feel. Slowly, he lifted his hand up and closed it slowly into a fist.

Kaon was badly burned. Partially melted in some sections of his armor. That mattered little to him. He sat up slowly, sparks tenuously racing up his tesla coils. His internal diagnostics calculated the internal and external damage, which popped up on his display flashing every kind of warning imaginable at him. He shut them off.

"...can you even recall what your name was, from all that time ago...?"

Megadeath. Kaon's actuators balled up into trembling fists as the electrocutioner turned his attention toward their target. Their prey. And Tarn who was still trapped in that shell of despair. Seeing their leader...his dearest compatriot...in that state...It still knifed its way into Kaon's spark like a venom. Debilitating and demoralizing. But then suddenly...

Tarn rose. Tarn rose, freed from the psychological bindings that Megadeath had placed on him. Kaon felt a sudden lightness in his spark. Relief. A smiled touched Kaon's faceplate. The electrocutioner almost flinched when Tesarus gently moved him to the side, the shredder poised into a crouch. Well now. He couldn't be outdone by Tesarus and Tarn now could he?

Kaon kicked out a leg and shakily rose to his feet. Once firmly standing, Kaon's telsa coils exploded into a violent burst of purple electricity.

"I do. I do indeed, but he is dead now. As you shall soon join him. You have my sincere gratitude for making this a worthwhile hunt. I suspect none of us shall ever forget it."

Extending his hand out toward Megadeath as Tarn raised his dual fusion cannon. In that one singular instant, time seemed to slow. Tesarus roared and charged. The energy drained from Kaon's coils, funneling all of that destructive power into his hand. With the violent clap of lightning ripping through the air, a massive bolt of electricity shot from Kaon toward Megadeath.

KRRRRRAAAAAKKKOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Mumu-Obscura – Sub-Levels

The lightning, as if drawn from the eye of some primordial storm, tapped and ripped and leapt across Megadeath's form, through so many tiny layers of ablative and insular armor that for a moment it looked like an organic circulatory system had burst out from inside the ancient Decepticon. There was a roar from Megadath, as the blasts slammed into him like meteors destroying a moon, but...sickeningly...in the shout there was something that sounded far too close to laughter for comfort.

A weapon built too well would kill him. Heh heh...hah hah hah...Megadeath toppled onto the ground, even his powerful form unprepared for such attacks, and he body convulsed with laughter as the translucent armor over his nuclear torso started to crack. The pain was so...pleasant. Warm and unexpected and insisting. He was going to die here...experience it finally, after all this experimentation...and Megadeath couldn't wait.

In this moment, he wanted what was closest to him, and that was his child currently making its way through the stars. Megadeath lulled his arm, trying to raise the datapad he'd carried...

But the arm was mostly gone, ruined and unsalvageable from the last attack from Tarn. Megadeath felt a small sickle of icy panic interrupt his beautiful warm pain when he noticed the datapad had fallen face up a small ways from where he'd landed after the savage attacks. Megadeath looked from the pad to the leader of the DJD, and back. No...no no no...they couldn't know about his child. Not yet. It needed to root, to flourish...they could kill it now, before it had a chance to spread...

His panic-he had to admit, it was also a new and disturbingly nice sensation to feel such dread-forced Megadeath into what would pass as a sitting position in his state, and he opened the one hinge left on his mouth that functioned. A much less controlled gout of nuclear fire spilled from him, and fried the pad. Hopefully, Tarn hadn't seen it. He'd been the only one close enough...

Tilting his nigh-shattered head up, Megadeath shouted into the eyes of the leader of the Divisioneers, the scream backed by more of the internal firestorm that powered the Deception scientist. He wanted Tarn to have something to remember him by, and as powerful as the Divisioneer was, at this range...well, Tarn wasn't the only one with a powerful voice...