Chapter 5: Riot

                                    

                                          
Arcee felt as if everything had no substance, no solid feel. Just... emptiness. Her thought-streams swirled as flashbacks of her and Elita-1 training with their unit back on Cybertron spun before her shuttered optics; then there was her and Chromia teasing Ironhide of what a sourpuss he was; then it was her and Moonracer evading flak across the Sea of Rust; and then, with Firestar gathering stolen arsenal from a Decepticon camp.
                          
The images shifted to when she and Jumpstart were duking it out with a squad of Eradicons just before she got partnered up with Cliffjumper, the only mech she had been closest with. Images of his death within Airachnid's lair forced her to shut her optics, but she can't. The images keep spinning around and around, repeating itself until she couldn't take it anymore. She dropped to her knee-joints, holding her helm in her servos as she tried to purge the images from her memory banks...
                          
Then he came into the picture. Her spark skipped a pulse as a tall and dashing mech in yellow and green armor came skidding past her on the streets of Iacon. His faceplate had rugged edges, holding a pair of dreamy looking blue-green optics. He winked at her as he sped by since he was being chased by a Terrorcon. She never saw the mech after then, nor even knew his designation. But his presence sent shockwaves into her nerve-circuits. She saw him stop and before she knew it, he was standing before her, his faceplate only mere inches from hers. Her spark stopped, her venting increased. She didn't know what to say as he leaned closer and whispered...
                          
"Dude, wake up!"
                          
"Huh?!"
                          
Arcee came online with a jolt, banging her helm with Ratchet's when she suddenly sat up on the infirmary's berth. Her optics went out of focus for a few seconds before her vision became clearer. Her human friends and Bumblebee were all beside her berth, their looks of surprise, worry, concern, amusement, and stifled laughter, all got mixed in the confusion.
                          
Ratchet groaned, picking himself up from where he fell. "By the AllSpark, I'm glad you're back among us, considering the fact you nearly sent me into the Well."
                          
"I... oww... I'm sorry, Ratchet," Arcee apologized, rubbing here helm where they collided. Miko and Raf couldn't help laughing, and threw themselves at Arcee, giving her a hug. Jack held her servo and smiled.
                          
"Welcome back, partner," he greeted her.
                          
"Not the kind of greeting I'd expect," she muttered, smiling to herself. "What happened?"
                          
"Nonetheless, I'm glad the serum Megatronus Prime had me administered to you proved effective," Ratchet said, snapping her out of her lull.
                          
"Come again?" she asked. "What... what did you just say?"
                          
Bumblebee stepped up to her, putting a servo on her shoulder strut. "What do you recall from our battle two Earth days ago?" he slowly asked her.
                          
"I... I c-can't recall much," she muttered, running through her memory banks of what transpired. Then it hit her. "Megatron!? I... I... saw... Megatron!"
                          
"We all did," Jack said. "And he's..." He hesitated, thinking of what her reaction would be if she found out.
                          
"Mega-tron..." Arcee mulled before snapping her helm towards Ratchet. "Y-you said 'Megatronus Prime'. Megatron is... Prime!?"
                          
As if on cue, Megatron stepped into the make-shift infirmary and all eyes and optics turned to him. He looked at Arcee and there was... relief... seen in his optics but was immediately hidden from everyone.
                          
"I see you have finally come back online," he said, still using his same manner of addressing his Decepticon lieutenants.
                          
"Megatron," Arcee growled and her servos transformed into blasters, primed and ready for the kill.