Machacado Muerte

The harsh tropical rain fell into the manic streets of San Miguel as market tradesmen scrambled to rush their wares undercover. The air was dense and humid and the busy shoppers could barely breathe. A young man named Ciro struggled with his one-year-old daughter, her pushchair, and the cup she continued to throw into the mud.

“You gonna buy this, or not?” demanded the market seller.

“One minute, please,” Ciro pleaded as he bent down to pick up the cup while trying to take a ten Salvadoran-colon note from his tatty leather wallet. “Here.”

A shadow loomed over Ciro as Fire Convoy suddenly landed back first into the market. The giant Autobot had crushed him and his daughter to death without it even registering. He looked up into the rainfall as Megatron came crashing into him. This small town in El Salvador, the land of the volcanoes, had unwittingly become the site of the first Transformers battle on Earth since the Beast Wars.

“This your first fight?” Megatron goaded. “You seem a little wet behind the gears.”

Fire Convoy remained on his back as Megatron smashed his right fist into his face. “And to think I was worried about how I would perform against an Autobot!”

Megatron delivered three more blows, laughing and revelling in the strength and power of his new body, rendering Fire Convoy unconscious. So caught up in his own glory that he failed to notice Speedbreaker, Wildride and Mach Alert surround him.

“Don’t flex another piston,” said Mach Alert as the three Autobots levelled their weapons at the Predacon.

Megatron looked up and smiled. He wiped a globule of Fire Convoy’s oil from the side of his jaw. “Well?” he said defiantly.

Mach Alert twitched nervously and glanced over at Speedbreaker who was holding some kind of tracking instrument. “It is him, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is!” cried Wildride as he snatched the device from his brother’s hands. “Megatron, you have something we want and we’re not leaving until we get it!”

“And what would that be?”

“The original Megatron’s Spark.”

Megatron laughed, still crouched over Fire Convoy. “What makes you think I have that?”

“We have it on good authority,” said Mach Alert trying somewhat to regain his composure. He didn’t appreciate Wildride’s bull-headed tactics.

“Well I don’t have it,” said Megatron. “You can search me, yes.”

Wildride checked the scanner’s readings. “I’m getting nothing on this heap of junk. Just his own Spark along with five others.”

“Five others?” queried Speedbreaker.

“Yeah, but not the original Megatron’s.”

“Then you have no choice but to lower your weapons and let me go,” said Megatron as he began to stand.

“Not so fast,” said Wildride, staring fiercely at the Predacon. “You must have it hidden somewhere, so you’re going to tell us now before we get 24th Century on your exhaust port.”

Megatron lifted up his wrist and swivelled it around to look at his fingertips. “Of course you’re welcome to try.”

Before the Autobots could act, Megatron leapt up into the air, transformed into dragon mode and landed amongst them. White-hot fire spewed from both his mouths, directly onto the chests of Speedbreaker and Mach Alert. They both ignited and abruptly fell to the ground.

Wildride somersaulted forwards over the top of Megatron and wrapped his arms around his left-hand neck. The neck began to tear at the joint as Wildride pulled with all his strength. Megatron howled in pain and craned his right neck behind him. He bit hard onto the Autobot’s leg until he let go. As he did, Megatron swung him around, launching him into a nearby building.

Megatron returned to robot mode and the rain continued to bear down. The battle lasted a mere five minutes with Megatron as the victor. Even four against one, they didn’t stand a chance. Megatron stood with his hands on his hips and surveyed the devastation in the town. “So this is the power of six Sparks in one body,” he said to himself.

Fire Convoy began to regain consciousness, and Megatron took that as his cue to leave. He transformed into jet mode and blasted away from the scene.

The Aktirak hovered over the devastated market place as Ultra Magnus and his ten cadets disembarked. Hot Shot lead his team to attend to Speedbreaker, Wildride and Mach Alert. Ultra Magnus was far from happy.

“So I guess you’re a little pissed that we let Megatron get away,” remarked Fire Convoy as Magnus lowered his hand to pull him to his feet.

Ultra Magnus did not raise his voice, change the tone, or otherwise make it apparent that he’d lost his temper. “No, I’m angry that all these humans had to die. Why didn’t you wait until Megatron was somewhere unpopulated before you attacked?”

“Humans are no concern of mine, Magnus,” replied Fire Convoy, his own anger bubbling to the surface. “My mission is simple: retrieve the Spark of the original Megatron and return it to prehistoric Earth.”

“I suggest that you make the welfare of the inhabitants of this planet your concern. If there’s one thing Optimus Prime taught me, it’s that freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”

“Autobot nonsense,” Fire Convoy said as he made to turn away.

“Doesn’t the Autobot Code mean anything to you at all?”

Fire Convoy laughed. “You may have been brought up by Optimus Prime, but Star Saber was my mentor.”

“But he is still an Autobot. He’s our High Commander and Overlord of Cybertron!”

“So naïve, my friend. Star Saber was born a Decepticon, and will forever remain a Decepticon. Our home planet is being run by a Decepticon and he’s cleverly manoeuvred you out of the way.”

Ultra Magnus pressed his finger into Fire Convoy’s chest, right in the centre of his Autobrand. “Then why do you wear this?”

“Because I was born an Autobot.”

“What is it, Megatron?” asked Sky-Byte as he walked up to his leader’s side.

The two Predacons stood atop the summit of the San Miguel volcano, monitoring the Autobots in the town of the same name.

Megatron was deep in thought. “My Spark senses a kind of kinship already with Fire Convoy.”

“How do you mean, sir?”

“He is the yang to my yin: my archenemy.”

“But you said Optimus Primal was your archenemy.”

“Maybe I was wrong.” Megatron turned around and walked onto the metallic surface of the second of his energy siphons. “The Beast Wars were only the first chapter of my life, and now after escaping the chains on that Autobot shuttle and falling though the timestream to this Earth, I can only dream of what future chapters might hold.”

Sky-byte activated a small control panel. “Eruption should commence in approximately thirty minutes. Give or take, it’s not an exact science.”

“Excellent,” said Megatron. “And how are the others doing?”

“The siphon in New Zealand is 86% complete.”

Megatron clasped his hands together. “Marvellous! The plan proceeds without interruption.” He turned back to view the Autobots in the town once more. “Hopefully they’ll continue to bicker amongst themselves down there and be consumed by the eruption.”

“One less thing to worry about, sir.”

“Ultra Magnus, we really should be getting Fire Convoy and the others back to base. Our tech training doesn’t even begin to cover this.”

“Very well, Speedtrap,” said Ultra Magnus. “Tell Midnight Express to radio Pitstop so at least he knows what to expect.”

Fire Convoy limped awkwardly towards the shuttle. As he passed Ultra Magnus he turned to him, looking embarrassed. “I suppose you’re staying here to help these humans.”

Magnus glanced up as if the thought had just entered his head. “Yes, my cadets and I will remain here. The Arctis Academy may have taught them the way of war, but it’s up to me to teach them the consequences.”

“Waste of time if you ask me,” said Fire Convoy as the Aktirak’s tractor beam sucked him and the three Autobot brothers inside.

The Aktirak flew North over Honduras and headed back to Russia while Ultra Magnus and his cadets remained in the town over which the San Miguel volcano was about to erupt.