Eyes of the Eons

Chapter 14: The Darkness Ruins

It was late in the night when Minerva snapped awake to the sound of branches breaking—no, trees snapping. Minerva sat up from where she had been leaning against the tree trunk and looked around, her eyes wide.

Her first fear was that the people who captured her were back and then her mind caught up to the fact that the trees were breaking, as well as the giant, familiar booms of a cybertronian footfall.

Minerva's breath caught. They'd found her. Arcee and Dangercourse.

Panicking, Minerva rose up from her branch and scrambled inward. The higher she was, the easier she'd be to spot, and the more at risk she'd be if they attacked. Falling from this height would be no pleasant experience.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Minerva couldn't contain the yelp of surprise as her pocket began to go off. Trying to quiet it, she frantically pulled the black box out and muffled it with her hands, but it did no good.

Her gaze snapped up as the pedesteps stopped. A jagged grey figure was half-concealed behind a row of trees. Minerva's eyes widened.

"Megatron," she realized.

Scrambling down, Minerva grabbed a lower branch and swung to the ground.

"Megatron!" she called out, running toward him.

The grey giant shifted and Minerva skidded to a stop next to his pedes. Her grin melted as he looked down at her, his optics glowing with an unnatural violet hue and void of any emotion.

"Megatron?" she asked quietly, taking a small step back.

Large metal claws reached down for her. Megatron usually didn't ask to pick her up and Minerva usually didn't care much about it, but now, with that empty look in his optics, she could feel that something was very wrong; the last place she wanted to be was in his servo.

"Wait," Minerva walked backwards. "Megatron, hold on."

He disregarded her entirely and a moment later, she was encased in his digits.

"Parasite," Megatron growled. "The Prime will throw himself beneath my pede for humanity."

Minerva swallowed hard. "Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?"

Ignoring her, Megatron knelt and pressed his servo against the ground. A moment passed and he sneered, his fist tightening in annoyance.

"Megatron?" Minerva squeaked. "You're squeezing me."

A flash of blue emanated from the ex-warlord's optics and his helm snapped up. Minerva inhaled quickly as his grip loosened—

No!

He let go.

Minerva screamed, plummeting to the ground. There was barely any time to comprehend the fall before she slammed into the ground.

"Uhhhh," Minerva groaned, slowly bringing her hand up to press against the sting of her wounded arm.

Something above her creaked loudly. Minerva pried her eyes open and watched in a daze as Megatron's frame tilted back and forth. It was only until his optics flickered offline and his shadow descended on her that Minerva realized he was falling. He was going to crush her.

"Gah!" Minerva scrambled to her hands and knees, crawling out if his way. With one final lunge, Minerva threw herself out from beneath him.

The impact of his fall was earth-shattering. Minerva yelped and pulled her body into the fetal position. It wasn't long before the shaking stopped, but Minerva could still feel it vibrating in her bones.