The Well of All Sparks was incredibly deep. While it didn't quite cut through to the absolute core of the planet, the distance was close enough to make no real difference. After falling through the dark for several minutes, Skygnaw finally spotted the rust-covered floor below.
The bottom of the Well held nothing spectacular, looking quiet and ordinary at first glance. It resembled an irregular metallic platform, crowded with massive steel tablets of unknown purpose. The entire landscape looked like a massive, jagged circuit board.
What seemed like tiny bumps from orbit were actually towering structures, none standing lower than twenty meters high. Faded blast marks from ancient artillery scarred the sides of these metal monoliths, and the floor was littered with spent shell casings.
It was clear that harvesting the AllSpark's energy had been a violent, desperate affair.
---
Back when the Well was overflowing with cosmic power, every faction was content. But once the artifact was moved to the Iacon archives and resources began to dry up, the residual energy left within these depths became a lifeline for desperate warriors.
With too many mouths to feed and too little fuel, violence was inevitable.
Skygnaw shook off the historical musings and began searching the shadows for his target. It didn't take long. Following the dark trail of blue fluid leaking across the floor, he tracked the prints until he found Ultra Magnus slumped behind a massive steel pillar.
The Autobot commander was leaning heavily against the metal, his breathing ragged as his systems teetered on the edge of absolute failure.
---
"Skygnaw," Ultra Magnus whispered, spotting his pursuer. He tried to raise his arm to reach for his warhammer, but his hand lost its grip, clattering heavily against the metal floor.
The direct hit from the fusion cannon earlier had simply dealt too much structural damage, stripping away almost all of his physical mobility. He had hoped Skygnaw would be wary of the unknown dangers inside the Well and hesitate to follow him into the dark. But reality had shattered his final gamble.
Was he truly destined to be buried in this wasteland today? Ultra Magnus closed his eyes, waiting for the end.
---
"Ultra Magnus, you certainly made me work for this execution," Skygnaw said, stepping out of the shadows. He looked down at the broken leader and drew the Black Hell Blade.
At this moment, Skygnaw felt a bit like a textbook villain. But then again, the Decepticons were the antagonists of this story, so he saw no reason to feel conflicted about it. Without a word of warning, he drove his sword straight down.
Even on the brink of total shutdown, a living being will often channel their absolute limits to survive. Staring at the gleaming crimson edge of the greatsword, a sudden burst of energy flooded Ultra Magnus's broken frame. He lunged forward, swinging his hammer in a desperate, final counter-attack.
*BANG!*
An agonized shriek echoed through the cavern as Ultra Magnus was brutally batted aside, his body crashing backward at twice the speed of his charge. Skygnaw held his combat stance, a cold smirk touching his face. He had expected a dying desperate counter. Even though he looked completely relaxed, he had maintained his guard the entire time.
---
The ancient metal tablet, which had survived countless artillery shells throughout history, completely shattered under the force of Ultra Magnus's impact. Skygnaw was slightly surprised, not realizing his parry had packed that much kinetic force.
But now wasn't the time to calculate weapon specs. Ending Ultra Magnus was the priority.
Skygnaw stepped forward again, but the moment his boot hit the metal floor, the broken pieces of the shattered monolith erupted with a blinding radiance. A shifting, multi-colored orb of light rose from the metal dust, hovering eerily in the empty air.
"What is that?" Skygnaw muttered, stepping back. Was he truly playing the villain role so perfectly that the hero was triggering a miraculous power-up?
The orb circled the space for a fraction of a second, as if scanning the area, before locking onto a target and diving straight into Ultra Magnus's chest plating. Skygnaw lunged forward to intercept it, but he was a second too late. The light flashed once against the Autobot's armor and vanished completely.
---
Had Ultra Magnus left a hidden trap down here? Or had their violent clash accidentally awakened a dormant fragment of Primus? They were currently standing deep inside the creator's body, after all. If a parasite stayed quiet, the host ignored it, but tearing up the interior was bound to draw attention.
But to Skygnaw's surprise, nothing changed. Ultra Magnus remained slumped against the scrap heap, his armor unhealed and his systems still failing.
Skygnaw let out a quiet breath, raising his blade as he closed the distance. Since the orb hadn't triggered a miraculous recovery, Ultra Magnus was still completely helpless. Standing over the broken commander, Skygnaw brought the Black Hell Blade down in a clean, swift arc.
Ultra Magnus was dead.
---
Skygnaw knelt beside the chassis. He wasn't one to meddle in unknown anomalies, but something connected to Primus and a commander-class frame was too valuable to ignore.
The moment his fingers touched the open chest plates, the multi-colored orb burst back out of the metal, moving with terrifying speed. Before he could react, the light sank straight into his palm.
Skygnaw stepped back violently, his mind racing. Was he about to be possessed by an ancient god? He refused to go down without a fight. Even if this anomaly was` tied to an ancient creator seeking a new host, Skygnaw wasn't about to surrender his mind.
Suddenly, his chest compartment snapped open. The Matrix of Leadership was pulsing like a beating heart, its blue light fading and burning in a rhythmic pattern. Before he could process the link, a massive wall of information crashed into his mind, drowning out his consciousness.
---
A torrential wave of visions flooded his thoughts, forcing him into a trance as countless historical scenes flashed past his eyes. Even though the images moved with blinding speed, his mind captured every single detail with perfect clarity.
He saw ancient Cybertron during its golden age, a vibrant world running under the global surveillance of a unified consciousness. Then, the timeline shifted. Massive dreadnoughts launched into the dark sky, and the entire planet suddenly went cold and dead, transformed into a barren rock drifting silently through the cosmos. The cities became empty steel forests, devoid of a single living soul.
The rush of visions began to slow down, narrowing until only a single image remained. His thoughts cleared, allowing him to focus on the final scene.
Eons seemed to pass over the dead world until a fleet of grotesque, semi-organic, semi-mechanical leviathans arrived in the upper orbit. They circled the silent planet, deploying scout ships to check for hidden threats.
When the scouts failed to return, the massive alien ships landed on the surface anyway. Where they touched down, bright grids of light spread across the metallic crust, turning Cybertron into a massive, smoky factory world. The vision began to stutter and fracture, the feed cutting between an industrial weapons factory and a patrol division marching through a long-forgotten sector.
---
Back in the real world, Skygnaw stood entirely frozen, the crimson glow in his eyes completely dark. His body was stiff, looking like a statue trapped in a timeless freeze.
Under the continuous pulse of the energy link, the Matrix of Leadership gently broke free from his unmoving grip, floating into the air before sinking deep into his open chest compartment to settle directly against his burning spark.
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