Enter Dante, The Rev-9: Book 1: Rogue

Chapter 23: One Shall Fall

3rd Person POV

Autobot Base

Dante leaned on the railing of a platform, hidden in shadows as Optimus read something out of an archive to Ratchet, Elita, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead.

"And it was written in the covenant of Primus, that when the 47 spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from Chaos. And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness," Optimus read.

"No skies raining fire?" Arcee asked jokingly.

"Goes without saying," Ratchet admonished. "It is a doom prophecy after all."

"I say it's a load of hooey," Bulkhead objected.

"I've always assumed that the ancients were referring to our home planet," Ratchet admitted. "But being that Cybertron has been dark for eons..."

"And considering what's been happening since Megatron came to Earth..." Elita added.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bulkhead objected. "We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought."

"Why all the ominous rumblings now?" Arcee asked.

"Because the planetary alignment, to which the prophecy refers, is nearly upon us," Optimus explained.

"And it would seem its endpoint," Ratchet mused, pulling up a diagram, "is Earth."

"Uh, crazy coincidence," Bulkhead said hopefully. "R-right?"

"How long are we talking?" Arcee asked.

"A few days," Ratchet replied. "At most."

"However unsettling this revelation may be," Optimus stated, "I am more concerned about those who might believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone."

The rise of Unicron is almost here, Dante thought. He had prayed that he was wrong, but, of course, the one time he wasn't was the time he most wanted to be.

Shaking his head, he saw that the others had started to wander off. As soon as Arcee passed him, he tapped her on the elbow. "Arcee?"

She whirled around, accidently smacking Dante into the wall. "Sorry," she apologized, then glared at him. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

Dante winced, extracting himself out of the wall. "Noted."

Arcee's eyes narrowed. "Were you spying on us?" she asked.

"Yes," he admitted.

"Do you know what's going to happen?"

Dante remained quiet, his silence answer enough. "I hope I'm wrong, Cee," he admitted. "To be honest, what's coming up... it could be worse than the future that I showed you."

Arcee frowned. "What could be worse than an army of human hunting machines?"

Dante raised an eyebrow.

"No offense," Arcee added.

"None taken," Dante replied easily.

"But seriously, what could be worse than Legion?"

Dante hesitated. "Does the term 'Chaos Bringer' ring any bells?"

Arcee's eyes widened. "You can't mean...." She trailed off. "Unicron?" she whispered, a hint of fear in her voice.