At the isolated testing site, Jazz stood as a lone guardian. The quiet was broken by the crunch of tires on gravel as a convoy of black vehicles approached and came to a halt just outside the perimeter.
"Halt!" Jazz commanded, his voice booming as he moved to block their path. "This is a restricted area."
The lead vehicle's door opened, and a man in a pristine black suit stepped out. His blond hair was impeccably styled, and his expression was one of bland authority. He walked calmly toward the giant Autobot.
"Greetings, visitor from beyond the stars," the man began, his tone smooth as polished stone. "I am Alexander Pierce of the World Security Council. We are here on a matter of global security. We have reason to believe that items which pose a significant threat are being stored on these premises. We require immediate access to conduct a search."
Pierce's words were polite, but the demand was absolute, backed by the full weight of the council's name.
Jazz's metallic brow furrowed. "Don't play games with me, human. I know exactly what you're up to. You're just using Optimus Prime's absence as an opportunity to get your hands on our Allspark! Let me be perfectly clear: as long as I'm here, none of you are getting past me!"
Standing before the towering Autobot, Pierce adopted a look of feigned distress. He rubbed his right cheek with a hand that sported a complex, metallic watch. "Your uncooperative attitude is making this very difficult," he sighed. He then tilted his head slightly, as if addressing someone behind Jazz. "How should I handle this, Lord Bonecrusher?"
Jazz sensed the shift in the air an instant too late. "Human, what are you talking about?" he demanded, a note of alarm entering his voice.
A sudden, jarring sound came from behind him. Before he could turn, a massive, sharpened claw burst through his chest armor with a screech of tearing metal.
"You are far too careless," a guttural voice rasped in Jazz's audio receptors. He tried to speak, to cry out, but his systems were already failing. A powerful kick sent him flying, and he crashed to the ground, motionless, his optics fading to black.
"Well done, human. Follow me to retrieve the cube," Bonecrusher growled. Without waiting for a reply, the hulking Decepticon stomped into the experimental facility. He tossed a small device that erupted in a silent pulse of electromagnetic energy, frying all the electronics in the base to ensure the Autobots wouldn't be alerted. The vehicles in Pierce's convoy began to transform, revealing a squad of Decepticon soldiers.
"Of course, Lord Bonecrusher," Pierce replied, his composure unshaken.
Inside the lab, Bonecrusher located the Allspark, which was secured within a reinforced glass case on a lab table. The claws on his arm whirred to life, spinning at an incredible speed. He brought them down, and the specialized glass shattered into a thousand pieces. The cube was his.
Pierce, who had followed closely behind, approached with a sycophantic smile. "Lord Bonecrusher, the Allspark is yours. Now, if you would be so kind as to remove this watch for me?"
"Certainly," Bonecrusher snarled, a terrifying grin spreading across his metallic face. He swung his clawed arm in a blur. Pierce's right hand, watch and all, was severed from his arm in a single, brutal motion.
"Ah! Aaaah!" Pierce screamed, clutching the bleeding stump as he collapsed to his knees, his face contorted in agony.
"Is this not removed?" Bonecrusher mocked. The watch on the severed hand morphed, reconfiguring itself into a scorpion-like Decepticon that crawled back onto Bonecrusher's arm.
Ignoring Pierce's writhing and screaming on the floor, Bonecrusher secured the Allspark and marched out. He had a rendezvous to keep with Megatron.
Pierce, driven by sheer will, tore off his suit jacket and tied it tightly around his upper arm, creating a makeshift tourniquet. He then scooped up his own severed hand from the floor and staggered toward the exit, his mind set on reaching a S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra facility where reattachment would be possible.
Weak from blood loss, his vision began to swim. He tripped over a loose stone and fell hard. "Oh, shit!" he cursed, struggling to push himself up. A pair of polished leather shoes entered his blurry field of vision. He looked up to see one of his own subordinates, a Hydra agent named Kahn.
"Quick, Kahn, get me to the nearest base," Pierce ordered urgently. "My hand needs to be reattached!"
"Oh my! Director Pierce, why so clumsy?" Kahn said with an unnerving cheerfulness. "You took a nasty fall. It must be old age blurring your vision. Here, let me help. I have something for you. Put this on, and you'll see things much more clearly from now on."
A hand extended toward Pierce, holding a crystal monocle. Dazed and confused, Pierce took it.
"Go on, put it on," Kahn's smiling voice urged. "You won't be so dizzy anymore." As if mesmerized, Pierce lifted the monocle to his right eye and fitted it into place. A strange calm washed over him, and a slow, unsettling smile spread across his lips.
"It really is much clearer now," he said, his voice devoid of pain. He calmly took his severed right hand, blew the dust from its surface, and pressed it against the bloody stump of his wrist. The flesh knitted together seamlessly, leaving no trace of the injury.
"Greetings, Director Pierce."
"Greetings, Agent Kahn." The two Amon clones exchanged a formal nod.
Beneath a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, Bonecrusher and his Decepticon squad waited. Soon, the roar of jet engines announced the arrival of Megatron and Starscream. They transformed mid-air, landing with heavy thuds in front of Bonecrusher, who held the Allspark.
"Bonecrusher, where is my prize?" Megatron demanded.
"It is my great honor, Lord Megatron," Bonecrusher replied, kneeling as he presented the glowing cube.
"The Allspark," Megatron breathed, taking the cube into his hands. He stared at it with obsessive fascination, as if he held the universe itself in his grasp. "Excellent. You have done well, Bonecrusher." He then turned his attention to the task at hand. "Did you bring the amplification device I commanded?"
"Yes, my lord," Bonecrusher answered respectfully, gesturing to the soldiers behind him. "Bring it forward!"
The soldiers carried over a complex instrument several meters high and placed it before Megatron. It was a Spark energy amplifier, designed to expand the Allspark's transformative radiation. Once fully activated, its range would cover the entire North American continent, converting all electronic devices within its field into a new Decepticon army. It was a semi-finished prototype, hastily built since Megatron's reawakening. A completed version could encompass the entire planet.
Megatron tapped a sequence on the device's console. A central housing opened, and he placed the glowing Allspark inside. As he sealed the chamber, he issued his orders. "Secure the perimeter! The device requires time to activate. Allow no one to get near."
"Yes, my lord!" Starscream and Bonecrusher answered in unison.
Just then, a sonic boom and the roar of an engine echoed from the distance. Tony Stark and Optimus Prime were closing in fast.
"Let us intercept them together," Bonecrusher said to Starscream. "They must not be allowed to interfere with Lord Megatron!"
Starscream, however, flinched at the sight of Optimus Prime. He had no desire to face the Autobot leader in a direct confrontation. Thinking quickly, he devised a plan. "You cannot fly, Bonecrusher. You take the ground-pounder. I will handle the one in the sky."