Category: Transformers: Mobian Chronicles (Arc 13: Clearing the Air)

“I’m sorry, I must be getting on in years!” snarled Megatron. “What did you just say, Starscream?!”

“I said I’m going with Deathsaurus!” replied Starscream.

“But what about your teleporting buddy?!” wailed Skywarp comedically. “You’re just gonna leave me?! Oh, you Sparkless…!”

“Get over here. I need a Space Bridge guy.”

“…Well, since you asked so nicely…” Skywarp appeared to consider his actions.

“You can be one of my commanders. Order people around as you see fit. Heck, even change your title whenever you want.”

“…Oh, twist my arm, why don’t you! In that case, soldiers, until I decide otherwise, you shall address me as Princess Skywarp!”

“All hail Princess Skywarp!” called the soldiers.

“They catch on quick, don’t they?” Skywarp whispered to Deathsaurus.

“That’s why I like them!” replied the rogue Decepticon.

“Thundercracker, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us,” offered Starscream.

“…You took an oath!” snarled Thundercracker. “As leader of the Seekers, you are supposed to oppose evil wherever it lurks and Unicron’s at the center of Mobius!”

“Wake up, Thundercracker!” replied Skywarp in uncharacteristic seriousness. “In the Seekers’ history, has ANY Trine ever been trained to fight Unicron?”

“We swore an…!”

“Answer the question! Did any of us ever receive Unicron-based combat training?!” Thundercracker growled.

“…No,” he finally sighed.

“Do we have any weapons even remotely similar to the Three Powers?”

“…No.”

“And are we REALLY that neutral?”

“…No.”

“Then tell me, what hope do any of us have?”

“Last chance, Thundercracker,” offered Starscream. “An opportunity like this only comes once.”

“…When we beat Unicron,” declared Thundercracker, “I’m going to relish in telling everyone how the leader of the Seekers forgot his oath and fled like the craven coward he is! If Unicron beats us, I hope he devours you before the D.J.D catches you!”

“The D.J.D will be spared the effort!” roared Megatron as he leveled his fusion cannon!

“Megatron, NO!” called Optimus.

“MEGATRON, YES!”

“Megatron, no,” remarked Starscream as he fired his null ray right into Megatron’s chest, winding the Decepticon Lord. “…You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to do that!” He then addressed his old comrades. “Attention, idiots! You are all doomed to fail and be devoured by Unicron! Skywarp and I want no part of it! We’re leaving this world and claiming the TRUE Decepticon Empire as our allies! Deathsaurus, get us out of here!”

“As you command, Lord Starscream,” replied Deathsaurus. The teleport beam then snatched everyone up and left Megatron, Thundercracker, and the four Autobots to themselves.

“…FINE! I HOPE THE D.J.D. TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!” shouted Megatron to the heavens.

---

Megatron was fixed up from the shot Starscream took. Once he was cleared, he toured the base…what was available to him. As he walked, he noticed Galvatron packing, ready for a swap the next day. “Galvatron, a word,” called Megatron.

“A word or an attempt to give me a beating?” replied Galvatron.

“…Not dignifying that. Look, did Starscream get involved at all in your time?”

“Yeah, he tried to serve Unicron. Didn’t end well. Killed all the Seekers right there.”

“…Mind elaborating?”

“I’d rather show than tell.” Galvatron then pulled out a cortical psychic patch.

“…Very well.” Megatron opened the back of his head and Galvatron plugged one end of the patch into it. He then opened the back of his own head and plugged the other end into it, sending both bots into a trance.

---

Megatron woke up in a cave and saw Galvatron in a mess. His armor was torn, and he was leaking Energon. “What in…?!” spluttered Megatron.

“Relax, these are just my memories,” assured Galvatron in a tone that didn’t match his condition. He then groaned in pain as Starscream entered the cave, passing right through Megatron. “You…traitor!” gasped Galvatron to Starscream.

“We’re not going to accomplish anything by standing against Unicron!” replied Starscream. He approached the center of the cave. “I won’t let myself be destroyed so damn easily. You’re going to be witness to this event, unlike the others.”

“What…event?!” grunted Galvatron.

“My audience with Unicron.” Starscream then carved out a runic circle in the floor and jabbed himself in the arm with his finger. He then drew it back and revealed purple liquid instead of pink. Megatron, observing the whole thing, realized what Starscream did.

“…Dark Energon?” he asked Galvatron. His future self nodded as Starscream put his finger to the circle. It glowed purple and bathed the cave in darkness.

“I feel your presence! Share your very Anti-spark! I call on you as my Lord and Master, Oh Mighty Unicron!” Seven pillars of purple clouds then appeared before six of them turned into the Terrorcons, sans Rodimus Unicronus, while the seventh grew and grew until a massive upper torso with a horned head appeared. Megatron looked on in fear.

“Unicron!” he whispered.

“Who would speak to me?” demanded Unicron.

“Your servant most humble!” answered the Seeker. “Starscream, Air Commander of the Decepticons and your very herald! The one who wielded the Dark Energon which binds us to awaken you once again! The Prophecy has been fulfilled! It is only the beginning of what we shall accomplish…together! For you shall rule this planet and those who walk upon it through me…!”

“PRIDEFUL FOOL!” roared Unicron. Starscream gulped. “How dare you think yourself capable of summoning MY life force! I rise because I have deemed it my time!”

“Master,” whimpered Starscream, “I did not mean to overstep…!”

“SILENCE, WORM! I have no need of your LOWLY assistance.” Unicron then raised his hand, causing Starscream to levitate. The Terrorcons then drew their weapons, causing Starscream to fear for his life.

“PLEASE, MY LORD! I EXIST ONLY TO SERVE YOU!”

“If you did, you would have told us where the Matrix was,” scoffed Nemesis Prime.

“Is that what I sense?!” snarled Unicron. “The taint of Primus still exists?!”

“It turns out Optimus never had the Matrix on his person,” explained Nemesis. “He hid it away before a successor was chosen. A Velocitronian by the name of Hot Rod.”

“Some…Elite guard!” chuckled Galvatron. It was clear that Unicron and his Terrorcons saw him, but they elected to ignore him and continue to berate Starscream.

“That Velocitronian is now Rodimus, the Last of the Primes and our sworn enemy…!”

“You profess loyalty to me,” interrupted Unicron, “yet allow a disciple of Primus to LIVE!”

“I will destroy him for you! His screams will be heard…!”

“I grow weary of your prattle! Surely, if you had the power to destroy this Prime, you would have done so already! I will deal with him myself.” Unicron then clenched his fist and Starscream exploded, the shrapnel burying itself into the cave walls. Megatron then felt something pull at him.

---

He then woke up in Galvatron’s quarters and shook his head. “Who else is left?” he asked his future. Galvatron sighed.

“…Ravage, Knock-out, Rumble, and I are the only Decepticons. Rodimus has Ironhide, and Ratchet. The organics…the only fighters left are our apprentice, Silver, a pyrokinetic cat named Blaze, Vector, and Amy. The other fighters…gone, dead or in the thrall of Unicron. When Vector had no choice but to kill a possessed Charmy…” Galvatron stopped to wipe tears away. “…Now do you see why I’m not so eager to restart the Decepticon Empire in my time?”

“…I believe so. …However, that is YOUR time and there are some obvious differences between us. Ironhide and Rumble, for a start. With all that in mind, I intend to keep up appearances. I MUST have something to remember who I was before this all went down.”

“Please yourself.” Galvatron resumed packing as Megatron left the room, giving off an air of calculating confidence. It was clear, given that the time-travelers didn’t fade, that multiverse theory was in play and Megatron intended to make Galvatron’s time an alternate future.

Megatron was busy training by himself in the gym. He was working on his kicks. “97! 98! 99! 100! All right, let’s work on the left…”

“YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNG WARRIOR!” called Alpha Trion’s voice.

“…When did HE get here?!” Megatron muttered to himself as Alpha Trion burst through the door.

“Listen to me, Young Warrior! This war is pointless! Heed me now and learn! If you stuff your head under the blanket and fart, you will have vivid nightmares!” Megatron just stared at the ancient Transformer.

“…Okay, right though you are, you’re clearly lost, old mech,” he remarked as he began his left foot kicking routine.

“This coming from the young boy who’s forgotten the real threat here?”

“Alpha Trion, I’m busy! Get out!”

“You DO want to beat Unicron, don’t you? Training by yourself won’t accomplish that goal, neither will stewing about what Galvatron said or fighting him despite the fact that he’s the wiser of you.”

“WISER OF US?!” Megatron then gave the surviving member of the Thirteen his full attention. “I’ve spent the better part of a two-year journey to this planet and five years on this rock fighting an oppressive faction and you tell me that the one who told me that what I’m fighting for is pointless is the wiser of us?!”

“Those were not his exact thoughts, and you know it! Consider his position! He and Rodimus are some of the last Transformers in their time! Everything both factions fought for, gone in an instant! Everything YOU fought for was turned to dust by Unicron’s hands! …Quite frankly, it sounds like you could use a little time among Autobots to recenter yourself because your time as Decepticon Lord has done ill towards you.” Alpha Trion then left the gym and left Megatron alone.

“…You’re wrong, Old Mech. Being the Lord HAS done me good, a TREMENDOUS amount of good!” Megatron then began his punching drills.

---

Blaster was keying in commands to increase scrutiny in the base. “Dude, will you relax!” protested Teletraan 1. “You’ve got our sensory network so sensitive; it’ll go off at the drop of a dust particle!”

“If that particle drops on a Terrorcon, I want to know about it,” replied Blaster.

“You’re too cautious!”

“And you’re too relaxed!” Just then, the warning system flashed. Blaster traced the origin to the space probes. His optics widened when he saw the image. It was a massive spheroid ship, roughly the size of the moon, with focusing lens at the front and a Decepticon symbol on top of the lens. Blaster’s optics widened in horror. “…Warworld!” he breathed.

“That’s funny,” muttered Teletraan. “The Warworld’s giving off Autobot transponder codes. It’s almost like…oh no!”

“Deathsaurus!” gulped Blaster. The comms then pinged.

“It’s Soundwave.”

“Open a channel!” Soundwave’s face then appeared. “Decided to call Deathsaurus, huh?!”

“Warworld’s presence: not requested,” droned Soundwave. “They have ignored my hails.” Soundwave sent all the relevant data as proof of his words.

“That doesn’t make sense,” muttered Blaster as he finished combing over the data. “If it’s Deathsaurus, why’s he ignoring you guys?”

“Leaders must be informed.”

“One of those rare moments where I agree with you. You tell Megatron, I’ll tell Optimus.”

“Agreed.” The call ended and Blaster headed to Optimus’ office.

---

Optimus, Megatron, Starscream, Jazz, Bumblebee, Thundercracker, Cliffjumper, and Skywarp were sitting in a field in vehicle mode while their holo-forms were surrounding a landing site for Deathsaurus and his troops to beam down. They soon got their wish. A number of heavily-armed Decepticons appeared in a blue light. Their leader, a Decepticon with jet kibble evoking a griffin, surveyed the scene. “Deathsaurus, you are not needed here,” growled Megatron. “Your Warworld would actually destabilize the whole operation. Leave at once.

“…An Autobot addresses me?” scoffed the jet-con, Deathsaurus.

“I am Megatron, the Lord of the Decepticons! Now leave Mobius!”

“I don’t recall following anyone who would hide behind an artefact similar to the Matrix.” His optics then rested on Starscream. “Ah, someone who knows things about how Decepticons should be.”

“You mouth-breathing imbecile! DO YOU KNOW WHOSE PLANET YOU’RE ON?!” roared Megatron.

“All hail Starscream!” replied the soldiers.

“…Your soldiers seem confused, Deathsaurus.”

“Out of my way.” Deathsaurus shoved Megatron aside and approached Starscream. “It has been too long, old friend.”

“…They hailed me,” mumbled Starscream.

“News has reached us about the planet’s situation, and we figured we could get a proper Decepticon to rule us in the process.”

“I told you, your presence is…!” Megatron then saw the business ends of the soldiers’ guns.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” said Deathsaurus as he turned back to Starscream. “We need a sensible Decepticon at the helm, Commander Starscream. …Or, should I say EMPEROR Starscream.” The phrase echoed in Starscream’s head.

“…You want ME to command YOU?” he asked.

“Indeed. Let’s be honest, the Seekers, as they stand, don’t stand a chance against Unicron. We need to gather the strongest Decepticons and prepare for one last fight when he wakes up.”

“Your Warworld is too excessive for battle against Unicron and Starscream is HARDLY strong!” roared Megatron.

“You misunderstand me on both counts, boy,” replied Deathsaurus. “I do not intend to use my Warworld for battle, but for quickly getting worthy Decepticons as far as possible from this doomed planet! And while he’s not physically strong, he IS charismatically and mentally strong. I have enough brawn but could use a little more brain to balance it out. Besides, I also need Skywarp’s knowledge and the other half of Starscream.” Starscream’s optics then widened.

“…You’re not…seriously suggesting…?!” he squeaked.

“Relax, you need to transform into him only once.”

“NO! YOU’RE CRAZY! YOU’RE FRAGGING CRAZY!”

“Come on, Screamer!” protested Skywarp. “This is probably you’re best shot at a cure for your condition!”

“NO! I…I WON’T BE ABLE TO…!” Starscream’s sentence just stopped in personal fear.

“We have something to help that other side be more visible to everyone,” offered Deathsaurus. “With more eyes on him, he could be controlled!”

“NO, SLAGGIT! …I mean, I was before but…that was the past!”

“LISTEN TO YOUR SPARK, MECH!” shouted one of Deathsaurus’ soldiers. “If not for us, then do it for yourself!”

“…You do realize…without me keeping a lid on him, once he’s free of me…there’s no holding him back!”

“Sometimes a mad-mech must be brought to crazier heights in order to be sane,” replied Deathsaurus.

“In other words, sometimes the best way to deal with a mad-mech…is to send in another mad-mech!” simplified Skywarp.

“…THAT’S A STUPID PLAN!” shouted Thundercracker.

“Exactly! A stupid plan for a stupid man!”

“Are you high?! In fact, are ALL of you high?!”

“I must agree with Thundercracker,” called Megatron. “With Unicron, we need as many soldiers as possible! Now, I still say the Warworld is a tad much, but you have my permission to join us.”

“I just need to call in more Autobots to balance things out,” supplied Optimus. “We ARE in the middle of a truce.”

“And could someone explain what’s going on about other halves?!” called Bumblebee.

“Starscream has a second personality that takes over his body,” explained Thundercracker, “a solar-power wielding Covenant thumper by the name of Sunstorm. Whenever he takes over, all reason is lost. Sunstorm believes he’s Primus’ Messiah.”

“…Glad I never met him.”

“With Sunstorm having a separate body, though,” replied Deathsaurus, “his power will be decreased! You will exist as two people and he wouldn’t be able to kill you without sacrificing his own Spark.” Starscream’s mad expression then faded as the upsides were lain at his feet.

“…Never in my life have I wanted something so much and never known until I received it!” A grin then appeared on Starscream’s face. “Who’s with me in leaving this doomed mudball?”

Megatron didn’t stop swinging his mace. He refused to. He, the master of deception, was tricked into working with his accursed enemies! By his future self, no less! What would happen to him in the 50 years between now and Galvatron’s initial time-travel?! All these factors just fueled Megatron’s rage. “TRAITOR!” he roared as he swung. “VILE LIAR!”

“Enough!” shouted Galvatron as he grabbed the mace by the chain. “What’s the idea?!”

“You contacted Rodimus and praised Silver,” explained Soundwave as he observed from a safe distance.

“…Which one overheard my call?!” snarled Galvatron.

“It doesn’t matter! You tricked me into allying with the Autobots!” roared Megatron.

“Because you wouldn’t listen to me if I just flat-out told you to ally with them!” retorted Galvatron as he threw the mace aside. “You’d probably shoot me if I suggested such a thing when we first met!”

“Right now, that sounds like a capital idea!” Megatron aimed his fusion cannon and fired. Galvatron rolled out of the way.

“GALVATRON, TRANSFORM!” A backpack swung up and released a set of wings. His arms joined in front of his chest and his hands sunk into the forearms as his cannon maneuvered itself between the arms. His toes and heel spurs then folded down and the legs swung backwards as an assembly folded from the top of the wings to the feet and became thrusters. A canopy then covered his head, and he completed his transformation into a Cybertronian jet. He then barreled into Megatron and flew upwards, taking his past self with him. Megatron tried to steady his aim, then Galvatron pointed down, forcing Megatron to fall off. “CYBER KEY POWER!” The Cyber Key then inserted itself between the wings. Once it turned, the wings angled themselves forward. The tips then deployed blasters and fired rapid rounds while the cannon charged a massive shot. The cannon fired and Megatron was pushed into the mountainside, creating a new cave. Galvatron transformed and landed at the cave entrance before grabbing Megatron and throwing him down the mountain. Once he landed back at Autobot HQ, his future self then picked him up. “If you’re done ranting like a child, you should listen!” snarled Galvatron. “When you’ve been fighting Unicron for 50 years and you’re one of the last Decepticons, your priorities tend to shift! Tell me, how can the Decepticons call themselves an empire when it’s down to four?! Even the Autobots are down to five! Our mother died! Dion died! Animatros died! Velocitron died! Gigantion died! Mobius is dying! CYBERTRON DIED! …Everything that we ever cared about died too soon. SO TELL ME WHY I SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE DECEPTICON EMPIRE ANYMORE?!”

“And the Empties on Cybertron?! They no longer mean anything to you?!” roared Megatron.

“Like I said, Cybertron died in my time! What IS there to fight for other than survival?! And, on the slim chance we DO beat Unicron, what good is there to continue old grudges?! Megatron, there are moments where you’re so tunnel-visioned that you can’t see the bigger picture!”

“…At this point, I’m not sure we’re in the same art gallery!” Megatron then leapt at Galvatron.

“NO!” called a voice as a fireball flew between them. The two Decepticon Lords turned to see Amy. “No fighting, no trying to kill each other, or we’ll be killed in an instant! Megatron, is this one of those things where you obsess over something to cover up the real issue?!”

“The real issue,” growled Megatron, “is that in 50 years, I forget what made us a Decepticon in the first place!”

“Really? I thought it was stopping Unicron at any cost. Last time I checked; he’s getting in the way of your goals. So, quit acting like a spoiled brat, calm down, and start picking Unicron’s brain! You wanted to give Optimus Unicron’s coordinates within Mobius, right?!” Megatron growled before calming down. He glared at Galvatron.

“This isn’t over,” he warned. He then turned to Soundwave. “Soundwave, return to base. I’m sure we’ll get the full story in time.”

“As you command, Megatron,” replied Soundwave as he opened a Bridge portal back to the Decepticon Moon Base. He then entered the portal and left the area as Galvatron and Amy went inside, leaving Megatron alone to brood.

---

“He has a point, you know,” remarked Optimus as he and Rodimus watched the whole thing. “That WAS manipulative of you two.”

“Tell me, would YOU have approached Megatron with the idea without our help?” asked Rodimus.

“There ARE some Autobot principles that matter, one of them being the truth.”

“If I came to you with the truth…”

“Then I wouldn’t believe you? Did you know that Vector Prime himself warned me and Blackarachnia about your arrival? He told us that he sanctioned your journey because the future was too ghastly for him to leave alone.” Rodimus stared at Optimus in wide-eyed surprise.

“…He never told me that!”

“…You serious?”

“Yes! Vector Prime never told me anything! …Though, come to think of it, my connection to the Matrix isn’t…all there.”

“He didn’t contact me through the Matrix. He just popped out in front of me. …Actually, no, he first flew into Blackarachnia’s trap lines.”

“Must you tell him that?” asked a voice. The two Primes whirled around to see Vector Prime standing behind them.

“Do you need to do that?!” protested Optimus.

“Yes.”

“…You bots really DO work in mysterious ways, don’t you?”

“Just how Primus built us. Look, can you really afford to waste time over this? While deplorable, Rodimus’ actions WERE correct.”

“Vector Prime, a question,” interjected Rodimus.

“Yes, my child?”

“I would have thought that any deviation to the timeline would mean that me, Galvatron, and Silver would fade from existence.”

“So why are you still here? Simple, multiverse theory can give you a headache.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that your timeline is now an alternate future.”

“…Then our journey here…?!”

“IS for something. While you will still return to that ghastly future, I believe you’ll find the way to defeat Unicron here in this timeline and carry that knowledge to yours.”

“…You mean there’s actually hope for our time?!”

“There’s hope for every timeline. But, to answer your question, yes, for yours, there is.” Rodimus, for the first time in a long time, felt a genuine smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “However, right now, the future is clouded. If you lot really want Unicron beaten, you must fully configure the Matrix with all of our knowledge. Yes, that includes the Fallen, Liege Maximo, me, and Alpha Trion.”

“…But, the Fallen and Liege Maximo…!” protested Optimus.

“They have knowledge that you need,” replied Vector Prime. “I know the Fallen fell under Unicron’s thrall once, but he used that knowledge to help us in the long run. Liege Maximo, while he’s THE ultimate liar and manipulator, is also the Ultimate Strategist. He will find a way to manipulate Unicron to his defeat as he did in the past.”

“…And you and Alpha Trion?”

“…I’m afraid that, if we give our knowledge to you, we will cease to exist.”

“Okay, I may not be his best student, but I don’t see Alpha Trion going for that option.”

“And you’re right on both counts, Optimus,” replied a voice. Another yelp from Optimus and Rodimus and they turned to see Alpha Trion standing behind them with his arms folded.

“How did you…?!” spluttered Optimus.

“We Thirteen have built-in Space Bridges that can take us anywhere in the universe,” explained Alpha Trion. “In any event, I cannot condone joining with our brethren just to fight a battle!”

“A battle against Unicron!” argued Vector Prime. “You and I both swore an oath to stop him!”

“And we’ve done that! Another use of the Three Powers will tear the universe asunder! That IS why we had them destroyed!”

“Well, Unicron’s coming back, and we need a back-up plan should he get another body!”

“Optimus and Megatron must play their hand correctly so that he DOESN’T get a new body!”

“Er, still here, Alpha Trion,” interjected Optimus. “Besides, I don’t think Megatron’s in a team-player mood.”

“…Perhaps I should have a talk with him. It might get him to remember the mission.”

“Er, I think you’re gonna need…!” Optimus’ request for Alpha Trion to get a local alt-mode was interrupted as Alpha Trion vanished. “…Okay, I guess you’re not gonna be a robot in disguise.”

The Space Bridge had sent Dion back to Cybertron in disgrace and morale was low. How could an Autobot be so hateful? Megatron smirked. He knew what caused it; a simple matter of believing in propaganda too much and not realizing the REAL cause of war, money. He had taken over Dion’s quarters and tailored it to his own ends. As he continued arranging things, he heard the door chime. “Yes?” he called.

“It’s your mother,” answered Windblade’s voice.

“…Enter.” Windblade came in and looked around.

“You settled in pretty well.”

“I would have been given my old quarters, but it was…occupied.”

“…Why?” Megatron guessed her question.

“Optimus didn’t tell you?”

“He admitted he didn’t follow everything.” Megatron flinched a bit.

“Simple, we started acting like Functionists towards the losers.”

“…There’s more to this.”

“Believe what you wish, but there really ISN’T…” Megatron didn’t finish his sentence as Windblade leapt onto him, shoving him into a wall. “Wha…?!”

“You betrayed us! You betrayed ME! What’s happened to you?! WHAT HAVE THE DECEPTICONS DONE TO MY BABY BOY?!”

“Enough!” Megatron shoved her off of him and got some room.

“Is it Shadowplay?!” continued Windblade. “Is that what this is?! Did Jhiaxus brainwash you?!”

“If he did, he’d still be around! Remember? Jhiaxus is dead! Any puppet of his would seek to keep him alive! I sent the D.J.D on him! So, no, it’s NOT Shadowplay and I’m sorry if that disappoints you.” Windblade stood there, staring at her wayward son.

“We believed in you back then. We dedicated our lives to you!”

“Not to me, to the Autobot cause.”

“You ARE the Autobot cause! Or, at least, that’s what Sentinel Prime believed.”

“Sentinel REALLY thought me to be the model Autobot? Mother, I had a stutter and was afraid of my own shadow! I find it hard to believe that I was a model Autobot back then! As it stands now, I’m not even the faintest glimmer of ANY type of Autobot!” Windblade scowled, then sighed.

“…The family’s carrying on without you. Optimus has plans.” Megatron arched an eyebrow.

“Optimus? I thought Dion was head of the Pax family.”

“Dion stepped down. He handed the reins of the family to Optimus. …He’s exiled himself from the public eye. He’s still on Cybertron, but he’s living as a hermit. Optimus wants to bring your father back.”

“Well then, go help him! Off you go! Go get my Ex-Decepticon father and have him finally meet his youngest son! Push! Push on! Forge ahead without me!”

“…The moment you tell me this is all a trick, that ‘Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons’ is part of some larger plan, then you’re taking Dion’s place. Optimus never wanted it, feeling that he’s got enough in terms of command already.”

“Ah, yes, Autobot loyalty. I had forgotten how toxic it can be.” Megatron then sat himself on his recharge berth. “Speaking of loyalty, I presume you were sent to spy on me?” Windblade flinched. It was true.

“Optimus’ orders. I was to watch and wait until I could be certain the new you was the real you.”

“And then?”

“…He left that up to me.”

“And you told us Father’s origins?”

“A test for you. Testing your compassion. …You failed.” The silence hung low over the room until Windblade broke it again. “I’ve been watching you ever since you surrendered. You sat in your cell with your eyes closed and your mouth turned up in a smile, and you think, and you think, and you think, and you know what I think? I think, for the first time in your life, you don’t know what you are! Writer, soldier, mentor, brother…now what?”

“Lord of the Decepticons.”

“But WHY? If you’ve had a change of Spark, you could have become a civilian; a Cybertronian, no more, no less. The two thousand years between our last war and the current one were a ripe time for you to step down! Why switch sides?!”

“…When I revealed my new allegiance to Optimus, I told him that it was because the Empty/Plenty ratio is staggering. Decepticons are disproportionally more likely to become Empties than Autobots. I wanted to hurt him, you see, because telling him he’s failed in keeping people happy, he’ll take that personally. The thing is, when I merely thought those words, when they were just in my head and I only had my memories of what I saw, I still had some small spark of disbelief that the Autobots could be so cruel. But when the words left my mouth, I realized that they COULD be so cruel, that Autobots can be just as bad as Decepticons. If the faction you believe in tells you that those who aren’t as lucky as you are just lazy and you stay silent about your doubts, then what does it matter? The problem will resolve itself in due course. But, when you actually verbalize what the problem is…” Megatron sighed. “…I grew to hate what I became in the two thousand years before today; an indolent, selfish creature. And…I decided that the best way to leave that person behind, maybe the easiest way, the only way…was to become a Decepticon.”

“…You were neither indolent nor selfish,” said Windblade, “and we all have wobbles. All of us, from time to time, we all have wobbles, and we question what we’re doing. It’s part of being a person, you wrote that down once. In years to come, when this mess is over, you’ll remember this conversation and laugh.”

“Years to come?” Megatron scoffed. “Mother, look at me. Not with the eyes of a mother, with the eyes of someone who never knew me personally. I may be only in my mid five thousands, but I feel like I’m in my hundred thousands. Those parties made me feel brittle, but even then, I feel long past my…my prime. My Spark feels like it flickers where it once flared, and this body, oh, this nonsense body, it doesn’t graft to the Spark like my previous iterations did. There’s no purchase…no bite.”

“I don’t like hearing you talk like this!” Windblade was tearing up at this moment.

“Why?”

“Because it’s not YOU! The young mech who tore down the Conclave at 500 years of age! The mech who saw to it that the arts survived, even during the Great War! The mech we followed! The mech we loved! What happened to him?!”

“…I don’t know. …I think Megatronus Pax is dead.”

“Dead? Or just resting?” The outer perimeter alarm then sounded. “Unicron?!”

“No,” rumbled Megatron. “I would have already told Optimus about that. No, it’s someone else.”

“It’s Soundwave, if you want to know.” Teletraan appeared on Megatron’s computer screen.

“…The Swap’s tomorrow, right?” asked Megatron.

“It is, but Soundwave looks mad right now.”

“I better talk with him.” Megatron got up and strode to the front door. He went outside and faced Soundwave. “Soundwave, your turn isn’t for another two weeks. I must ask that you return to base.”

“Not until you hear what Ravage found!” replied Soundwave. He then played a little audio file of Galvatron’s voice.

“Silver, you psychokinetic genius! Your scheme is working! We could potentially restore the Three Powers any day now! Galvatron to Rodimus! Galvatron to Rodimus, come in!” Megatron was stunned.

“Wh…wha…” Megatron’s stammering then stopped. It was falling into place! Galvatron had manipulated everyone into working together! He didn’t care about the Decepticons anymore! Megatron’s face contorted in rage.

“Hey, er, Optimus overheard the entire conversation,” Teletraan said over the comms.

“…Galvatron…Galvatron………GALVATROOOON!” Megatron EXPLODED in anger, the energy shorting out his inhibitor chips!

“Someone call?” asked Galvatron’s voice. Megatron then swung his mace at his future self!

Ultra Magnus was now in a cell, in the same restraints as Megatron. He glared at everyone that visited him. Soon, everyone gathered in the brig. “Erm, isn’t there an occupancy limit?” asked Megatron.

“Megatron, we’re letting you out of the cell,” said Optimus.

“WHAT?!” roared Ultra Magnus.

“You’re still keeping your inhibitor chips,” continued Optimus, “so you won’t access your offensive systems.”

“…I’m having a hard time following your logic,” muttered Megatron as the restraints released him and his cell opened.

“Because I need you free for what’s about to be said. Jazz, you’re up.” Jazz’s hand then moved towards his visor. Windblade then grabbed his hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Windblade, please,” replied Jazz. Windblade looked at Jazz for a few seconds, then released his arm. Jazz then placed his hand over his visor and removed it. His optics were offline…then they slowly switched on…revealing a RED color. Ultra Magnus goggled in horror.

“…Optimus Prime, how long did you know…?!” he snarled.

“A few years after I met him,” answered Optimus. “Before you go on your tirade, Jazz has a little story about his life.”

“These optic lenses,” began Jazz, “they were grafted onto me at birth. My parents were devout Decepticons, even calling the Decepticon belief system Decepticonism. They wanted me to be a good little Decepticon. …They were abusive as scrap and I kept running away from that house. I found my way to the police, kept hiding from them when they suggested taking me back home, then they got the hint and arrested my parents on child-abuse charges. I found myself at an orphanage and was adopted by an Autobot couple. I soon learned love and tried desperately to get my optic lenses to be changed to blue. …My birth parents were too thorough. If any other doctor tried to surgically remove them, I’d lose my sight. So, my new parents gave me my visor. After becoming friends with him, I showed Orion my real eyes.”

“I still remember my comment to this day,” remarked Optimus. “I said ‘Your optics are as red as my armor! Cool!’ He then told me the story and I told him I was glad he got out of that situation, otherwise, I wouldn’t have a best friend like him.”

“But…but he’s…I mean, he’s a…!” Ultra Magnus still couldn’t understand.

“If that’s wracking your brains, then drink this in, Boy!” snarled Windblade as Jazz put his visor back on. “You know Arcanus Pax, your father?”

“What about him?” asked Ultra Magnus.

“Yes, you said you knew his greatest secret,” remarked Optimus. “What is it?”

“Did you know that Arcanus wasn’t his real name?” asked Windblade.

“See?!” interjected Megatron. “I WASN’T lying back then!”

“Oh, shut up,” grunted Optimus.

“So you DO know, good.” Windblade then mustered her courage. “Arcanus Pax’s real name…was Treadshot.” Everyone was stunned.

“…Treadshot?” asked Jazz. “As in the most notorious Decepticon Assassin?!”

“But…but that’s…no! You’re lying!” snarled Ultra Magnus.

“I think I know your father’s past more than you, Dion,” said Windblade. “Like Jazz said, Treadshot Pax was an assassin, notorious even among the Decepticons.”

“Pax? He’s always been a Pax?”

“Yes. Believe it or not, for a family famous for breeding Autobots, the Pax Family had its black sheep. Treadshot was one of them. He was still loved, just that the arguments usually centered around his beliefs. …The instant the Praxian Occupation happened; he broke with the Decepticons. Sure, he initially helped the Decepticons build the internment camps, but he found a manifest that had his wife and daughter as occupants. He tried everything…but he found them in a mass grave.” Optimus’ optics widened.

“He was married before and…lost them at the hands of his own team?”

“And there was no one else he felt he could blame but himself. …But he DID find out who gave the order to put them in that camp, Lugnut! Every chance he got, he helped break prisoners out of the camps, all to make Lugnut look bad. It all came to a head when Lugnut’s personal camp lost over 75% of its prisoners.”

“Hold on, our lives was saved by Treadshot of all bots?!” asked Prowl.

“I know. It was then that he changed his name to Arcanus and turned to sorcery to try and heal what he believed to be a scarred soul.”

“If he tried to save himself and atone, I’m sure he became a great mage,” mused Pyra Magna.

“This whole story is a lie!” roared Ultra Magnus. “My father was always a good mech! A paragon of honor and virtue!”

“He was paid to take out Autobots!” argued Windblade. “He and I shared a Cortical Psychic Patch so he could confirm his story to me!” Ultra Magnus then gave an unearthly howl and broke his restraints! He ignored the pain of his inhibitor chips, broke down the cell door, and leapt onto Windblade, slamming her against a wall.

“MY FATHER WAS NOT A DECEPTICON!”

“CYBER KEY POWER!” invoked Windblade. Her Cyber Key inserted itself between her wings and released a hand-fan from the helmet. She combined it with her sword, spun her wings’ rotors, and swung the sword at Ultra Magnus while firing twin tornados at him, knocking him into the wall opposite of her. She got up panting, using her sword to steady herself, and barely noticed Ratchet tending to Ultra Magnus. Her eldest son…then started crying. Megatron, after seeing the whole thing and giving only a few seconds of silence, chuckled, then laughed, then went into hysterics.

“OH, THIS IS JUST TOO RICH!” he cackled. “Ultra Magnus: Deceptiphobe par excellence, yet he’s the son of Treadshot! Oh, Primus! You know, you always said that the spawn of Decepticons will follow their parents’ programming! Well, by that logic, you and Optimus should be joining me! Ah, but you don’t FEEL like a Decepticon! You don’t detect that bit of programming! Oh, what’s a Deceptiphobe to do when his own logic is turned against him?! Brother, you should see your face right now!” Megatron laughed again, using a nearby console to steady himself. “Whoa, never laughed so hard…feeling a bit light-headed.” Optimus then stood over Ultra Magnus.

“Dion Pax,” he snarled, “your actions proved Bumblebee’s reasoning for invoking the Crisis Act on you. I regret what I must do, but I have no choice. I won’t have a second in command who’s so emotionally compromised and so rock-brained. I won’t even have a soldier like that. Do you have any words before you’re relieved of your position and duties as a soldier?”

“…No, Sir,” answered Ultra Magnus.

“Then, as Prime, I hereby strip you of your title of Magnus and strip you of the Autobrand!” Optimus then tore the Autobot symbol off of the former Ultra Magnus, Dion Pax. “Once you’re repaired, you’ll be returning to Cybertron.”

“Optimus, I…!”

“Be quiet! At the moment, I have nothing more to say to you! Prowl, confine him to quarters and retrieve the Magnus Hammer.”

“Yes, sir.” As Prowl obeyed, Optimus knelt to his mother.

“Mom, I…”

“You did what you had to as Prime,” interrupted Windblade. “To be frank, I would have done the same.”

“…It still stings.”

“Yeah…it does.” Windblade switched her optics off and began crying. Optimus hugged her and did the same. Megatron, for once, stayed respectfully silent.

Two weeks had passed, and the alliance terms had been fully established. One Autobot and one Decepticon would switch places and work in the other faction’s main base. Right now, Galvatron had swapped with Jazz and was walking down the corridor to Optimus’ office. He rang the door chime. “Enter,” came Optimus’ voice. Galvatron stepped in. “Ah, Galvatron. What can I do for you?”

“I need your help,” answered Galvatron.

“What’s up?”

“…I tried to explain the situation to Ultra Magnus.”

“And?”

“…He’s considering a double fratricide with both me and Megatron as the victims.” Optimus growled.

“Did Megatron say anything recently to him? Maybe I should talk with him.”

“Absolutely not!” gulped Galvatron. “His current attitude is to cover up the fact that you intimidate him!”

“…Me?” Galvatron then realized his mistake.

“Don’t tell Megatron I told you.” Optimus couldn’t help but laugh.

“I intimidate Megatron, huh?!” The Prime couldn’t stop laughing for a bit.

“You find it funny that I was scared of you, huh?” remarked Galvatron. Optimus cleared his throat, forcing himself to stop laughing.

“Of course not!” He couldn’t help a grin. Galvatron gave a knowing grin in response.

“Come on, I worked under you in my timeline. I know how you work.” Optimus then regained control of his composure.

“Look, we’re not talking about me and Megatron, we’re talking about you and Ultra Magnus. I sympathize with him slightly, but as far as I’m concerned, you being here is totally acceptable.”

“…You got Blaster here, right?” Optimus’ optics flickered at the sudden change in topic.

“…Yeah, why?”

“Just wanted to know.” Optimus then fully blinked, something most Cybertronians don’t do.

“O…kaaaayy.”

---

Windblade and Yoketron were practicing with their swords. Yoketron’s husband, Stormfront, observed the sparring session and sensed, with remarkable accuracy, that Windblade’s head wasn’t in the game. Yoketron’s verbal instruction confirmed it. “Windblade, you’re becoming predictable. A Cyber-ninja MUST use the unorthodox.”

“You say that, Sensei, but you’re not controlling my central line,” remarked Windblade.

“Allow me to fix that.” Yoketron swept his leg under hers and tripped her up. Windblade activated the propellers on her wings to keep her from hitting the ground and giving her the chance to block the downswing, then shoving him backwards, giving some distance. “Very good, you adapt well. However, running your mouth like that, not gonna lie, felt like Optimus during his first few days under my tutelage.”

“Got it from someone, I guess.” Windblade charged and swung wildly. Yoketron blocked and dodged the blows.

“You’re holding your sword too tightly!” Yoketron then slammed a fist into Windblade’s face, forcing her to hold the sword with one hand. That gave Yoketron the opportunity to knock his opponent’s weapon out of her hands. “Now, too lightly.”

“Yame!” called Stormfront as he got up. Yoketron then got out a first-aid kit to help Windblade’s face as it leaked Energon. “Something’s on your mind, Windblade,” remarked Stormfront as he approached the two.

“…It’s Ultra Magnus,” answered Windblade. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s getting a little…intense with our Decepticon visitors.”

“He’s got raging Deceptiphobia,” summed up Yoketron.

“That’s the phrase.”

“Has he always had it?”

“Not on this scale! And if he finds out about my husband’s origins, who knows what’s gonna happen!”

“…I don’t believe I know Arcanus’ story,” said Stormfront.

“Well, you see…”

“Any Autobots, please, someone help Bumblebee! He’s making his way towards Ultra Magnus’ position!” called Teletraan.

“Is Ultra Magnus alone?” asked Windblade.

“Nope! He’s about to kill Megatron by the look of things!”

---

Ultra Magnus was just wailing on the unarmed Megatron. The inhibitor chips in the Decepticon’s body meant that he couldn’t access any offense-based systems. After slamming his fists into Megatron for a good minute, Ultra Magnus stopped. “Come on,” panted Megatron, “we’re just getting started!”

“What is the purpose of your surrender?” asked Ultra Magnus. Megatron snarled, getting angry that the same question was being repeated.

“I already told you, Unicron’s a greater threat!” Ultra Magnus then resumed ragdolling Megatron. He then stopped after another minute. By now, Megatron’s wires were exposed, his armor had dents and tears, and he was leaking Energon.

“What is the purpose of your surrender?”

“Are you deaf or just being stupid?! Unicron is bigger than any petty grudge you may have with me!” Ultra Magnus raised his hand…

“CYBER KEY POWER!” shouted Bumblebee’s voice. The yellow Autobot’s Cyber-stingers then slammed into Ultra Magnus’ back and shocked him hard. A red jet with large propeller fans in the wings then slammed into Ultra Magnus and propelled him into the mountainside.

“WINDBLADE, TRANSFORM!” The jet’s fuselage and cockpit folded onto the top as arms and legs unfolded from the bottom and the head popped out between the arms. Windblade then drew her sword and leveled it at her eldest son. Bumblebee kept one of his stingers trained on Ultra Magnus while he called for Ratchet. “Dion Pax, what in Primus’ name are you DOING?!” demanded Windblade.

“Getting information out of Megatron,” replied Ultra Magnus.

“What you were doing,” hissed Bumblebee, “was breaking protocol left, right, and center!” Ratchet finally arrived and began tending to Megatron so he could be moved.

“He stays here!” called Ultra Magnus.

“Belay that!” called Bumblebee. “Ultra Magnus isn’t right in the head!” Ratchet obeyed Bumblebee and continued his work.

“Sergeant Bumblebee, you’re out of line!” Bumblebee refused to let himself be cowed.

“Ultra Magnus, I can’t follow your orders if you’re acting this way.”

“You cannot be serious!”

“Megatron surrendered himself to us as our prisoner! He’s entitled to certain rights, one of them being that he’s free from being tortured!”

“You are actually spouting protocol at me right now!”

“In the stories I’ve heard from bots your mother’s age, we NEVER inflicted harm on others unless all other options were exhausted!”

“You heard right,” supplied Windblade. “We do NOT resort to torture unless there’s no other choice! It’s what separates us from the Decepticons.”

“Is this REALLY the time for one of your lectures?!” Ultra Magnus got up and towered over her. “You didn’t see Megatron throw Optimus to the sand during our first encounter, did you?! Well I did! Did you ever receive reports that Megatron turned an inhabitant of this planet against his will to use as a weapon of conquest?! I did! As far as I’m concerned, that walking corpse is a monster using Megatronus’ image!”

“You need to calm it down!” Windblade kept her face stoic against her out-of-control eldest son.

“Calm is the last thing we need! Calm is what cost us all a normal childhood! Megatron admitted to conquering this world once Unicron was dealt with! You really think he’ll honor it for that long?! We’re squandering our time trying to unite with people who are totally different from us and have no concept of peace! We need to take this opportunity to strike the Decepticons hard and NOW! Precisely where it hurts!”

“That’s gonna provoke retaliation!” argued Bumblebee. “And, on top of that, it’ll make Unicron’s job of hunting Optimus easier! I’m not willing to go that far!”

“You went that far when your mother died! I seem to recall that Cliffjumper’s an Eradicon now! After your mother died, you two tried desperately to bring her back using Energon Alchemy!”

“And it backfired. Remember that bit of the story? You said so yourself, Cliffjumper’s an Eradicon and I have Crystal Mail right now.” Bumblebee took off the armor surrounding his arm and showed off an arm made of blue-white crystal. Megatron, having heard the whole thing, arched an eyebrow.

“…Your brother’s an Eradicon?” he asked. “Then that makes him a liability.”

“…I’m aware,” muttered Bumblebee. “Which is why he’s been doing all sorts of meditative techniques to keep himself from falling into Unicron’s thrall.”

“You had the courage to do what’s right once!” snarled Ultra Magnus. “It looks like Mobius made you soft! You never pounded the Decepticons to scrap when you had the chance, and you’ve had numerous chances!”

“Because I believe myself to be better than that. Ultra Magnus, I didn’t want to do this, but I have no choice. I had to ask most of the Autobots while Prime didn’t know, but I had to have their support in case you went too far. You are too unstable to be in command a second longer. By the authority vested in me by my fellow Autobots, I hereby invoke the Crisis Act and relieve you of command!”

“MUTINY!” roared Ultra Magnus. “Mother, arrest him!” Windblade then brought out stasis cuffs…and slapped them onto Ultra Magnus’ wrists. “WHA…?!”

“I’m sorry, son, but you’re too dangerous to be in any command position right now. Teletraan, Ground Bridge right to the brig.”

“Prowl’s waiting by a cell,” reported Teletraan. “He’s got the whole story.” A Ground Bridge then opened for everyone.

“…You know, I never thought I’d see the Crisis Act invoked in my lifetime, much less against my older brother,” smirked Megatron.

The resulting four weeks were quite…interesting to say the least. With Megatron as a prisoner, Optimus wasn’t sure how to feel. He decided to visit him. He entered the cell and found Megatron restrained to the wall. “Megatron,” he greeted.

“Prime.” Megatron’s return greeting left a silence.

“So,” asked Optimus, “how’s this gonna play out? Are we gonna spend the next hour posturing, or are we gonna rise to the occasion and have a civilized conversation?” Megatron scoffed.

“‘Rise to the occasion’? What is this, a summit meeting? I’m bolted to the wall, riddled with inhibitor chips, and all I need do is cross my fingers at you before I face termination by electric restraints! Hardly an ideal position to have a frank exchange of ideas!”

“Fair point.” Optimus then undid Megatron’s restraints and pulled out a pair of chairs. “Take a seat.”

“So,” said Megatron as he sat down, “what does my little brother want to talk about?”

“You surrendered after you made your proposal. Why?”

“Didn’t we just have this conversation?”

“No, we went through the motions. One provoked, the other reacted; same as always.”

“What happened to the Decepticons? Who’s taken my place for now?” Megatron was deflecting the issue.

“Megatron…”

“Please don’t tell me it’s Eggman!” Genuine worry crossed the Decepticon Lord’s face.

“Megatronus! …Look, forget the factions outside, all right? Right now, it’s just you, me, and a conversation we’ve put off for five years.”

“I don’t know about your end, but I’ve been preoccupied enough to almost forget this. You know, what with the war, the continual keeping of my house in order, the pain I cause the fleshlings. Pit, sometimes I have to scrape blood off my hands.”

“Megatron, do you even realize what you’re saying?!” protested Optimus. “Everything, every word you’re uttering, it’s all steeped in hate!”

“I’ve learned to hate when I was in my room while we grew up together. Oddly enough, I have an Autobot to thank for it, an Autobot with friends in high places who taught me all about violence and its application. Calm yourself, it isn’t you. No…it’s our dear Dion. You’ve heard him utter his usual Anti-Decepticon rhetoric, haven’t you?” Optimus looked away. “…Ashamed, are we? Well, after five years of conflict against a faction I once supported, I live to hate it! Hate sustains me! There are moments where I wonder if I feel anything else anymore. Lust, rage, ambition, I wonder if I’ve moved beyond them. In fact, over the past five years, I’ve realized there are two constants, hate…and you.” Optimus snorted.

“I’m surprised you can find a difference between the two.”

“Optimus, let me clarify something; I don’t hate you. Don’t get me wrong; I hate what you represent, and I hate the obstacles you’ve put in my way; but I understand why you’re trying to stop me. I forgive you that much. But there’s a question I need answered. Do you hate me? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you say that.”

“…Yes…No…I don’t know.” Optimus ran his hands down his face. “I don’t know how I feel about you. Hate feels too simple for me, too…easy. It might sustain you, Megatron, but makes me feel…less.”

“…Were you always this sanctimonious and I was just blind,” snarled Megatron, “or was it something you worked at when you got the Matrix?! Behold, the infallible Optimus Prime! Wise for his age, charismatic for a guy who had others fill in for him during boring meetings, compassionate for a bot in his late adolescence! A red, white, and blue paragon of virtue! How tiring that must be! The insecurity, the loneliness, the agonizing self-doubt!”

“You’re talking like you know me.”

“I’d be a pretty terrible brother if I didn’t. I know you better than anyone else and it terrifies you.”

“What terrifies me, Megatron,” Optimus was in a correcting mood, “is the sheer monotony of the past five years, even with Unicron thrown into the mix these past four weeks. It’s just you and me, trading blows, making threats, going through the motions while everything we care about crumbles. And it isn’t just today where you can find a similar situation. Our species’ whole history is an exercise in galactic fratricide. A race-wide cry for help. Is it any wonder the Galactic Council turned its back on us during the climax of the previous war? Can you really look me in the optics and say that you’re surprised that the universe, at large, still fears us? Entire civilizations rose and fell in the time it took us to get nowhere at all.”

“Ah, but the rules of the game are different now, Optimus” replied Megatron. “Our war is actually picking up speed where the previous one stagnated. I remember back in the day when whole centuries would go by without a single shot being fired. Both Autobots and Decepticons spent millennia preparing for battles that were over in a matter of minutes.”

“And for what?!” asked Optimus. “Really, answer me, for what?! We’re doing the exact same thing as our forefathers did from where I stand! Before this whole mess went down, I fought to stop you, simple as that! But you…what IS it you’re fighting for, Megatron? I thought I knew, but…” The Prime sighed. “…Okay, let’s play ‘What If’ for a cycle here. What if you HADN’T surrendered and Unicron wasn’t part of the equation? Let’s say the Decepticons won this war, what does victory look like?”

“Control over that which would destroy us. Optimus, trillions of races have learned about how our biology works. In victory, we wouldn’t forget that there are races that want revenge.”

“A mechanical master race. Technoism.”

“Something along those lines.”

“…No,” denied Optimus, “that describes the Decepticons, not you. Let’s still play ‘What If’. I’m dead, the Autobots are no more, Cybertron is yours, countless planets are brought under your sway, the Decepticon Empire is resplendent, and you sit in the center of it all, what then?”

“The real work begins. Repopulation, a true rebirth of the Cybertronian race! A new Golden Age, one that would put the previous one to shame! Imagine it, a civilization free of conflict, all needs are met! No want, no unhappiness, no dissent, peace through tyranny!”

“And autonomy, personal responsibility, and free will? Where are they in this brave new world of yours?”

“They’re a passing thought.” Optimus considered his words.

“…You know, in some respects, we’re the same. Peace, prosperity, happiness, I want them too, I just don’t see them as something to be imposed.”

“Don’t you DARE put yourself on my level!” growled Megatron. “I am a visionary! I spoke out! I resisted the weight of the police state Cybertron had become! Tell me, what were you doing outside of a few paltry speeches?! The High Council carved up the Decepticons according to rank! It felt like functionism, dictation of life at Xitran levels, the levels Shockwave and Soundwave experienced! It was social engineering of the losers in the most LITERAL sense! Someone had to say ‘no’! Someone had to say ‘enough’! and I was the only Autobot to have had the ball-bearings to do so! ‘Freedom is the right of all sentient beings’, where in the Pit were you as hundreds of Decepticons lost their jobs and thousands became Empties?!”

“I’m not the Transformer I was before this war began,” said Optimus. “Do you remember when we first fought face to face alone?”

“The Battle of Westopolis.”

“Westopolis. G.U.N. lost 200 soldiers when they assisted the Autobots. You cost them an army, you cost me allies.”

“You cost me an arm, you and that axe of yours,” growled Megatron.

“In any case, no, it was Seaside Hill. It was just as the war was picking up.” Megatron’s optics flickered as confusion crossed his features.

“You either have a better memory than I do, or I made a bigger impression on you.”

“If it wasn’t for that battle, I wouldn’t have taken you half as seriously as I do now.”

“They all stopped to watch us, didn’t they?” asked Megatron. “In Westopolis. My Decepticons, your Autobots and G.U.N., they all stopped to watch us fight!”

“Which one?” More optic flickering from Megatron came from Optimus’ question.

“…Pardon?”

“Which arm did I take?”

“My cannon arm, you always go for that, not that I wouldn’t have done the same.”

“All I remember is you throwing me into the air, then slamming your fist down onto me as I was over a tower spire,” recalled Optimus. “It took Ratchet six weeks to fix me up and six more to get me fully resuscitated.”

“It didn’t kill you though, nothing ever does.”

“Westopolis was nothing compared to the beatings you’ve given me over the past five years.”

“Such as?” invited Megatron.

“The Battle of Green Hill Zone,” replied Optimus. “You tore half my head off with your mace. Or the Sunset Park Zone Campaign when you…”

“When I threw you onto the tracks with a rather large train highballing towards you,” finished Megatron.

“They practically had to find all the pieces judging on the trajectories alone! And don’t even get me started on Mazuri!”

“You want to play this game with me, Optimus?! The Red Mountain Offensive! You used a sharpened rock to split me in two from shoulder to crotch! Shoulder! To! Crotch! You missed my Spark by centimeters! And what about Emerald Coast?! The then base of operations for the Radniks?! That sentient explosive, aptly named ‘Bomb’, was powerful enough to reduce me to cinders! They had to shovel me into the CR Chamber! And on the subject of Green Hill Zone, you toppled at least three of those stone loops onto me while I was in alt-mode! My t-cog jammed, and my holo-form went offline! I was a normal tank for a full month!” The two brothers then chuckled softly, recalling the battles.

“We can end it here,” offered Optimus. “Seriously, we could end it all here and now. I don’t care what’s going on outside this cell. What it all comes down to, Megatron, is us. We could end this war with a simple handshake.” Megatron gave no response. “…They want to see you dead; you know.”

“What about you?”

“I just want to know why you’ve surrendered.”

“Does it matter?”

“I think it does.”

“We’ll see, Optimus, we’ll see.” Megatron got up and allowed Optimus to fasten the restraints to the wall.

Once all the newcomers were familiar with their surroundings and the troops and allies, everyone, Autobot and organic alike, gathered in the conference room. Optimus opened the meeting with a solemn face. “Guys, I didn’t want to tell you this, but this kind of news can’t be put off forever. Heck, my taking an hour to decide after I heard this information was probably too long. Chip, tell us what you told me about the Emeralds.”

“What’s to tell?” asked Sonic. “We used the Emeralds against Unicron when we knew him as Dark Gaia.”

“Not specifically,” corrected Chip. “Sonic, the Emeralds were only used to put Mobius back together every time Unicron tried to break out. They weren’t the ACTUAL weapons that stopped him. They only served to give us an edge.”

“But…but I beat him as Super Sonic!”

“You weakened him, yes, but it wasn’t a permanent defeat for him.”

“Then why did we hunt for the damn things in the first place?!” snarled Ultra Magnus.

“To keep them out of harm’s way,” answered Prowl. “Whoever has them will have to make sure Unicron doesn’t drain them.”

“And I spoke with the Primes,” supplied Optimus. “Unfortunately, the Allspark didn’t even scratch Unicron’s paint job when they battled him. The only thing that stopped him was a trio of Matrix-powered weapons. I presume everyone knows about the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster?”

“The Three Powers, I believe they’re named,” recalled Arcee.

“Bingo. They could channel the energy of the Matrix into something that could really bring the hurt on Unicron. The Matrix, by itself, can do that, but the Primes needed an edge. And so, with the Fallen’s intel, they figured out how to craft such an edge. Solus Prime created the Three Powers and they made an all-powerful weapon in their combined state, the Hydra Cannon.”

“Prime, didn’t you use something that looked like the Star Saber against Nemesis Prime when he made you go cuckoo?” asked Grimlock.

“That version was just a manifestation of the Star Saber’s build plans. After they beat Unicron, the Primes destroyed the Three Powers. Solus, being one of the three brains of the bunch, kept the plans hidden within the Matrix.”

“So let’s bring the plans out and build them again!” replied Jazz.

“The Three Powers,” replied Pyra Magna, “can only be constructed with the Creation Lathe and the Forge of Solus Prime, according to Camien legend.”

“Solus confirmed that little bit of legend,” supplied Optimus. “So, if we want the weapons, we need the Forge and Lathe. Prowl, be honest, can we afford another scavenger hunt?”

“Not one on the scale I calculate,” answered Prowl. “Looks like our best bet is work with the Decepti…”

“Prowl, we DON’T need the Decepticons!” snarled Ultra Magnus.

“Boy, hush up!” snapped Windblade. Everyone turned to Windblade as Ultra Magnus subsided. Optimus sighed.

“That’s what Soleanna Pax really looks like,” he explained. Everyone then yelped in surprise.

“You mean…you…your mother is a…!” stammered Pyra Magna.

“Yes, she’s a Camien.”

“…Chromia, you’re not reacting!”

“Because I was the one who hooked her up with her husband and convinced them to use a civilian name,” explained Chromia.

“Er, I hate to interrupt the exposition dump and unforeseen twists,” called Teletraan, “but Megatron’s outside!”

“What?!” yelped Windblade.

“Destroy him! We can’t…!” ordered Ultra Magnus.

“Hang on!” interrupted Optimus. “This might be a great opportunity! We can get him and the Decepticons to join us against Unicron!”

“Optimus, don’t be so…!”

“Teletraan, keep the guns trained on him if he does something funny, but don’t fire unless I give the command!”

“Optimus, for all we know, he’s aligned himself with Unicron!”

“Now you’re just making up theories! Teletraan, my orders stand!” The conference room then emptied, and everyone gathered in the command center as Optimus allowed two-way communication. He then put on a stoic face and exited the base through the front door, approaching Megatron. Megatron smirked.

“You know, this reminds me of the initial stand-off of our last encounter,” he chuckled. “If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to keep the Chaos Emerald from me and critically wound me.”

“That option remains very much in play,” replied Optimus as he pointed to the guns trained on Megatron. Megatron nodded in acknowledgement.

“I would expect nothing less from one of, no, THE greatest Prime in existence. However, I have a proposal.” He paused impressively. “…The Autobots are cordially invited to join my faction against our shared enemy, Unicron the Chaos Bringer!” At that moment, Ultra Magnus’ voice came through the external comms.

“ABSURD! Unicron is evil incarnate! If you were to take any side, why would it be ours?!”

“Because Megatron’s pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule the universe,” replied Optimus.

“You know me all too well, Optimus!” chuckled Megatron. Bumblebee’s voice then came through.

“You’ve got Eggman to make you an army of robots to your specifications! Why come to us?!”

“Because this particular endeavor, young Bumblebee,” explained Megatron, “requires something beyond the realm of my command; the power of a Prime.”

“Then we don’t need you!” scoffed Ultra Magnus.

“On the contrary, Optimus may be the only one to defeat Unicron, but I remain the only one who can guide you to him. Unicron’s life-blood runs through me. I learned this ability last night. Only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements! Optimus, our past alliances, Autobot, Decepticon, no longer matter! Not while Unicron lives!”

“THE PAST ALWAYS MATTERS!” roared Ultra Magnus.

“A truce between Autobot and Decepticon,” mused Optimus. “…You know, we were just entertaining that notion. I don’t suppose you know about the effectiveness of the Allspark and Chaos Emeralds against the Chaos-Bringer.”

“As I said, I learned how to access his thoughts,” answered Megatron. “He’s frighteningly unconcerned about them.”

“With that in mind, how long do you expect us to believe our alliance will last?”

“Only as long as is mutually beneficial.”

“And when our proposed shared mission is complete?”

“I will conquer this world…my way!”

“…Brutal honesty from a Decepticon,” came Windblade’s voice, causing Megatron’s optics to widen. “I just never thought that Decepticon would be my own son!”

“…Mother?!”

“Like you, I got some new troops,” explained Optimus.

“But…our MOTHER?!”

“She knew.”

“Aligning with the lesser of two evils,” growled Ultra Magnus, returning the discussion to its original point, “is STILL siding with evil!”

“Besides, I’ve faced Unicron before when he was just Dark Gaia!” called Sonic.

“My dear hero of Mobius,” scoffed Megatron, “do you think you’ve witnessed the full power of Unicron when he just had Dark Gaia Monsters?! Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste! Unicron has yet to fully awaken! With each passing moment, the Bringer of Chaos evolves, calling followers to his fold, raw materials for his body, and mutating Mobius from the inside-out! What the Terrorcons have shown us during our encounters with them is nothing more than a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon this world!”

“Like the Decepticons did with Cybertron all those millions of years ago?!” shouted Hot Rod.

“Make no mistake, my Velocitronian friend! With me at the helm, there WILL be a planet for the Decepticons to rule!”

“Even if we agree,” remarked Shadow, “Unicron’s all the way down at the center of the planet! How are we supposed to get there, drive?!”

“Shadow, you possess one means of transport,” replied Optimus, “then there’s the Ground Bridge…”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” cut in Ratchet.

“Ratchet’s right!” agreed Tails. “Ground-bridging near a Space Bridge apparatus and Chaos Controlling inside a moving trailer’s bad enough…but plotting a blind jump near a Hyper-energy organism of that caliber?!”

“Besides, direct exposure to that much Dark Energon will debilitate you!” continued Ratchet. “You haven’t built up an immunity like Megatron appears to have!”

“Yet another strong argument for soliciting my guidance,” replied Megatron. Optimus raised an eyebrow.

“…You can provide Unicron’s exact coordinates?”

“If you transport us to this planet’s core, I can lead you directly into Unicron’s Anti-spark, the very heart of his darkness!”

“Optimus, even if we survive the trip,” interrupted Rouge, “you said so yourself that the Three Powers are gone! All you have is the Matrix!” Optimus appeared to consider his options.

“…Perhaps that’s all we need,” he surmised. “The Three Powers were meant to damage his body and the Matrix was designed to hurt his Anti-spark. The way I see it, without a physical body of his own, Unicron’s actually more vulnerable.”

“It WAS the combined power of the Primes that defeated Unicron so long ago,” confirmed Megatron, “the very reason he would seek to destroy you.”

“It would follow that unleashing the power of the Matrix directly into Unicron’s Anti-spark would return him to stasis.”

“Hold on,” interrupted Amy, “if everything goes right, Unicron’s just gonna stay down there?!”

“Yeah, can’t we syphon him out or something?” asked Sonic.

“If we tried, then my creator, the original Gaia, would have to let herself succumb to darkness in order to keep balance,” explained Chip. “I can’t die or lose my power…outside of external interference, so Gaia would have to be the new Dark Gaia instead of the master of both light AND dark as she was. Unicron’s now a part of Mobius. Always has been and always must be.”

“I still say allying with Megatron is a bad idea!” growled Ultra Magnus.

“Look, if I surrendered and let myself be your prisoner,” asked Megatron as he took out his mace and Cyber-key, “would you consider my offer?” He then let them and the fusion cannon fall to the ground. Optimus looked at Megatron, highly perplexed, then made his decision.

“Prowl, get a pair of stasis cuffs out here. Megatron is our prisoner.” Megatron smirked. He got them.

“You can always be relied upon to listen to reason, Optimus.” There was a silence before Prowl stepped outside and approached the two. Megatron held his hands out and Prowl slapped the cuffs onto him. The two Autobots then led Megatron into the base and he got a good look at everyone. “So, you people make the magic happen. …Quaint.”

“I believe there’s a maximum-security cell with your name on it,” remarked Prowl. He led the Decepticon Lord towards the brig.

“You’re being played!” growled Ultra Magnus.

“Perhaps, but we need to defeat Unicron,” answered Optimus. “Besides, he’s still our brother.” Ultra Magnus snarled before leaving. The command center emptied, leaving only Optimus by the main monitor.

The day finally came as Optimus’ reinforcements stepped through the Space Bridge portal. The first arrival, a pink femme with a white helmet, then folded her arms as she looked around the base. “Okay, where’s Bumblebee?” she asked in a tone of exasperation. “I have a feeling he destroyed his crystal-mail again.”

“He’s in the Repair Bay, Ms. Arcee,” answered Ratchet. “Nothing major, just needs someone else to knock some sense into him since he’s starting to become numb to me.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for,” declared the femme, Arcee. She followed Ratchet to the Repair Bay. A red version of Soundwave with a set of antennae on each side of the head then looked around.

“Swanky,” he whistled.

“Welcome to Mobius, Blaster,” greeted Optimus. “In all honesty, with Soundwave here, we should have contacted you earlier.”

“Soundwave, huh?” quizzed Blaster. “You held out against him for a long time. No worries, me and my partners can handle him.”

“Quick question, do your Mini-cons have Sparks now, or are they still drones?”

“…Heck of a question to ask, but, yeah, they’ve got Sparks.”

“Splendid. Shockwave told me about Xitra and mentioned you as a survivor of that disaster.”

“Shockwave’s alive too?!”

“We’ll fill you in, Blaster. Strongarm, Prowl, get him set up with Teletraan 1.”

“Yes, Sir,” replied the two law-bots. As they led Blaster to the Server Room, a pair of Mechs approached Optimus. One had a helmet that evoked a Samurai and the other was a heavy-set bot. The Prime bowed to them.

“It’s great to see you again, Sensei Yoketron and Master Stormfront.”

“Always a pleasure to see you, Sir,” returned the bot with the Samurai helmet, Yoketron, Grandmaster of the Autobot Cyber-ninja Corps.

“No need for that, Sensei,” assured Optimus. “We’re in a real fix and I think many of us could use your wisdom.”

“Yes, I heard about Makeshift’s return.”

“Gotta say, I could have SWORN we vaporized that little Scraplet!” muttered Stormfront.

“Well, we have a chance to do so again,” promised Optimus. “Jazz, mind showing them to their quarters?”

“Wouldn’t mind at all,” answered Jazz. He led Yoketron and Stormfront down the hall. The last trooper was a red jet femme with a white face and red eye makeup and lips.

“Windblade, reporting for duty!” greeted the Femme.

“Great to see you again,” sighed Optimus. The two then hugged, earning some looks of confusion.

“Er, Prime,” began Hot Rod, “that’s a famous heroine you’re hugging.”

“Famous? I thought you would say notorious,” chuckled Windblade. She then looked at Optimus. “Where’s Dion?”

“Currently confined to quarters,” answered Optimus. “He’s not right in the head as of now.”

“I knew he had a thing against the Cons, but blinding Deceptiphobia? No, I need to talk some sense into your brother.”

“This way, please.” Optimus led the femme down the hall.

---

As the new arrivals got themselves familiarized, Megatron slumbered. After a bit of deliberation, the three new ships were renamed. Megatron’s personal ship was now christened as the Decimator, Metal Sonic’s ship was called the Revenge, and Eggman’s ship was now named the Whale Shark. They all agreed that the combined form will be called the Fatal Consequence. It was because the argument was so long and drawn out that Megatron felt the need to have a stasis nap. He drank a bit of Energon that was laced with a purple cloud and fell asleep. However, his sleep was marked by a rather dark dream. He found himself walking through a black void. He could feel the ground, but not see it. “…Where is my subconscious taking me?” he muttered to himself.

“Megatron…” rumbled a voice.

“Hm?” quizzed the Decepticon leader.

“Megatron…” repeated the voice.

“Hello?” called Megatron.

“Welcome, Megatron,” answered the voice.

“Who said that?!” Megatron’s patience was being tested.

“I…am Unicron.”

“Show yourself!” Megatron’s demand was met with a massive circular maw shining light onto him.

“I have summoned you here for a purpose,” explained the maw. By now, Megatron had some proof that it WAS Unicron.

“Nobody summons Megatron!” he scoffed.

“Then it pleases me to be the first,” chuckled Unicron.

“State your business.”

“This is my command,” Megatron frowned at this, “you are to destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. It is the one thing…the ONLY thing…that can stand in my way.”

“You have more than just that bauble standing against you! There are two more weapons in Cybertronian possession!”

“You exaggerate.”

“The point is that the Allspark and Chaos Emeralds are weapon enough to defeat you!”

“No, the point is you are a fool! Neither of them were the weapons that cast me out!” Megatron arched an eyebrow at that. “It was those which were powered by the Matrix. Destroy it for me.”

“Why should I? What’s in it for me?” A pause followed the question as Unicron tried to process Megatron’s demand. He always considered the Transformers to be ants to squash and no one ever listens to the demands of ants.

“…Your bargaining posture is highly dubious, but very well. I will provide you with a new body and new troops to command.”

“…And?”

“And nothing! …You belong to me now.” Megatron stared at the maw…then growled.

“I belong to NOBODY!”

“…Perhaps…I misjudged you.” The light then turned red and pulled Megatron into the maw! “Proceed…on your way to oblivion!” Megatron screamed as he tried to hold onto the invisible ground, but he was taken into the maw! The teeth slammed shut…and Megatron woke up in a sweat and took in his new surroundings.

“Megatron!” called a voice. Megatron turned his head to see Knock-out, then he recognized his surroundings as the Repair Bay. The Decepticon Lord steadied his breathing and attempted to get up. “Lay back down!” barked Knock-out. “I’m trying to suss out what happened to make you move so violently.”

“Wh…?”

“I brought you here,” explained another voice. Megatron tilted his head forward to see Galvatron. “Looks like you had a rather nasty nightmare.”

“The bluu…of Uni…” Megatron tried to explain himself. Knock-out then guessed what happened.

“Dark Energon?!” he cried.

“Megatron, don’t tell me you drank any!” snarled Galvatron.

“A drop,” answered Megatron once he got full control of his mouth-brain functions. “I laced my nightly ration with a single drop of that stuff …I saw things!”

“You fool!” growled Galvatron. “Unicron will know that we’re on to him!”

“He ordered me to destroy the Matrix as it’s the only thing that can stop him,” continued Megatron. “He appeared to be unconcerned about the Allspark and Chaos Emeralds, saying that they weren’t what cast him out.”

“…But…but they’re the only possible weapons!” protested Galvatron. “They HAVE to be acceptable substitutes in the absence of the Three Powers!”

“Galvatron, I hate to admit it, but I don’t think they’ll have any effect on Unicron.” The future version of Megatron then slumped to the floor in disbelief.

“Then…my journey here…was for nothing?!”

“It looks like the only option we have left…is to establish an alliance with the Autobots.”

“My Lord, are you crazy?!” protested Knock-out. “If we side with the Autobots, then we’ll undo the Decepticon Empire’s goals!”

“And if we don’t, then we undo the fabric of the universe! Believe it or not, the Decepticon Empire is few in this matter! I hate to quote from Star Trek, but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!”

“My Lord!”

“My decision is final! We must ally ourselves with the Autobots!” By that point, Galvatron had slunk off and walked alone…before a grin appeared on his face.

“Silver, you psychokinetic genius!” he whispered. “Your scheme is working! We could potentially restore the Three Powers any day now!” He then pulled out a communicator. “Galvatron to Rodimus! Galvatron to Rodimus, come in!”

There was a long period of waiting for the new troops to arrive, so Optimus took this time to become better acquainted with Silver and Chip. Sonic was eager to show Chip off. “He helped me out a lot when the planet was split apart,” he explained to the young Prime.

“Well, now I’m REALLY eager to meet him!” replied Optimus. They soon met Chip in the Server Room.

“Hey, Chip!” called Sonic.

“Good to see you again, Sonic!” returned Chip. The little creature then flew around Optimus. “Wow! The Autobots are huge! Look at those hands! And those feet! What’s your name?”

“I’m Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. I understand you’re a herald of sorts?”

“As Light Gaia, that IS what I do,” answered Chip. “I’m the messenger of light, hope, and rebirth, made to oppose Dark Gaia, Unicron, in your language.”

“What’s your connection to him anyway?” asked Sonic.

“Long ago, my creator, Gaia, encountered Unicron when he was drifting through space. They fought and Gaia was almost beaten until she gathered rocks and minerals from space and created the planet to keep Unicron imprisoned. She created me to be his jailor. Every millions of years, Unicron would try to escape, and I would keep him tethered to the planet using the Seven Lights of the Earth, the Chaos Emeralds. This has always been the way…until his servants arrived.”

“The Terrorcons,” remarked Optimus.

“Exactly. Unicron has a plan to transfer his essence into another body, but he needs his servants to gather an enormous amount of power to give him the energy needed to jump into the game after the transfer.”

“The Chaos Emeralds and the Allspark,” guessed Sonic.

“Actually, it was a case of either/or. The Allspark is the most powerful choice.”

“So the Chaos Emeralds were a backup?” asked Optimus.

“They were, now he has to rely on a large amount of Dark Energon.”

“Where’s he gonna find that?”

“Could someone explain Dark Energon to me?” asked Sonic. “I’ve only heard it mentioned by you guys. Is it that purple crystal Cliffjumper sometimes makes?”

“It is,” confirmed Optimus. “It’s a powerful substance that can corrupt living beings with its use.”

“So, not a good idea for a super-fuel,” remarked Sonic.

“Not even the Decepticons want to use it. The only one permitted to even be near it is the Decepticon Lord. They always carry a badge of it on their person as a counter to the Energon crystal within the Matrix.”

“It’s also known as Unicron’s blood,” supplied Chip. Sonic’s eyes went wide.

“But if Unicron’s at the center of…wait, if it’s his blood, why hasn’t it spread all over the planet?”

“Because I’ve been tempering the spread,” answered Chip. “But, I can’t get it all whenever he wakes up. There’s always some that I’ve missed.”

“And over millions of years, it will grow,” realized Optimus. “Unicron may have enough already.”

“And he needs bodies to make his own,” continued Chip. “Seven Normals and six Specials, so he’s been boasting. I hate to say it, but he’s gotten the seven Normals during the battles that ended your first war. Plucked them straight from the Auto-troopers.”

“So where do the six Specials come into play?” asked Optimus.

“Straxus found them among the Decepticons and told them that Megatron asked for them.”

“Oh no!” gulped Sonic.

“Now we REALLY need to discuss terms of a truce with the Cons!” declared Optimus. “Who knows what deeds they’re plotting!”

---

Over on the Decepticon Moon Base, Megatron and Metal Sonic followed Eggman into the bowels of the moon. “Doctor, what could be so important that you needed to interrupt my strategy meeting with Galvatron?” asked Megatron.

“And I have duties to perform as well,” remarked Metal Sonic.

“Look,” replied Eggman, “it’s clear that the Autobots have a slight advantage over us when it comes to starships. They’ve got the Ark, the Blue Typhoon, and the Fang as well as an orbital station with enough power to devastate the planet if some lunatic decides to do so. We’ve got a moon base with no means of turning its weapons onto the Space Colony ARK and we only have Scarship and the Nemesis.”

“So, what do you intend to do about it?” asked Megatron. Eggman grinned, then they arrived at a door. Eggman keyed in a code on a number pad and the door opened to reveal a hangar.

“Behold, my pet project!” he cackled. The hangar held three ships! One was purple and had massive drills on the nose cone and wings, the second looked like a starship from Star Trek, and the third evoked an Athenian Trireme. Megatron and Metal Sonic stared in amazement.

“…Okay, this IS worth my time!” said Megatron.

“And that’s not all!” continued Eggman. “They can combine to form a more massive ship! You guys wanna see the bridges?” Megatron and Metal Sonic nodded furiously. “I thought so!” The three were then caught up in a teleporter beam and appeared inside the bridge of the drill-ship. “This baby is a Fortress-class ship, designed to go into planets and come up from under cities and capable of Warp 11!” They then appeared in the Egg-sterprise bridge. “Here is the Federation-class starship, designed for speed and quick attacks with a maximum of Warp 13!” They then arrived on the bridge of the giant space trireme. “And this is my Carrier-class ship, modeled after my old Egg Carrier. This baby’s got weapons out the wazoo and has a maximum speed of Warp 12! Now, each ship is designed with a specific Captain in mind. Megatron, I know how much you love explosions and weapons, so I’m giving the Carrier-class ship to you. Metal Sonic, like your copy, you have a need for speed, so I’m letting you command the Federation-class ship. That leaves me with the Fortress-class ship as I prefer to make a slight show of things.”

“Slight?” asked Megatron. He then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter! With the Blood-bringer, the Hellfire, and the Sonic Boom, we’ll have an advantage over the Autobots once we take care of Unicron!”

“…The what?” asked Metal Sonic.

“That’s what we’re naming the ships,” explained Megatron.

“Just a minute!” protested Eggman. “Hold your horses, you shape-changing shyster! Who gave you the authority to name MY ships?! I designed them! I’ll do the naming!”

“Hold on, you already have names for the ships?”

“Of course! The Carrier-class is the Megatron II, the Federation-class is the Metal Sonic II, and the Fortress-class is the XL Super Ultra Eggman Deluxe Xtreme!”

“NO! NO! NO!” shouted Metal Sonic.

“Metal Sonic speaks for me!” snarled Megatron as he got up in Eggman’s face. “Why should we have dull names while you have words like Super, Ultra, Deluxe, and Extreme?! Did you even spell ‘Extreme’ in the correct manner?!”

“What’s the idea?!” continued Metal Sonic. “If the ships are meant for us, then we should name them ourselves!”

“Well, excuuuuuuse me, Princess!” snapped Eggman. “I thought I was doing you a favor by naming them for you!”

“Perhaps you should have ASKED us during the design phase!” growled Megatron.

“All right! ALL RIGHT! Don’t get snippy! I’ve got some second and third choices here! What about Slifer, Ra, Obelisk?”

“I don’t even play poker, much less a convoluted children’s card game.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“Are you serious?!” asked Metal Sonic.

“Erm, Eeny, Meeny, Miny! X, Y, Z? How does Egg, Egger, and Eggiest grab ya? That could work!” As Eggman spouted asinine names, Megatron ran his hand down his face and Metal Sonic banged his head against the wall.