The next morning, Arsha was standing on a balcony overlooking the Mid-realm castle garden. She wore only her nightdress, not thinking about her dressing routine until she got her thoughts in order. As she looked out, the incident where her parents looked different for only a moment was still playing in her mind. She stood there, staring off into space, not noticing Bashoon approach. “Captain?” she asked. Arsha gasped and whirled around. She then calmed down when she saw Bashoon.
“Hey, Bashoon,” she finally said after getting over her slight fright.
“Arsha, I wasn’t attempting to sneak up on you,” remarked Bashoon. “Something’s on your mind.”
“…Bashoon, do you remember how we got the Master Wand?” Bashoon goggled.
“Haven’t thought about that thing in a long time,” she replied. “But yeah, I do.” Bashoon smiled. “It was nice seeing other universes. Hey, remember that wanderer you beat in a circus tent?”
“That I do,” chuckled Arsha. “Or when Optimus Prime and I had our 3V2R round together? We both forgot what the terms of victory were!”
“What prompted this trip down memory lane?”
“…I thought I saw Megumi and Richard last night. They were dancing where my parents were. It’s the first time I thought of them in a long time.”
“When was the last time you did?”
“It was during the Summit before the Final War. I figured I’d see her and Optimus again and they’d get a tour of the Realms. …That was until I got the news of Andwayla’s death. Then the Final War happened and…well…”
“Other priorities took over.”
“Something like that.”
“I tell you what, we dodged a magic blast there. Imagine if Dr. Borg remembered that the Wand was in the Vaults.”
“Yikes! I don’t think we’d even be here talking about it! She and the rest of her council might have ascended to godhood permanently if that happened!”
“Her loss, our gain. It wasn’t just winning the War that was on our minds though. Reconstruction and motherhood come readily to mind.” Arsha smiled as she thought about her children.
“Yeah, those were really big priorities.” Arsha looked out again. “…I wonder if the Endeavor still has entries on them.”
“Might be buried in the Captains’ Archives,” remarked Bashoon.
“I’ll see if Endea can pull them up this afternoon,” decided Arsha.
When she finished the morning’s duties as Queen, Arsha headed to the Largandra Shipyards and found the Endeavor and Glanthelantir moored at the docks. Arsha saw Endea standing by her hull. Endea saw her and waved her over. “Arsha, I need to talk about something,” she said.
“What is it?” asked Arsha.
“I’ve been looking through my old databanks for yucks. I looked through the Captains’ Archives and found several entries about a shape-changing prime robot and I can’t find any correlations from when I first became a Mechanica.” Arsha quickly guessed what, or rather WHO, Endea was talking.
“That particular bot was from before Denstra took Oak’s place,” she explained. “His name is Optimus Prime and he’s an old friend of mine from beyond the Realms.”
“Beyond the Realms?” repeated Endea.
“That’s right. You’ve heard of multiverse theory, yes?”
“Yeah, that there are other groups of Realms separately contained from ours.”
“It’s a fact. I saw the other worlds and Optimus comes from a world where life is similar to a Change-a-tron series.”
“So, Optimus is a Change-a-tron?”
“Transformer, actually. He leads his version of the Justitrons, the Autonomous Robotic Organisms of the planet of Cybertron. Autobots, for short. Years ago, the Realms briefly merged with Optimus’ universe and another one where our third friend came from in an event called the Convergence. Our third friend’s name was Megumi Hishikawa, and she was the leader of a group called the Feudal Nerd Society. They also called themselves the Vortex Riders as they could become armored superheroes called Kamen Riders. Three from our world joined them and are now living in her world.”
“Wait, three people from the Realms didn’t fight in the Final War?!”
“A Zephyr man named Swalmu, a Vampire man named Jandro, and a Stone Elf man named Twaldar. They couldn’t have known the Final War would start. Five from Optimus’ world also stayed with Megumi. They all felt like there was nothing for them. Swalmu was just another face in the crowd that was overlooked, Jandro was the last of the Grelnak Clan of Vampires, and Twaldar had sought emancipation from his abusive parents. Megumi’s home gave them purpose and peace. I couldn’t deny them that.” Endea then cleared her mind of any ire towards them.
“No, no. you’re right. Sorry. I was thinking they were cowards. They couldn’t have…so, wait, why couldn’t we get their help?”
“Two factors leap to mind. One is that we were a little more concerned with the Realms’ survival and the second is that I didn’t ask Megumi and her team for universe crossing technology. In all honesty, it was for the best. It kept the War contained here. Besides, it also kept the Master Wand out of Megatron’s hands.”
“Megatron?”
“Optimus’ brother and leader of the Autobots’ enemies, the Decepticons. A very brutal faction of Transformers. Wanted to conquer their whole universe.”
“Sounds like they were in a war of their own.”
“They were. The sad part is that I don’t know if it’s over for them.” Endea then recalled something.
“Hold on, did you say ‘Master Wand’?”
“During the Convergence,” explained Arsha, “Megumi, Optimus, and I participated in a tournament called the Verse Vs. Verse Rumble Royale, the 3V2R. It was hosted by a godlike race called the Chizarans and the Master Wand was the first-place prize. I won that tournament and got Realmfleet to store the Wand in the Vaults.”
“I’m surprised Oyed didn’t learn about it.”
“Dr. Borg may have forgotten to tell him. Either she didn’t want him near that kind of power, or she forgot it herself.”
“Either way, we dodged a magic blast there.”
“You, Bashoon, and I are of the same mind.”
As Arsha and Endea talked, Glanthel overheard the whole thing. He pondered about what Arsha said about other universes and her travels before the Mechanica Rise. He headed to his ready room and made a call. An Orc man’s face appeared on the screen. He had a prosthetic eye and ear. “Glanthel!” greeted the Orc, Admiral Rokalla Borkshorm. “What can I do for you?”
“You can help clear something up,” replied Glanthel. “I overheard Mom and Queen Arsha talking about an old legend that Her Majesty retrieved.”
“An old legend? When was this?”
“It was during an event called a convergence.”
“Ah, not A convergence, THE Convergence.”
“So, this 3V2R thing was real?”
“As was the prize Queen Arsha won. We have it in the Vaults. Thought she was going nuts about other universes?”
“Call me paranoid, but after…after Dad’s death…”
“…I know, son. Mental health IS a must.”
“I know the doctors and therapists tried everything, but I feel like I could have done more. And given the damage to my own psyche after that incident…I’m surprised the doctors called it war-shock for me.”
“Seeing death like that tends to make one feel like they’re on a battlefield. I assure you, though, Arsha’s mental health is all right.”
“That’s good to know. Thanks for the help, Sir.”
“Anytime.” Glanthel ended the call and looked out the window.
“…I wonder what those other worlds were like,” he mused. “Actual Change-a-trons. Different versions of Sailor Riders. It sounds like a little slice of the Heights to me.” As he pondered, he bounced an orange ball.