“So, again, we’re using the Master Emerald because?!” snapped Knuckles, the Echidna Guardian of the Master Emerald of Angel Island.
“Because there’s not enough power to fuel a dimensional rift through the Bridge Portal Generator, even when it’s set to Space Bridge,” replied Tails as he wired equipment to the Master Emerald.
“So use a Chaos Emerald!”
“Oddly enough, only the Master Emerald can reliably put out that kind of power.”
“Knuckie,” teased Knuckles’ wife, Rouge the Bat, “it’s all in good fun! Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to spar with Malak again?”
“But do we REALLY need to use the Master Emerald?!” argued Knuckles.
“Sir Knuckles,” interjected Sandy’s mother, Sira Mayworth, “can we really afford to go to other planets right now? With the Poozits infesting the galaxy?”
“Besides,” supplied Sandy’s other mother, Natalie, “I’ve always wanted to see the Chizarans again.”
“All right, the equipment’s all set up,” called Tails. He turned to Optimus and Megatron. “Any questions or gripes?”
“Just one question,” answered Megatron, “why am I going to the Realms? The Decepticons aren’t exactly on good terms with Arsha and her crew.”
“Because I want you two to try and make peace,” answered Optimus.
“Optimus-!”
“That’s an order from your Prime.”
“…You enjoy that way too much, for my liking.” He turned to Tails. “No further questions.”
“Hold it!” called Sonic as he, his family, and Optimus and Megatron’s families came running up. “You’re not going without us, are you?”
“I was about ready to call you guys!” chuckled Optimus. “Kids, Nightbird, this is your first incursion into another world, yes?”
“Daddy, just promise me,” urged Firestorm, “that we’re gonna be all right.”
“If the coordinates are correct,” replied Optimus, “we’ll be among friends.”
“Rift points are set,” called Tails.
“Away we go, then,” rumbled Megatron.
“Tails, do it!” called Sonic. Tails activated the machinery and a blue portal opened.
“That’s a dimensional rift, all right!” chuckled Optimus. “Let’s roll out!” Optimus, Megatron, Sonic, and their spouses and kids went into the rift.
Arsha and one of her husbands, Lardeth, were talking to her Over-realm in-laws, Endram, Teefmanam, and Pofomofo, three of Lardeth’s parents. Lardeth had wrapped Arsha up in his clouds as they cuddled. “So, I got to thinking,” mused Arsha, “with Rulamer marrying into the Forsornas, we need to learn a little Felansi dancing ourselves.”
“You go ahead, I have two left feet,” chuckled Endram.
“Oh, horse-pucky!” replied Teefmanam. “I’m the one with the terrible dancing.”
“I don’t know, you two danced just fine when Endram married us,” mused Pofomofo. She then turned to Lardeth. “What about you? How did they dance?”
“I think I was more interested in the dessert table that day,” chuckled Lardeth.
“…Fair point.” Pofomofo was about to say something else when a commotion came through the castle. Arsha and Lardeth got up and looked out the window to see the guards gathering at the south wall. Arsha then made a call to Malnar as she was touring the south wall at the time.
“Malnar, what’s going on?” she asked.
“Arsha, you’re not gonna believe it,” replied Malnar, “but I think a dimensional rift just opened up! It’s just near the wall and-!” The answer was interrupted by yelps from Malnar and the guards.
“Malnar!” called Lardeth.
“I’m all right! Something just hit the wall and…oh my word!”
“What is it?!” asked Arsha.
“It’s Sonic and Amy! They’ve got other hedgehogs, Blackarachnia, one that looks like an Optimus fanboy, three more female Transformers, and one that has the Decepticon symbol on his chest!”
“What are they doing with a Decepticon?” asked Lardeth.
“We’ll find out!” declared Arsha. “Malnar, where are they now?”
“They’re…well…unconscious,” answered Malnar. “They came out of the rift and hit the wall at high speed. There’s a pretty sizable dent in it, but it’s still standing.”
“We’ll be right there,” replied Arsha. She ended the call and she and Lardeth headed to where Sonic and his companions impacted. A woman with fox ears and nine cow tails, Arsha and Gorfanth’s daughter, Geltar, approached them.
“Mama, what’s going on here?” asked Geltar.
“If I’m right,” mused Arsha, “old friends from beyond the Realms.” The new arrivals groaned as they got up. Sonic opened his eyes and looked around. He then saw Amy picking herself up.
“Easy!” he urged as he helped. “I got you!” Blackarachnia then got up and picked up the “Optimus Fanboy” and the female Autobots with them. The Decepticon then woke up and helped his compatriots up.
“Scrap, that hurt!” rasped the Decepticon. Arsha’s eyes goggled. She recognized that voice.
“You!” she snapped. “Megatron!” Megatron then turned to see her.
“Ah, Princess Royana,” greeted Megatron.
“That’s QUEEN Royana to you!” snarled Arsha. “Archers!” Archers then leveled their arrows at him.
“Whoa! Hey!” called the “Fanboy”. “Put those things down!”
“Now, that voice, I remember fondly!” chuckled Arsha. “So, you and Megatron got upgraded, hm?” Optimus smirked.
“Sure did! Boy, we’ve got a lot to tell you!”
“…Just you Autobots and Sonic, right?”
“No, Megatron and his family too,” replied Blackarachnia.
“Why? Megatron’s a threat to the Realms. All Decepticons are.”
“Therein lies why we all need to talk.”
Geltar, Farmee, and Yufantel spoke with Sky Runner, Firestorm, Silver, Daniel, and Galvatron. “So you guys are from another Realm?” asked Farmee.
“I guess so,” replied Galvatron.
“And your dads fought each other?” asked Geltar.
“Yeah, a sibling rivalry that went too far,” answered Firestorm.
“Come on, it was more than that!” protested Sky Runner.
“And one of you time-traveled?” asked Yufantel.
“Er, more like a version of me from a different timeline,” replied Silver. “At least that’s what everyone says.”
“…Right, sorry,” said Yufantel as she shook her head. “It’s just a little hard to take in. A world where there are robots that can think and feel as we do, a different type of Anthros, aliens, the laws of magic working differently than ours…”
“You think that’s crazy?” asked Daniel. “Elves, dwarves, a considerate high class, ships that have organic extensions, it ain’t normal!”
“Not to us, no,” remarked Sky Runner.
“…Yeah, different versions of normal for different people, I guess.”
“And I thought the 3V2R was a bedtime story Mama Arsha told us when we were kids,” muttered Farmee.
Speaking of the 3V2R, Arsha and her spouses were finishing up their story. “So, after the eclipse faded, the Talkwen Stone sucked all the Divine Mana out of them and dispersed it across the Realms, constantly making new Realms,” regaled Arsha. “They became mortal, and we managed to slay them, leaving Dr. Borg for last. I had the dubious honor of killing her and then, after a rest, we went through reconstruction and Malnar, Lardeth, and I became the new rulers of the Realms, then I proposed to everyone, and we became the rulers of all the Realms.”
“That’s no easy feat,” rumbled Megatron.
“No, it isn’t,” replied Malnar coldly.
“So, what about you guys?” asked Arsha. “When did you start families?”
“Just after our war ended,” answered Optimus.
“And it’s really over?” asked Lardeth. “You two stopped fighting?”
“Well, it was a rather convoluted road,” replied Nightbird.
“You see, like you guys, we had a creator and destroyer,” explained Blackarachnia. “Turns out they were two halves of the same being that wanted to see if light or darkness will prevail and used us as lab rats to find out. We fought his dark half once.”
“That was when Sonic and I were getting together,” interjected Amy.
“After the destroyer’s defeat,” continued Megatron, “the real guardian of the planet, Gaia, woke up. Optimus and Blackarachnia married, then we all went to Cybertron the long way as Starscream shut down the Space Bridge Network. After a few fights, we learned about Primacron and that Starscream was Primacron’s first creation.”
“That screechy loudmouth?” asked Lardeth.
“That was our reaction too!” replied Optimus. “So, anyway, we get wise to Primacron’s plan, Starscream got ticked and informed his masters. Then we freed a supercomputer and put it into an organic body-”
“Vector Sigma did that himself,” reminded Megatron.
“Right, he did, sorry. After that, we convinced the Galactic Council to fight Primacron’s forces with us and we won by freeing Gaia’s moms, Lux and Umbra. With them free, we beat Primacron.”
“And then you signed a peace treaty?” asked Arsha.
“…Not…immediately. Megatron and I had one last fight before that.”
“Optimus won, but official records say that Cybertron was tired of fighting itself,” explained Megatron.
“So, we made reparations with our universe and now we’re part of an interstellar alliance,” finished Optimus.
“I’m glad things worked out for you,” said Arsha, “but I’m not so sure as I’m ready to forgive the Decepticons’ actions when they first came to the Realms. Knock-out and Ratbat’s destruction of a Fae Town still echoes in my mind and let’s not forget what Soundwave did. So, Megatron, if you have an apology on the Decepticons’ behalf, save it until I’m in a better state of mind about that.”
“…Very well,” replied Megatron.
An hour later, Optimus and Arsha were hugging each other as friends would. Megatron stood by and looked. Galvatron and Geltar approached him. “Mr. Megatron!” called Geltar. “I’m gonna be showing Optimus’ kids and your son around the shipyards! They wanted to meet Endea and Glanthel! Want to come?”
“You kids go without me,” grunted Megatron. “I’m fine here.”
“All right then, see you later!” replied Geltar.
“You mind going on ahead?” Galvatron asked Geltar. “I need to talk to Dad for a second.”
“Sure thing! Meet me at the North Wall when you’re done!” Geltar then left the two bots.
“You want to say something?” Megatron asked his son.
“Dad, you’ve always said for me not to repeat your sins,” replied Galvatron.
“…What does that have to do with-?”
“What about you making amends with the Realms? That’s what Optimus asked you to do.”
“Galvatron, some sins will follow you to the grave.”
“From what I read from history books and what I gleaned from your teachings, that only happens if you let them. Come on and interact, that might help you get SOME peace.”
“Son, I don’t know if I told you this, but even when I was an Autobot, I wasn’t the most sociable of bots. I’m fine being alone on this one.”
“…All right, but I think you’re making a mistake.” Galvatron then headed off. Megatron rolled his optics.
“I thought I was the parent,” he grumbled.
“Even parents need to learn from their children as much as their children learn from them,” said Nightbird’s voice from the side. She was leaning against the castle walls like he was.
“Would you stop that?!” snapped Megatron.
“Have to practice my stealth skills somehow,” chuckled Nightbird. “Our son IS right, though. You ARE making a mistake. I wasn’t there when you first came to the Realms, but what I DO know is that if you don’t at least try to make amends like you did back home, the Realms will NEVER forgive you.” She then headed off.
“…I hate it when you two are right,” muttered Megatron.