The fight still went on, Optimus hoping to gain some form of advantage. “Come on! Fade already!” he groaned.
“No chance!” snarled Nemesis.
“CHAOS BLAST!” Optimus unleashed his energy via an explosive sphere. It enveloped the two bots and lit up the sky. The light soon died, and Optimus panted. “Huh,” he muttered. “Would have figured…” His gold colors then faded as his usual red, white, and blue paintjob reappeared. “There we go. Prime Jets, ON!” Optimus activated thrusters from his backpack and stayed in the air.
“Chaos what now?” asked Nemesis’ voice as he still remained in the air while still powered by the Anarchy Beryl.
“Chaos Slag!” grunted Optimus.
“Thought so!” Nemesis then slammed his fist into Optimus’s chest. Optimus maintained his altitude but was in a bit of pain as he held his chest. Nemesis continued punching him. “What IS it with you?!” he roared. “I gave you your chance! We’re the most powerful beings in our worlds! We could have just commanded the multiverse together, but NO! YOU had to go down the ‘holier than thou’ route! Look where THAT got you! You know what, forget ruling anything! I’m Nemesis Prime! I’ll tear this world apart just because I can! After that, I’ll return to Moebius and do the same to it, so I don’t have to deal with MY Decepticons!” Optimus then grabbed Nemesis’ fist.
“Are you done?” he asked.
“Done toying with you, yes! ANARCHY ANNIHILATION!” He performed an attack similar to Chaos Blast and knocked Optimus through the sky. Optimus stopped himself over the crevice full of Korlonium Crystals. “I’m ending this here and now!” promised Nemesis.
“Yeah, yeah!” dismissed Optimus. “I’ve got no regrets! I took you down on my own, back in the day. You had to go Super to take me down. You probably couldn’t beat me now without all that power.”
“I’ve been more than a match for you since day one! I can finish you, Super or not!”
“Prove it, tough guy!”
“Fine!” Nemesis then powered down. “You arrogant little…!” A wave of exhaustion and weakness then struck him, forcing him out of his robot super mode. Before gravity caught up to Nemesis’ normal robot mode, Optimus caught his arm. “Whu…?!” gasped Nemesis. “How…?!”
“Like I said, Sonic told me everything about when his doppelganger, Scourge, I think he was called, used the Anarchy Beryl. You’ve got thirteen of them, we’ve got seven Chaos Emeralds. They both give a Super form with a caveat. With the Chaos Emeralds, you get a maximum of 30 minutes use. But, the upside is that it leaves you with a small boost once you power down. The Anarchy Beryl, on the other servo, you’ve got more time in that form, but it completely drains you once you stop using them. …How much energy do you have, anyways?” Nemesis checked his readouts and was put into a panic. There wasn’t enough energy to transform, no available power to activate his flight mode, and nothing for his weapons systems to use. “That face says it all. Even if you transformed, it wouldn’t have save you because you don’t have rubber tires to help insulate you.”
“Optimus, hold up!” begged Nemesis. “I’ve only got two days to live! Let me live them out in peace and I’ll leave you alone!”
“You’re a twisted genius, you’ll find some way to extend your life indefinitely if I don’t do this now.”
“Hold on, you’re seriously gonna KILL me?! But you’re not a murderer! You HATE killing!”
“And that’s another difference between you and I. You enjoy it, I hate it. If I don’t end it now, then you would only seek to kill for some form of amusement. I’m sorry, but this is the only way available to me.” Nemesis was now terrified.
“My destiny! This isn’t how it’s supposed to end!”
“On the contrary, Nemesis Prime, I couldn’t have allowed this to end otherwise.” Optimus then let Nemesis go. Nemesis tumbled into the crevice and crashed onto the Korlonium Crystals. Once Optimus confirmed what he saw, he flew off and left Nemesis to his fate. Every single fiber of Nemesis’ being was set on fire, even his organic bit’s cybernetics were bombarded with energy. He got off one last sentence.
“Damn…you…Optimus PRIIIIIIIIMMME!” He then exploded, sending the shrapnel into the air. As the explosion died, Optimus then got a readout that his own Energon reserves were dropping, so he transformed out of super robot mode…in mid-air.
“Okay, in hindsight, Optimus,” he gulped, “you should have…!” He didn’t finish as he bounced along the ground and cried out with each hit. He then skidded to a stop. “…landed…!” he groaned in pain before he blacked out.
Optimus slowly woke up in a room. His vision cleared and his hearing became crisper. “He should be coming around soon,” grunted a voice.
“Oh, thank Primus!” sighed another voice in relief.
“Hey, I think he’s coming to!” called a third. Optimus then saw Ratchet, Windblade, Blackarachnia, Jazz, Sonic, Amy, and Sira.
“…This can’t be the Well of All Sparks,” he muttered. “You guys are still alive.”
“And so are you, despite the crash landing you suffered,” replied Ratchet.
“Yeah, still aching from all that!” grunted Optimus. “…So, what’s happened while I was out?”
“The Decepticons left for their moon base,” explained Sira. “Eggman’s made his intentions plain that he’s still gonna be fighting us and using the Decepticons. Oh, and Sonic’s made his first royal heir address.”
“The people of Mobius,” explained Sonic, “think I’ll serve them better if I still do what I do. In all honesty, I’m glad they said that, because I’m not ready to give up my current lifestyle as of yet. I’ve also decided that Amy and I would work better as an official couple.” Amy snuggled Sonic in happiness as Sonic stroked her head.
“Gaia’s offering to take a more active role in helping us,” recalled Windblade.
“And Yoketron’s chosen me to become his successor!” continued Jazz.
“All that?” asked Optimus. “How long was I out?!”
“Three days,” answered Ratchet.
“THREE DAYS?!” yelped Optimus as he almost sprang off the berth.
“Get your aft back on that berth!” snapped Ratchet as he shoved him back onto it. “I still need to finish repairs!” Optimus settled back down.
“…What about Rodimus Prime and his team?” he asked.
“They’re waiting to see you before they head back to their timeline,” explained Blackarachnia.
“…In that case, there’s an immediate loose end that needs tying.” Optimus then pulled a small box out of his pocket. “I’ve been holding onto this, thinking about asking this question while we were on that journey, but now is a much better time, since there IS a future to fight for.” He opened the box and revealed a ring! “Blackarachnia, daughter of Oil Slick of the House of Klizarg, will you join the House of Pax as my Conjux Endura?” Blackarachnia gasped as she held back happy tears.
“…If this is a joke…!” she warned.
“I’m way too tired to make a joke like that.” Blackarachnia then enveloped him into a hug.
“YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES, YES!” she cried happily as she let the joyful tears fall. She then released Optimus. Optimus then took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. “Man, I must look a mess!” sobbed Blackarachnia. “I thought I’d accept his proposal all cool-like, but here I am, blubbering like a Sparkling!”
“Hey, you’re still cool!” assured Jazz. “Crying all happy-like because you’re gonna be Blackarachnia Pax? There’s no shame in that!” Blackarachnia then dried her optics and looked at her ring-adorned hand.
“…We’ll need to pick a date for the wedding,” she mused.
“How about after I tie up the remaining loose ends?” offered Optimus. “The first being wishing Rodimus, Galvatron, and Silver goodbye and good luck against their Unicron, the second being the long-deserved filling of the position of Magnus.”
“Until then,” called Ratchet, “he needs to recover! Now, kindly clear the Repair Bay!” Ratchet shooed everyone out and then returned to tending to Optimus.
“…Hey, Ratchet, since we’ve actually got some time, I got a question,” mused Optimus.
“And that is?”
“What came first, the chicken or the egg?” Ratchet arched an eyebrow at that question.
“…Obviously, the chicken came first, and…wait, but…the chicken came…from the egg. But…but the egg comes from the…th-the chicken…ch-chicken! Chicken! Egg! Chicken! Chicken sandwich! Chick-egg-scrambled!! SCRAMBLED EGGS!!!” He then stopped his descent to lunacy as he heard an amused snort escape Optimus’ mouth. After a few seconds…Ratchet beaned Optimus on the head with a wrench. “Since you’re well enough to crack THAT stupid joke, you’ll nurse that headache on your own!” Optimus only groaned in pain.