Optimus and Arsha were the first to beam down. The instant she saw them, Megumi dashed towards them with a big, fat grin on her face. Optimus transformed and activated his holo-mode in time for her to tackled him and Arsha into a hug. \u201cI\u2019ve missed you guys so much!\u201d she cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe missed you too!\u201d replied Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been way too long,\u201d remarked Optimus. They stayed in their embrace for a bit. After a while, they broke it off<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow did you guys figure out we were in trouble?\u201d asked Megumi as the trio got up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEntirely by accident, actually,\u201d replied Arsha. \u201cOptimus and his friends and family visited\u2026or rather, crashed into my castle in Largandra.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was feeling nostalgic,\u201d explained Optimus, \u201cand Shockwave and Tails had the tech needed to make our own gateway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Shockwave AND Tails?\u201d asked Megumi. \u201cWhy did you need Shockwave in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, she had the data and Tails had the equipment, so we combined the two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy was she considered at all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Oh yeah, I didn\u2019t tell you yet, just Arsha. Well, the war\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI see.\u201d There was a small silence as Megumi processed what Optimus said. When she did, her eyes widened in shock. \u201cHold on? The war?! Your war with Megatron?! As in\u2026properly over?! But that\u2019s-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cW-When?! How?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was 50 years ago in our universe. We just fought against our god and destroyer and freed their gods. By then, all thoughts of civil war were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cB-But the Autobots and Decepticons have always been at war! That\u2019s like saying there\u2019s no more blue or the weather\u2019s stopped! \u2026Who won?\u201d Optimus took in a breath before he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOfficially, both factions got sick of fighting one another over a long-forgotten reason. Unofficially, the Autobots won after I beat Megatron in single combat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2026I see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better if you get the full story,\u201d said Arsha. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we have everyone brought down and we can explain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Megumi reconnected with Optimus and Arsha, Sonavok and Ziddet were aboard the Imperium<\/em>, outside Khan\u2019s throne room. They were panicking beyond belief. The Beyond City Mission wasn\u2019t supposed to end in failure. One of the throne room guards looked like he was about to squee in fanboyish glee. \u201cHey, I know this is a little awkward,\u201d he said, \u201cbut\u2026can I have your autograph?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot! The time!\u201d hissed Ziddet. The two terrified Lords then drew in a breath and projected confidence. They entered the throne room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreetings, Friend Au\u2026oh,\u201d Sonavok\u2019s confidence died when he saw the lighting was red instead of Borg green. \u201c\u2026Going for a new aesthetic, huh?\u201d he gulped. Ziddet was starting to perspire in fear. In the flashes of light, she could see Khan sitting on the throne with the open Tome on one of the armrests, just under his forearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2026er\u2026\u201d she then cleared her throat. \u201cMy Author, despite this-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, Sonavok, Ziddet,\u201d interrupted Khan, \u201cyou know Drake, yes?\u201d He indicated the guard that let them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Y-Yes, the whole Collective knows him,\u201d gulped Sonavok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s a real big fan of yours, he never misses your mission reports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI-Is that a f-fact?\u201d stammered Ziddet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was just telling me about what happened this afternoon. The reason we lost Beyond City so quickly. You two didn\u2019t notice a Zephyr woman, a Chizaran Princess, and a version of Knuckles the Echidna strike at the ground vinculum outside the school, thus letting them upload a virus to the Collective that tricked our forces into thinking it was time to regenerate, then the power net of each ship built up in a feedback loop, thus\u2026well\u2026boom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy Author, we can explain!\u201d urged Sonavok. Khan then looked at the passage he wrote in the Tome and read it aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018The instant Khan shouted \u2018enough\u2019, Sonavok and Ziddet\u2019s Agonizers switched on and introduced them to mirror-universe pain for a good minute.\u2019\u201d He then shut the Tome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy Author, WAIT!\u201d cried Ziddet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cENOUGH!\u201d shouted Khan as he stood up. The instant Khan shouted \u201cenough\u201d, Sonavok and Ziddet\u2019s Agonizers switched on and introduced them to mirror-universe pain for a good minute. Once the treatment ended, Khan grabbed them by their throats and hoisted them up above his head. \u201cYou idiots had that universe in the palm of your hand and you let Megumi\u2019s friends RESCUE THEM!\u201d He tightened his grip. \u201cI cannot BEGIN to express my disappointment in you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM-Mercy!\u201d choked Sonavok. \u201cN-Nother\u2026chance!\u201d Khan tossed the two Lords into a web he had created earlier. Mechanical spiders held them down as they caught their breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou two will be reassigned as transport drones and you will NOT be consulted for finding the Sources of Flourishment!\u201d declared Khan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if we\u2019re not helping,\u201d protested Ziddet, \u201cthen who?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTake a wild guess,\u201d said a new voice. Five figures could be seen in the light flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optimus and Megumi finished the story of what happened in their respective universes and Arsha was talking about the Final War to everyone. Richard locked eyes with Megatron and nodded his head in one direction. Megatron followed him. They found a private spot and sat to talk. \u201cSo,\u201d began Richard, \u201cyou changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d like to think so,\u201d rumbled Megatron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBoth you and Arsha committed Deicide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLooks that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Megatron, you gotta understand-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere we go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat Optimus said you did, the fact that you got the Decepticons to put aside their differences in the long run, the way you used Starscream\u2019s ambitions to Cybertron\u2019s ends instead of his, the fact that you willingly fused with Optimus to become Optronix Prime to save your universe, and the mission you took to save Gaia\u2019s moms and your universe\u2019s creators, that can\u2019t be overlooked. Your actions saved your people, your universe. But, before that, you used my wife as a bargaining chip, you sided with our greatest enemy, and you encouraged discord among your allies. That\u2019s not something that can be overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou want me to apologize for my actions. We both know it\u2019s a little late for that. I was conducting a war and Hiro offered Dr. Borg and I a chance to wipe out our enemies. I believed it to be in the Decepticons\u2019 interests if we allied with him and eventually took over. Look, my son is leading the Decepticons, and I\u2019ve retired from that life. I\u2019ve served my sentence for my war crimes and I don\u2019t seek further animosity between us. What I want is to see the multiverse on my terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Okay what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll work together to weather this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why didn\u2019t you just say that?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause, originally, I pulled you here to tell you to slag off back to your universe!\u201d Megatron arched an eyebrow at that. \u201cJust know this, I\u2019m giving you a chance because it looks like no one else outside your universe will. So, if you let us down, if you fall back on the ways that symbol on your chest stood for, you could save the multiverse a hundred times over and it won\u2019t make a difference to me. Basically, screw up and I demolish you.\u201d Megatron stared at Richard for a bit, then guffawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStill the same Richard Saunders, even after he lost his job! I admire that! \u2026Very well, it looks like we have our terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll right, let\u2019s get back to the others.\u201d The two then returned as Arsha was finishing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026so, after all that, my spouses and I raised 18 beautiful children, three of them choosing to come along.\u201d Her attention was then grabbed by Richard and Megatron returning. \u201cIs everything all right?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFine,\u201d said Richard. \u201cWhat\u2019s the next move here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were hoping Anansi would tell us,\u201d replied Megumi, \u201cbut he\u2019s not here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTry again,\u201d called a voice. Everyone looked up to see Anansi on the ceiling. As they gasped, he dropped to the floor. \u201cSo, want to know what Khan is? What he wants? Well, I will tell you. Years ago, I worked with a version of Khan, an evil duplicate who conquered his version of Earth. He then crossed the rift and found Khan when he was just a fanboy writing fanfic. After I gave him the Weaver Driver, I trained him as my student, but then I told him about the Tome. He took control of the Borg guarding it and made them into his servants, the Lords. He went against his own parents and discovered he could remove evil and become the god of a new multiverse. To do that, though, he needs the Time Amethyst, the Mirror of Reality, and the Master Wand to make a clock symbol to place on the Tome to help him rewrite history. After that, he needs the Sources of Flourishment and the Apocalypse to help him determine how each element will work for his new universes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only Sources I know are the Sources of the Apocalypse, those crystal spheres the Horsemen of the Apocalypse hid in different universes,\u201d remarked Megumi. \u201cWhat are the Sources of Flourishment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat, I can answer,\u201d whispered Death. \u201cThe Sources of Flourishment belong to our opposite Horsemen; they are Life, Health, Bounty, Peace, and Order. They are our sisters and exist as balances for us. They used to live with us, but Lacey\u2019s predecessor, the original Chaos, was thrown into the Void by Lord Vortech. Because of that, we needed a new Horseman of Chaos. After the original Chaos died, the Horsemen of Flourishment left in grief, with Order taking it the hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey could be anywhere,\u201d muttered Megatron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, actually, we have their dimensional coordinates,\u201d replied Death. \u201cLife is in 8-3-N-1-0, Bounty is in T-H-0-M-4-5-4-N-D-F-R-1-3-N-D-5, Health is in J-4-K-4-N-D-D-4-X-T-3-R, Peace is in 4-D-R-3-X-1-4, and Order is in T-M-N-T.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll right, then there\u2019s one thing we need to do!\u201d declared Megumi. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to send everyone to the same universe, so we\u2019ll divide into teams! Everyone, meet on Vorton for Team Assignments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd we better train for Transcendant use,\u201d Optimus suggested to Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d agreed Arsha. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna need Kamen Rider Vortex: Trinity Soul for this one.\u201d Megumi winced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout that\u2026\u201d she said. She then pulled out an oblong device with the Vortex Driver\u2019s Ride Wheel on each side. Ordinarily, it would open to fit with the main Ride Wheel, but there was a problem. It was cracked, charred, and bent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat happened?!\u201d yelped Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was during a mission in Gotham,\u201d explained Megumi. \u201cThe Justice League had discovered that someone from the Joker\u2019s old gang gained access to Ra’s al Ghul\u2019s Lazarus Pit and dumped the Joker\u2019s body in there. Somehow, it hadn\u2019t decayed all that much and the Joker came back to life, stronger and crazier than ever.\u201d Arsha shuddered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember that demon clown!\u201d she gulped. \u201cHim and that Smylex of his!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince the Joker died before the Transcendant was built, I figured I\u2019d catch him off guard. The thing is it only worked because of your three. When I tried to use it by myself, it sparked wildly and flew off my Vortex Driver in the state you see it now. We still beat him back with the Justice League\u2019s help. My team has been trying to fix it, but they\u2019re hitting a wall here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got our own scientists,\u201d offered Optimus. \u201cThey can help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd maybe some magic can help things along,\u201d suggested Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThanks, you two. Right now, we\u2019d be sunk without you.\u201d Megumi hugged them again, then turned to address everyone. \u201cAll right, everyone, report to Vorton tomorrow for team assignments. There\u2019s an old method we need to use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Old method?\u201d asked Megatron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Optimus and Arsha were the first to beam down. The instant she saw them, Megumi dashed towards them with a big, fat grin on her face. Optimus transformed and activated his holo-mode in time for her to tackled him and Arsha into a hug. \u201cI\u2019ve missed you guys so much!\u201d she cheered. \u201cWe missed you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[754,880],"tags":[482,9,146,337],"class_list":["post-6257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-through-wonder","category-story-journey-through-wonder","tag-fantasy","tag-kamen-rider","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6259,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257\/revisions\/6259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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