Epilogue

"Come on!" came Miko's whine as another vein throbbed in Jack's head. The girl had given up on trying to use a pout to her advantage and decided it would be better just to annoy him. And, while he was certainly annoyed, Jack refused to budge, instead trying to tune her out. But she insisted on what she had planned, "It'll help with your training!"

"No, it won't," he replied as calmly as he could, anger edging his tone. "I fail to see how something like that would help me with training." He was honestly looking forward to the days of the week when she was training with the Horsemen, at least then he could have some peace. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes Sunny and Raf watching in amusement. If anything, at least they were entertained and not off alone together. But that didn't change the fact what Miko was suggesting was completely idiotic.

"But-"

"For Primus' sake!" came the irritated growl from Ratchet, trying his best to ignore the bickering children. "Do you two always have to fight?"

"We wouldn't be if Jack would just do it," Miko huffed, arms crossed.

"What you are suggesting is just plain stupid!" he growled. Their fighting finally brought forth their guardians, both looking amused. It seemed like despite all that had happened, everything was still the same.

"What exactly is going on?" Arcee raised an amused eyebrow.

"I'm trying to help Jack be a better ninja!" Miko explained animatedly. She gestured to the box sitting next to her, filled with exotic fruit. "And the best way to do that is throw fruit at him!"

"I don't understand," Bulkhead scratched his helm. "How would that make him a better ninja?"

"Because then he could anticipate his enemies' attack… or something," she shrugged. "But I brought all this fruit back from the other dimensions and it's going to waste!"

"Then why don't you eat it?" Jack suggested.

"Like I know what's in this stuff," she scoffed. "For all I know, it could poisonous to humans. So that's why you should use for training."

"Then why don't you use Harvester and train with it yourself?" he sighed.

"Because Death would kill me, duh!" Jack merely sighed and leaned back in the sofa, his head throbbing in terrible pain. For once, he actually wished he was at K.O. Burger instead of having a day off, which he normally had to vie for. He knew letting Miko take souvenirs from another dimension was a bad idea, but at least it wasn't something breathing. As far as they knew.

Ratchet had scanned the fruit and could find nothing wrong with it, but given his lacking knowledge of the dimension, he recommended caution. So Miko decided it would a "fruitful" endeavor for Jack to slash them to pieces as they were thrown at him. He preferred to cut through projectiles when they were trying to cause him harm. Of course, some of that fruit looked like it would cause some actual harm, so it was best avoided. Finally, Miko let out a groan, "Fine! Be that way! Let's go dunebashing Bulk."

The Wrecker laughed lightly and transformed, speeding out of base once his charge was safely inside. Arcee simply smirked at Jack while he scowled at the television, "The more things change…"

"The more they stay the same," a smile quirked at the corner of his lips. "But they say change is good for a reason." He caught Sunny and Raf snickering to themselves and frowned, "What are you two laughing at?"

"Nothing," Sunny giggled. With a quick step, Jack had the girl in his lap, his finger brushing along her ribcage. She laughed happily while Raf and Arcee watched the scene unfiold happily. Optimus was compiling a report from Smokescreen and Ironhide regarding what had happened during their absence. The Decepticons had been causing trouble, but through the use of the relics already acquired they managed to keep them at bay.

Ironhide even commended Smokescreen for some of his actions during their battles, earning him equal praise from the Prime. Of course the others wouldn't hear the end of it now, but they were happy to be back home nonetheless. With the report compiled, the Prime had passed it along to Agent Fowler for delivery to General Bryce and their commanding officers. He prepared to go on his usual patrol when Ratchet stopped.

"Optimus, I believe we should re-open our discussion about the use of sedatives to quell the children when they get out of hand."

Epilogue

Aboard the Nemesis, Megatron glared down at the Earth beneath them, irritated that the planet was not already under his subjugation. He had thought that with only three Autobots at minimum in their dimension (according to Oni-Kage), it would have been much simpler. But he underestimated the incompetence of those aboard his ship, Soundwave and Dreadwing excluded. And so, this backwater world had again remained out of his grasp for the time being. But soon, the Autobots' luck would run out and the Earth would be his.

"Lord Megatron," a Vehicon trooper kneeled. "There is a situation in the medical lab. Knock Out requests your presence." Soon enough, Megatron stood before Knock Out in their medical bay, the scientist (for lack of a better term) looking rather sheepish. The war lord raised an optic ridge in expectation of an explanation.

"Lord Megatron," he began. "I regret to inform you that the Shredder's little worm of a scientist has escaped." Expectation gave way to anger, forcing the medic to run through his explanation. "As I suspected, given his surprising amount of compliance, the human was simply biding his time before attempting to escape. He did so when we were all called away to deal with the Autobots last solar cycle. He's likely long gone by now."

"His work?"

"Still here, my lord, but-"

"Then it is of no consequence," he waved off. "This Baxter Stockman can do us no harm without the resources provided to him by the Shredder. As such, he is of no concern to us. Understood?"

"Of course, Lord Megatron," Knock Out replied. "Speaking of worms, where is Oni-Kage?"

"That boy continues to try my patience," Megatron growled. "He should be honored that I have allowed him to linger on my ship for this long."

"Why do you allow him, master?"

"He possesses something the rest of his species appears to lack," Megatron replied. "He can control Dark Energon as well as I can when the rest of his kind would have fallen to its presence long ago. And he is the perfect counter measure to the Human Factor the Autobots seemed to use so well, especially with that boy. Therefore, he is of use to us, for now."

Megatron left the medical bay and returned to watching the Earth down below with his usual disdain when Soundwave alerted him to Oni-Kage's arrival. The boy entered the bridge and was given a scrutinizing glare from Megatron, "Where have you been?"

"Exploring," he replied. "I wanted to know more about my brother's origins, so I visited his village."

"You know where the Autobots' human pets are?"

"Supposedly. I have no interest in their location, however, given that I learned enough. And Uramasa had its fill of blood today." A smirk spread across his lips at the memory of what had occurred with that cowardly "principal" and his security force after they had taken him off campus. "But I believe I have some information that benefits you. Regarding your missing Dark Energon, it has been recovered, along with a few surprises. And this comes at a good time considering what the Autobots have recently discovered."

"I do believe you should explain everything to me," Megatron turned to face the ninja.

Epilogue

Within the realm the Primes took refuge, Zangetsu once again found himself in its farthest regions, his task the same as it had always been since his bonding to Jack. This particular task had been the reason for his constant absences when Jack had tried to call upon him. He knew the boy needed his help, but this task was of the utmost importance if he was going to save Jack. He swore to himself that he would explain to him once he was finished with the matter at hand. He felt another wave of calming energy fill him as dark karma was filtered from his spirit and, thus, Jack's own.

For all his talent, Zangetsu wasn't sure Jack would be able to learn how to filter the dark karma from his body. It was a delicate process that took a great amount of time considering how much accumulated from Jack's battles. He knew the boy meant well and detested the constant taking of life, but it seemed like the karma built up faster than could be purged. Luckily, Jack was strong enough to keep the dark urges at bay long enough for him to do his work. Still, the process seemed to being growing more and more futile.

The more lives Jack took, the more of their dark karma Mugetsu absorbed and filtered into his body. If he wasn't careful, the murderous intent his fallen enemies carried would overtake him, blurring the lines of friend or foe in his eyes. And the numerous amount of demons struck down during the recent battle hadn't helped. Demonic karma had always been an enigma not quite fully understood by the Thirteen. And yet the Liege Maximo had taken an interest in it.

That only exacerbated Zangetsu's worries considering all the Liege would do if he learned about the process. He enjoyed tormenting Jack to no end and this would do the boy no favors. As he began to filter out the demonic karma when he felt something piece his form, a sharp pain following. He glanced over his at the grinning face of the Liege Maximo, "So this is where you have been skulking off to, brother."

He pulled the blade back, allowing Zangetsu to fall to a knee, glaring furiously at the Ultimate Evil. The Liege circled him, "I have seen this process before, a way of filtering out karma, be it good or evil. This explains why the boy is so easy to manipulate. This will serve as fine entertainment in the future."

"Liege," Zangetsu growled through the pain. "What are you planning?" Maximo's response was trapping his brother stasis for the time being.

"I plain on giving the boy a new life," he began to laugh. "But first he will need to be reborn, beneath the blood stained sand!"

A/N: Thanks for enjoying yet another ride with me :) Next story in the series: ShadowStrike: Blood Stained Sand.