-26-

Battlefield Earth

-part 2-

Megatron watched the Vehicons at work. His drones have slightly changed how Stonehenge looked, but it was very noticeable. Aside from the cables attached to the stones, there was a large number of panels and power cells attached. The most significant though was a short ring around the structure. And a long cable attached to it, leading to the control panel, by which Airachnid and Skywarp were working. Optimus figured they were calibrating the systems.

Then the Prime looked at the machine Soundwave and Knockout were working by. Within the machine the chest containing the Hate Plague was about to be unsealed. Optimus tried to break free again, only to fail again. He stopped and took another rest.

Megatron, despite not looking at the Prime, knew perfectly of the Prime's attempts. "Don't give up just yet, Optimus." Megatron said mockingly. "You still have time to break free and stop me. Then again, you have already lost. The Element will be extracted from the Hate Plague. The space-bridge will come online again." Behind Megatron, the chest was finally unsealed, and a reddish fog spread inside the machine. Knockout and Soundwave started to gather the Element, as Megatron continued. "And the Decepticons will conquer this planet." Megatron unfolded his servos and walked towards Optimus. Once he got near him, a slight electrical discharge engulfed his fingers. "Unless you are willing to do what is necessary. Willing to... offline me."

Optimus glared at Megatron. Then tried to assault him, letting out a battle cry, only to be stopped by the cuffs holding him tied to the stone. But then his mind seemed to clear. And all of the sudden he felt tired, losing his strength.

"You know I will not do that, Megatron." Optimus murmured, causing the Decepticon Lord to laugh.

"Of course you will not!" Megatron commented. "You hold onto your principles. Your morality." He leaned down to Optimus's level and looked him in the optics. "This is your weakness." Was all the Absolute said, before turning away from the Prime and making his way to the space-bridge.

Optimus looked down, tired. He seemed defeated, though he was still holding up to hope. Though that was vanishing fast.

The Ark

"Okay... so what is a space-bridge exactly?" Miko asked.

Ratchet began to explain. "It is a bigger version of a ground-bridge. Or to be more precise, an ancient technology upon which the ground-bridge was based. Isn't it obvious?"

The humans groaned at the medic's explanation. "Ratchet. Would you please just stop and start from the beginning so we can actually pass on the stupid questions?" Surprisingly, Miko was the one to suggest that, finding support in Agent Fowler and Simmons, who just arrived.

"I agree with the girl, Ratchet." Fowler said. "How about a little more precise lesson on the matter?"

"Well, the space-bridge was invented by the Council themselves, as to allow our empire to grow. And later, not only did it almost disappeared, it has been turned into a weapon." He cursed, slamming his servo next to the humans. "Do you know what kind of sacrilege it is to have such marvel for the benefit of our race turned into our doom?!"

"Let's not get episodic. Alright, old timer?" Simmons requested. "Beginning. Middle. End. Facts. Details. Plot. Tell us."

"Long ago, after our race has emerged from The Void- came to existence- the Prime Council, the original eight Primes, and original Cybertronians, ordered the construction of the means of transportation to other worlds. The reasons were unclear. They managed to find energy-rich planets. New civilizations, all full of organics, though. Yet it seemed as if it was not what they were looking for. Eventually, the space-bridges were shut down by the order of the first to come after the Prime Council, Liege Maximo, who feared contact with other worlds would bring a bad thing. The space-bridge technology would be later used by the next Primes for colonizing worlds until Zeta Prime, who ordered the colonies evacuated due to the Vok Wars."

"So you ditched the galactic-wide expansion because of the war?" Miko asked.

The Vok were surprisingly well armed for us. They hit us starting from the colonies, pushing us back to Cybertron. We were no strangers to war, but we still failed to push the aggressor back. That is until Megatron entered the battlefield. He proved to be an excellent strategist, whom even the Vok had no choice but be weary of."

"Yet we lost the majority of our colonies." Ironhide continued. "We still had some outposts out there, but decided not to rebuild them at least until the Vok Wars were over."

Then Bumblebee spoke, telling about the Seekers, who by then turned from explorers into treasure hunters, tasked to explore the lost colonies bring back anything of use. But if what he said was true, then if Jetfire crash-landed here...

"You mean... your anscestors have visited our planet before?" Raf asked.

"Only logical explanation." Terry concluded.

"Then how come we never found evidence you were here?" Fowler asked.

"Maybe we did." Raf thought out loud.

"The structures made in a mysterious way..." Agent Simmons realized. Then clapped happily. "Yes! I knew it! The Pyramids, Stonehenge, the statues on the Easter Island... I told you they were alien!" he looked at Fowler with a smug smirk. "You remember the bet? Pay up!"

Fowler growled, reaching for his wallet and pulling out 100 dollars. "I feel as if one of the fifty stars on the flag was removed..." he mumbled in annoyance.

"Well, at least now we know that there might be a space-bridge on the planet already." Jetfire said. "But, uh... we still need to find it. And it'll be like looking for a lug nut in a scrapheap."

"Not necessarily." Bulkhead, surprisingly, spoke. "When the red energon is used for space-bridge, it always emits some kind of quantum pulse, at least for about fifteen minutes. Maybe we can find it by tracking that pulse."

Everyone wide eyed the former Wrecker, as Ratchet's jaw hanged open, ready to fall off. Then the CMO collected himself enough to speak. "Bulkhead? How... do you know that?"

"I was a labor before the Great War, remember? Space-bridge engineering was what I was best at, until the High Council and Zeta Prime decided to drop the space-bridges until the Vok Wars were truly over."

"You mean to tell me you could've helped Ratchet with the ground-bridge right from the start?" Miko asked in disbelieve.

"I wanted to, but doc stated that I'm to stay back."

"And you only tell us about this because..." Ironhide growled, balling his fists in rage.

"You never asked." Bulkhead chuckled nervously.

"Enough!" Jazz commanded. "We are not having a fight between ourselves. Our priority is to free Optimus." He turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet. Is what Bulkhead said about the bridge accurate?"

"Well, yeah." The medic answered. "It's not common knowledge, but he is correct." He turned to the consol and started working. "And considering all energy signatures on this planet, finding a quantum pulse will be easier than locking onto super energon."

"I'll have my men ready, just in case some 'Cons do land on the planet." Fowler said. Then Simmons spoke.

"And I'll try to get the visual"

Stonehenge

The number of Vehicons working by the space-bridge was clearly fewer. The structure itself seemed nearly left and the drones were now working by the panels, ensuring the programming was operating just fine. Megatron decided to walk amongst the troops, already feeling victorious. He would not have anything ruin this moment.

"Everything appears to be working perfectly, my liege." Starscream spoke sarcastically.

"Of course it does, Starscream." Megatron snarled, not approving his SIC's tone. "And once the space-bridge is operational, we can bring in the troops to destroy the Autobots and conquer this planet. Then, with humanity as our slaves, we can refine energon, securing the future of Cybertron."

"Still, the Autobots can ruin the whole plan, as they always do."

"You wouldn't have come up with this kind of plan even if it hit you in the core processor." Megatron mocked. That was enough to make Starscream growl. He would not take that kind of insult. He aimed at Megatron at opened fire.

But even with Soundwave's warning, Megatron was fast enough to raise his shield and defend from the projectiles.

"You had your shot, Starscream." Lord of the Decepticons commented, making Starscream back a bit. "Now is my turn." He aimed.

"M-Megatron..." Starscream was ready to beg for mercy, but Megatron fired. He shot at Starscream with enough power to send him flying and stop just before Optimus. While the flyer tried to get up on his feet, Megatron was already next to him, taking another aim. Starscream must've sensed it, as he froze in fear. He looked around, seeking support. But while the Vehicons had no faces, only his fellow Seekers did not appear to be enjoying the moment.

"Reporting: Megatron. The Element collected." Soundwave's voice caught Megatron's attention, making him forget about the red Seeker, who was grateful.

But not for long. Megatron kicked him real hard.

"Excellent, Soundwave." The Absolute praised. "Knockout. Place the Element in the trans-warp drive and activate the space-bridge." He ordered.

"As you command, Lord Megatron." The Decepticon medic bowed, carefully taking the container with the Element and walking over to a big, barrel-like machinery. As Knockout was installing it, Megatron faced Optimus again.

"I hope you're having a good view, Prime." He said. "In but a few minutes, the space-bridge shall open and the Decepticons will automatically win the war. You have lost."

As Megatron spoke triumphantly, Optimus just delivered another glare. "I have no delusion about this planet facing your army, Megatron. But as long as Autobots and humans resist you, you will never win."

"Then. They. Shall... DIE." Megatron said dramatically, as the trans-warp drive activated, getting the whole space-bridge online.

"Megatron! This war is between us! Leave Earth out of this!" Optimus pleaded, only for the warmonger to laugh maniacally.

"And leave this energy-rich planet? NEVER!" he shouted with anger in his voice, kicking Optimus in the face. Megatron stood over him for a few more seconds, before turning his attention back to the space-bridge and making his way to the panels. Optimus raised his gaze angrily. It was bad enough they brought their war to this planet. But not Megatron intended on involving them.

The Decepticons had to be stopped.

The Ark

"We've got something." Ratchet alerted everyone. "The signal is weak, but it's growing stronger..." the CMO reported, triangulating the signal. Raf joined in, using his laptop. It took some time, but finally...

"Got them." Raf cheered. "It's 51°10'43.84N, 1°49'34.28E. Which would... be..." the preteen's expression changed just as much as his voice- horror. He could not bring himself to say it.

"T-that's... Stonehenge." Kelly said, just as much in horror as the other humans.

Fowler sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "General Bryce will not like this..." He said.

"Why? You make it sound you're banned from stepping on their soil." Miko commented.

"They are." Terry said, getting the look from the others. "Didn't you watch the news? The Meltdown incident, ten months ago. Cyrus Rhodes, ex-military and arms dealer, was reported sighted in London."

"Captain Bradley White was already punished for destroying half the London." Simmons cut in. "But still, the British Government banned us from their soil until their investigation is over."

"So... the military won't be able to help us?" Ironhide asked.

"Suh-weet!" Miko cheered. "That means you get to rearrange more 'Con grills!"

"No, Miko. That's not sweet." Raf pointed out. "If the space-bridge activates before the Autobots can reach it, a legion of Decepticons will come to Earth."

"Which means tens of thousands Decepticons, most of them likely rivaling Megatron in power." Simmons thought out loud.

"In short, it'll be a game over." Jack started. "And Megatron will likely go through great lengths to ensure the space-bridge brings his army."

"Well, we're on our own, I guess." Jazz concluded. Then he turned to Ratchet. "Open the ground-bridge."

"Maybe General Wilson of the British Army can provide back up?" Simmons suggested.

"You know we can't inform him of the Autobots." Fowler scolded. Than something came up his mind. "But... Maybe General Lennox can get us permission due to an emergency situation."

"I'll make the call." Simmons pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number, while the Autobots rallied before the ground-bridge. They set in line, while Jazz stood before them.

"Autobots!" he started, "We now stand before what we could definitely call unicron- the darkest hour in local language. Megatron has his servos on the space-bridge. Optimus, our Prime, is his prisoner." He looked at the team, seeing that Arcee, Bumblebee and Jetfire appeared defeated. "But, we cannot allow this, the fear of our present situation, cloud our judgment. We are now fighting not only for ourselves. No. We are fighting also to protect the natives of this planet- the humans. Some, in particular, have become a part of our team. Something even greater even. Family. As such, we will not falter. We will not hesitate. If we do, this planet is doom. If Megatron wants to bring the battle to this planet, then we take the battle to him. For Optimus!" he cried.

"For Optimus!" The team cried as well. Surprisingly, even the humans did.

"Ratchet! Open the ground-bridge. And be ready to provide medical support." The cyber-ninja commanded.

Ratchet nodded. Before you all go..." he paused, looking away, trying to find the right words. Then he looked back at the team. " Kreesh'mha dormma unicron thi'dhalledha."

He received a quick response, from all: "Rodimus a'ah rahakhala lha."

Of course, Jetfire sighted heavily. "Oh joy. This is when we're all gonna die..."

Ratchet pumped his fist against his chest, likely their equivalent of a salute. When Jazz and the others returned it, the Autobot medic activated the ground-bridge. Once the vortex came to life, Jazz looked at the Guardians. The three didn't need him to say it. Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee turned to their charges, hesitantly, and had a sad look on their faces. The kids quickly caught up on the looks.

This was their goodbye.

Raf, Miko, Jack and Kelly ran over to their guardians. They wanted to say something. They did not wanted them to go. To leave. But they held these thoughts to themselves. They understood why they had to go. But it still hurt. And the three Bots felt the same. They finally regained their composure and turned to the ground-bridge, while the kids made their way to the human area.

As the Autobots disappeared in the vortex, Jack, who was following the rest of the humans, noticed something in the corner of his eye. Something shiny. His curiosity took the better of him, and the raven head walked over to the object, discovering it was a small, triangle-shaped piece of metal. It was silvery white, covered in dark blue runes, which made its surface look like a circuit board. Jack took it into his hand, to examine it further. After a second or two, he shrugged and put it into his pocket before deciding to join the others.

Stonehenge

The light. Lightening. Thunder. All that was happening now before the red optics of the Decepticons, who awaited in anticipation for the bridge to finally open the rip in the barrier of time and space. Megatron smiled wickedly as violet lightening shot towards the sky, and a dark cloud seemed to form, spiraling around the stone ring. It was clear to him that the bridge was building up energy. And once it does, he will conquer this primitive planet.

"Reporting: Megatron. Space-bridge power at 87.03% and rising. Expected time to open the space-bridge- 393 nano-cycles." Soundwave reported. That means that in 6 minutes and 33 seconds the space-bridge will open. And Megatron will conquer this planet.

Nothing could stop him now. "Excellent." The Lord of the Decepticons praised. "This day will be remembered for all eternity. By conquering this planet, we shall have great supplies of energon refined. And the Autobots on Cybertron will fall before they'll know it. This is when Decepticons have won The Great War."

As Megatron and the Decepticons were looking at the space-bridge powering up, The Vehicons guarding the perimeter got taken down. When Jazz, Arcee and Bumblebee were done, the others followed, hiding behind the hills. Then they looked at the sight before them. Ironhide caught everyone's attention.

"I see Optimus." He called. "But we won't reach him without alerting the 'Cons."

"Jetfire. You go in and free Prime." Jazz instructed. The flyer looked at him in disbelieve.

"You want me to...? Nah ah. No way am I risking my backside." Jetfire said.

"Jetfire. Prime. NOW!" Ironhide growled in annoyance. This was no time for the ex-Seekers skeptics.

"Yeah, right. Why don't ya put yer spark on the line instead?"

"That's it!" Arcee snapped. "If the legendary flyer is to skuxxoid, than a femme's gotta do the mech's job!" she commented, transforming into her vehicle mode. "Get me some distraction, boys." She said before riding off.

"You heard the gal." Jazz said. "Distract them."

"Leave that to me." Ironhide said, getting up and arming everything he had. Even his torso opened, revealing his energon warhead.

"Ironhide!" Jazz scolded. "No energon warhead!"

"Aww." The sergeant whined. "I never get to use that." He hid it. He took aim at the group of Vehicons and pulled the triggers.

A big explosion caught the Decepticons' attention, having them all turn to find Ironhide running at them, shooting and laughing maniacally. Oh, how he missed that.

"Decepticons! Destroy the Autobots!" he ordered, knowing full well the other Bots were bound to be nearby. And how right he was. The others followed the sergeant, opening fire, easily taking down the drones. Megatron got so irritated at the drones' stupidity, he aimed and fired at his former SIC, barely missing him. He Bots took cover.

"What are you waiting for?" Megatron growled dangerously. "GET THEM!" he demanded. And the Seekers, Genocide, Airachnid, Barricade and the other drones charged along with the drones, while Soundwave and Knockout kept monitoring the space-bridge. None saw the six Vehicons guarding Optimus being taken down by the female Autobot. The last standing guard managed to jump away, avoiding Arcee's blade, and turn to Megatron.

"Lord Megatron! Au..." he never caught to finish. Arcee pulled out her blaster and shot the drone's head off. Unfortunately, the Vehicon managed to get Megatron's attention. Without losing a second, Arcee leaped to Optimus's spot and cut the binds, freeing the Prime just before Megatron managed to shoot her in the back, sending her crashing against the bolder. Megatron chuckled darkly, satisfied with his handiwork. Then fired again, intending to end the femme's life.

As he fired, the energy bolt flew across the field, heading straight towards the unconscious form of Arcee. The white femme would not wake up before the shot reached her. But fate smiled upon her. Optimus jumped in. And before the shot hit him, he fired from his ion rifle at Megatron. The First of the Absolutes, surprised by The Last of the Primes' action, did not manage to dodge it. To explosions were heard across the plain. The fighting seized and everyone looked at where their leaders stood. Two figures moved out of the smoke, walking towards themselves.

"Megatron." Optimus said, with a threatening tone, unlike anything anyone ever heard. "You have gone too far." He said, reaching for his face. There was a sound of shredding metal and Optimus threw aside the plates, which formed his face-guard.

"No, Optimus." Megatron denied, ripping off what was left of his helmet. "Not far enough yet." The two forms then dashed at each other with incredible speed, before their fists collided. The two raised their faces, glaring at each other. Optimus Prime's face was now fully seen, and Megatron Absolute's, who no longer had his helmet hiding his face, was finally revealed to day light. What shocked everyone was what they saw about their faces. Putting aside Megatron's scars and energon drops on Optimus's...

"Let us finish this..." they both said. Yes, they looked like... "...brother."

The two backed away and engaged in the fight once more. Their troops soon followed. All hell broke loose, with the Autobots desperately trying to reach the space-bridge control panel. Optimus was able to kick Megatron aside and transformed, riding towards the controls. Soundwave ejected Rumble, who was to slow the Prime down. But Megatron caught him, lifted and threw Optimus aside. The two wrestled again.

Arcee finally came to, shaking her head. She was in pain, but managed to recall what happened. Soon, her instincts told her to move. She did it in the nick of time, barely dodging Airachnid's blades.

"You still have good reflexes, Arcee." The 'Con femme mock complimented her.

"No. You're just getting sloppy." Arcee taunted. But Airachnid did not respond to that. The two just circled around each other.

"You know, Arcee, I've been thinking what I'll do after I extinguish your spark. And then the idea hit me. After I'm done with you, I'll go for Jack. I still owe him for breaking my toy." Airachinid said, making Arcee mad.

"You're not getting anywhere near him, you glitch!" Arcee growled, unsheathing her blades and engaging Airachinid.

"Humans don't deserve to live." Megatron growled.

"They deserve to choose for themselves." Optimus retaliated, head butting the Absolute, forcing him to back away. Then the Prime delivered a right hook- left hook- falcon punch combo. But Megatron blocked the last punch, catching his opponent's fist.

"Then you will die with them!"Megatron decided. Soon he electrocuted the Prime.

"Join them in extinction!" the Decepticon Lord roared, pointing his fusion cannon at Optimus's face. As it was charging up, Optimus gathered all the strength he could muster and delivered a devastating blow to his opponent's midsection, causing Megatron to release the Prime.

"It is not our place to decide that." Optimus wasted no time and delivered a powerful uppercut, causing Megatron to lose his balance. As he fell, Optimus turned to the control panel and unsheathed his axe. He needed to end this now. But Megatron would not have it. He fired his jetpack and launched at Optimus, tackling him.

Bulkhead and Ironhide were engaged with Genocide. The giant proved again to be far from a mindless beast. Ironhide tried to take him out on his own, but when the hulking Decepticon noticed Bulkhead running towards the consol, he tossed the ex-Con at the former Wrecker. Now the two Autobots were wrestling with him, only to be unable to push him back. In fact, he was pushing these two back. And neither of the two Autobots had delusions that Genocide could still had power to spare. Bulk took the chance and pulled out his mace, hitting Genocide in the side of his face. That just made him grunt before he face the green Autobot, growling. Then Genocide threw Bulkhead into the nearest group of Vehicons and pulled Ironhide in a way, the ex-Decepticon fell to the ground. Before he could get up, the Decepticon stomped on his head. Genocide aimed all his weapons at Bulkhead. He was going to pulverize him. Ironhide used his plasma-thrower on the giant's leg, causing him to roar in pain and back off. Taking opportunity, Ironhide fired everything he got on the Decepticon, whilst Bulkhead, who thankfully was in a clear from the 'Cons, turned to see the bridge ready to activate.

So, thinking fast, he transformed and drove towards the controls. He hit the overdrive, leaving cloud of dust behind. Rumble saw him coming, however, and started to pound the ground, causing an earthquake. Bulkhead tried his best to stay on his path, but found he couldn't. And before he knew it, he started ran onto the stone, which acted like a ramp. And bulk flew into the air. That's where he got his chance.

Bulkhead transformed into his robot form, took aim and fired the consol. First three shots missed big time, only alerting Knockout and Soundwave. But the fourth shot did it. He hit the panel. And the short circuit caused the consol to explode. Finally, Bulkhead hit something. To his surprise, it was the trans-warp drive, which started sparking, completely shutting down, deactivating the space-bridge.

"Oh yeah... for once I'm happy to smash something needed." He chuckled.

Megatron had Optimus pinned to the ground, slowly but surely increasing pressure to offline the Prime. That's when he heard something. He turned around, believing the space-bridge has finally opened the vortex, only to find it was deactivated.

"No. The space-bridge..." he refused to believe it.

"You have failed, Megatron." Optimus said, as he freed himself from Megatron's grip and pushed him away. "You've lost."

"Hardly, Optimus." Megatron snarled, as his fusion cannon turned towards the ancient stone construction. Or more precisely, the machine with the Hate Plague chest, which was still unsealed. "I can still destroy your Autobots." He said and fired.

"NO!" Optimus cried, pushing Megatron aside and transforming into his vehicle mode, racing towards the container.

The projectile hit.

As a small explosion took place, the container broke, releasing the red smoke. The Decepticons fall back, as Bulkhead was engulfed by the smoke, struggling to stay sane. Arcee, who finally managed to land a well aimed kick on Airachnid, also got caught by the substance. A few Vehicons also got infected, before roaring like mad and tearing each other apart in blind rage. Optimus stopped and transformed, watching in horror as his fellow Autobots were also losing their sanity.

"You have lost, Prime." Megatron said, watching as his Decepticons ran into the vortex of the ground-bridge.

"Not yet, Megatron." Optimus said, with a strong look in his optics. And walked towards the cloud. Megatron's optics focused on Optimus's action. He quickly caught up on what the Prime intended to do.

Optimus opened his chest, revealing a golden orb radiating a brilliant white light, blinding like the sun. The Hate Plague seemed to avoid him, as he entered the center of the mess, and all the infected turned to attack the Prime.

"Matrix of Leadership. I, Optimus Prime, call upon you." The Last of the Primes called, removing the orb from himself and opening it. A dome of light appeared, growing bigger and bigger. The Hate Plague seized to spread, as it just faded away. And all those infected shrieked in pain, collapsing to the ground, holding their heads. After a few more seconds, Optimus closed the orb and placed it back into his chest. He watched the Autobots and Decepticons slowly coming back to their senses, as Jetfire and Bumblebee stood by his side.

"What in the name of uncle Skyfire just happened?" Jetfire asked.

These were the affects of the Hate Plague, Jetfire." Optimus explained. "The only known cure to it was the wisdom I had to release from the Matrix of Leadership."

"Is that so, huh?" the flyer asked. He looked at the Autobots, who finally got up, though suffered a serious case of processor ache.

As the human choppers, which Fowler just reported were incoming, showed up, Optimus turned to the container and walked over to it, planning on taking the chest. It was clear it was too dangerous to leave. He would have it locked up in the vault of the Ark. Megatron snarled at the sight. So close.

But when Optimus picked up the chest, some of the Hate Plague actually endured. And it soaked into Optimus's superstructure like water into sponge. Optimus cried, dropping the now truly empty chest and struggled to stay sane. In his struggle, he smashed the machine, releasing some of the Element, which was not removed from it. In the process, Prime's colors reversed. Instead of red, his torso was so dark blue, it was nearly black. His legs also turned from blue to dark crimson red. After throwing around for a total of one minute, Optimus stopped. Megatron and the Decepticons, who were still around, watched with confusion. Though in Absolute's case intrigue.

As Optimus straightened up, Autobots looked at the Prime with confusion. Jazz approached his old friend.

"Optimus?" he started. "You okay?"

The Prime turned around, looking at the stylish Autobot with emotionless expression. Then he kicked Jazz in the midsection, before delivering a devastating uppercut and sending Jazz flying back, crashing into the Autobots.

"I am Nemesis Prime. And I deliver this message." He started, confusing the Autobots even more. Then the Prime's face darkened. "Freedom is the delusion of all sentient beings." When he finished, he pulled out his rifle and fired at the Autobots. The group backed away, with Ironhide charging at the Prime. He caught Optimus/ Nemesis in a bear hug and held him in place.

"What's got into you, Prime?" he asked, struggling against Prime's superior strength. "Snap outta it." He grunted, before his hold was broken and the Prime punched him into the ground.

"You are free to serve me or die, weakling." Prime said. Then he saw the Autobots preparing to fight him. Then Optimus turned away and transformed, driving away.

"Optimus!" Bulkhead called. He wanted to give chase, but Megatron shot him in the leg. The Autobots turned to face him, only to find him smiling.

"Well, things just got more interesting." Was all Megatron said, before he and the rest of the 'Cons entered the ground-bridge.

As the vortex closed, the Autobots looked devastated.

The Ark

"What do you mean he ran away?" Ratchet asked in disbelieve. The team reported on what happened there. He was glad they managed to free Optimus and stopped the space-bridge, though a little angry that Bulkhead damaged it. But to hear Optimus changed like that... Primus.

"It means exactly what we reported, Ratchet." Jazz said. "And no matter how much you wish you heard wrong is going to change that."

"I don't get it." Kelly said out loud. "You said Optimus was able to cure you with the... what was the word again?"

"The Matrix of Leadership." Ratchet said. "The vessel which contains the wisdom of the Primes."

"Thanks. Why didn't it protect him then?"

"Because, when Optimus used it to heal the team from the Hate Plague, and destroy it before it could infect the planet, he used up the wisdom contained in the artifact."

"Used up the wisdom?" Miko asked. "How can you use up the wisdom?"

"Because the Matrix of Leadership is not complete." Jazz answered. Seeing the confused look on the humans' faces... "Ask me later."

"However, there must've been some wisdom left in the Matrix." Ratchet reasoned. "Enough to make him go mad, but not blinded with rage."

"This is the only good news, doc." Jazz said. "Because the bad news is, with Optimus gone twisted, should Megatron recruit him, we might lose this war." He said darkly.

The war certainly got the turn for the worst. The Autobots needed to find Optimus and heal him fast. The question is...

How?

To be continued...

A.N.: Well, here it is. With this, I officially end season one. As you can tell, there will be season two- that's the good news. Now the bad news. I'll be taking a break. How long. Well, unfortunately, until may. I'll post season II for the anniversary of this fic. Maybe sooner, but no promises. Well, until next time. And thank you all for the support. I hope you'll be back when I post the second season. 'Til all are one.