Optimus opened his eyes to see what he could not describe or understand. He was floating in some form of tunnel, a brilliant tunnel of light and energy that seems to move both fast and slow. He continues to drift through as he contemplates this impossibility.

"how, how did this happen, how is any of this possible? I remember heading toward the pillar when the matrix reacted, so how did I come to be here, wherever here is"

Optimus peered through the outside of the vortex and was suddenly met with a surprising sight, jazz. He looked in shock as he saw his long dead lieutenant standing there.

"optimus, are we just going to stand here and do nothing?"

Optimus suddenly realized that he was seeing the past, but how was this possible.

"this vortex, it is the time stream! Sentinel always said that the space bridge could transport things through time and space, and the matrix gave me the ability to travel through time, this. is. incredible."

"there's no way to free bumblebee without harming the humans" the sound of his own voice drew his attention back to the past events.

"but it's not right…"

"let them leave"

Optimus felt a wave of guilt flow over him. How could he have chosen to leave bumblebee to the mercy of those who were capable of harming him. He also felt bad as he looked once again upon jazz, his former second in command who fell at megatron's hand. Were his choices on earth what led to jazz's death. He had always been loyal to him and paid the price for it. The image of jazz faded away and optimus floated further down the vortex which seemed to be slowing down and speeding up. When next he stopped he saw sand, lots of it. As he peered through the vortex, through the veil of time, he saw Egypt. It was the battle that took place there three years ago. The very one where he was revived from the dead.

He could never remember that time, what happened to him, where his spark had gone in that time. It was as if the memories of his time during death had been blocked from his memory. With that, his mind once again drifted to jazz. He was the first of the autobots to die here on earth. He then thought of those that would follow him.

"during this very battle, arcee, chromia, and elita 1 will meet their ends. And jetfire, the former decepticon as well, though his sacrifice did give me the means to defeat the fallen, and even inspired my current flight upgrade."

He then begins to think of the present and others he has lost. Less than a year ago from his present, young jolt was killed by shockwave. The young autobot twins, skids and mudflap, fearful of the consequences of the war, soon after ran away and went into hiding somewhere on earth. Optimus never held it against them. They were very young and inexperienced; they did not really belong in war. Many didn't. The autobots were made up of those who were willing to fight, not forced to. He knew that what they did was what was best for them and knew that they would be safe.

Optimus suddenly focused and with the power of the matrix and sheer will power he was able look closer into the battle. He suddenly saw sam and his former partner mikaela, they stood in the ruins just as ironhide and the three motorcycle fembots arrive.

"ironhide" sam calls out

"follow us to the pillars, we'll take you to optimus" elita says as she rolls up to sam

"look out"

Elita suddenly screams as blast of decepticon gunfire strikes her. It almost completely shatters her upper body and optimus can tell she is already dead. He is unable to keep from shedding a tear of energon at the sight. The femme that he had once given his spark to killed before his eyes, with nothing he can do, all to bring him back. He watches as more decepticons attack and overwhelm his troops as the humans run to safety. Arcee charges into battle but is downed by a shot to her shoulder while ironhide and chromia provide cover fire. A rocket from starscream strikes the spot where chromia is taking cover and erupts, shattering the blue femme to peices. Ironhide downs a few of the enemy troops but after taking serious damage retreats. Optimus then looks back and sees that arcee has begun to stir.

"she, she still lives, than why...?"

Optimus' question his halted as a large decepticon who looks very much like bonecrusher approaches the wounded arcee. She begins to come to as the decepticons looms over her. He then lifts his foot, preparing to crush the femme.

"no, NOOOOO!" Optimus screams as he pushes against the vortex's energy wall, almost clawing through when the matrix begins to glow once again.

Arcee clenches her fists as she prepars for her end. The decepticon chuckles and is about to bring his foot down when a bright light appears in midair right in front of him. Both autobot and decpticon look in awe as a face appears from the light.

"optimus" arcee says in shock

"optimus prime, what in the…"

The decepticons is suddenly cut off by an energon sword appearing from the light and being rammed into his chest, through his very spark. He lookes down in shock as energon begins to leak from the wound before looking back up to the face. Another hand appears from the light and scooped up arcee, bringing her into its glow.

"you're not getting this one" optimus growls before quickly pulling the blade from the cons chest.

The decepticon remained standing for only a moment, watching the blade and face then the light itself disappear. He then fell backwards into one of the ruined building, with it crushing under his weight. He slams hard into its ruins, dead.

"opt…optimus?" acree asks in shock

"yes arcee, it is me"

"but how, you were dead, you were there, we were just with you"

"yes you were, then, but I am not me from then"

"what"

"I am from three years in the future, through some extraordinary means, I have became capable of time travel"

Optimus suddenly looks at arcee in shock.

"what?"

After a moment she realizes she feels different. She looks down and realizes that her body looks different. She is no longer in her one legged wheel form but her original two legged body.

"my, my body, my old original one, from before me and the others had upgraded when we came to earth"

Arcee wraps her arms over her shoulders and hugges herself. she had missed her old look, her true body for so long.

"Optimus, how?" she askes, but she already knew he didn't know himself.

"this is all so amazing, How did this all happen?"

"I do don't fully understand myself, it was a combination of sentinel primes space bridge and the matrix of leadership, the very item that would resurrect me that day that you just were."

"fascinating, but how could you have the space bridge, it was lost when sentinal's ship was"

The time stream had once again begun to move forward and in that time optimus explained everything that had happened in the last few days.

"no, no that just can't be, after everything, everything he did, what he said, what he taught us."

"I know arcee, I feel the sting of his betrayal more than anyone"

"wait, optimus, if I go to the present with you, I will be in the same time period as my future self. Don't forget that we were scientists before the war. If that happens, it could create a paradox that could rip the fabric of the time stream!"

Optimus suddenly takes on a very grim look

"what"

"that will not happen arcee, because…because you died on that day along with elita and chromia"

"what!"

"yes, you all died during that battle, but seeing it all happen, I was just overwhelmed with emotion and had to save you from sharing their fate"

"oh my, well if you had to save any of us you should have saved elita, since you two have so much history"

Optimus took on an even sadder face at the thought and arcee realized she was just making it harder for him. She placed her hand upon his much larger one.

"optimus, thank you" she smiled, and she was happy that he returned it. He had not smiled in a very, very long time.

Suddenly the two realize that the vortex had stopped again and peer through its edge and hear voices as the image of the periods event come into view.

"ironhide, protect sentinel, get him locked up inside!" lennox yells

"consider it done" irondhide announces as he transforms

"no" optimus says

"what is it?"

"this is it, sentinal's betrayal, only days ago, no, please, I don't want to see this" optimus cries out but both can't look away from the events.

"you need to guard him because he's the key to the whole thing" sam says to lennox before being interrupted by sentinel

"indeed I am. What you must realize my autobot brothers, was we were never going to win the war. For the sake of out planets survival, a deal had to be made...with megatron."

With that sentinel reveals his cosmic rust cannon and shoots ironhide twice in the back. Arcee gasps in shock and horror as ironhide collapses in pain. Optimus clenches his fists and tries to look away but cannot.

"get back" lennox yells

"what have you done?" ironhide grunts in pain as the cosmic rust takes effect and his fingers begin to corrode away.

"I hereby discharge you from duty" sentinel coldly says as he fires a final shot into ironhide's chest.

The blast goes right through him and sends bumblebee sprawling behind him. Sentinal begins to fire on the human soldiers and bumblebee. Bumblebee returns fire and manages to escape. Many of the soldiers are injured or killed before sentinel retreats into the NEST base.

"no, no, no" arcee chokes out as energon tears well up in her eyes.

Both her and optimus look as ironhide grunts his final breath before his entire body corrodes into rusty dust

"no, NO! I won't let this happen!" optimus roared as he lunches himself at the wall of the vortex.

He and arcee suddenly find themselves in that moment, only few days from the present. They look around and see the world around them sppears to be frozen in time. They both look down at the corroded remains of ironhide. Optimus once again feels that swell of emotion like before. Somehow sensing what he wants, the matrix begins to glow. Light from it and the open time stream doorway mix and shine upon ironhide's remains. To their amazement time itself begins to reverse, but only in that one spot where ironhide lay. The dust beginsn to stir then bulk up and reassemble into its original form. As ironhide is nearly back to his normal self, the light begins to fade. In hesitation, optimus focuses and puts his entire spark into helping it along. Suddenly a large beam shoots from the light onto ironhide. When it clears, the two see ironhide sprawled on the ground twitching and breathing frantically. He begins to feel his body before looking up and seeing the others.

"optimus, what, how, what is going on? I was just…"

"calm down old friend"

"yeah, you're gonna give yourself a spark attack" arcee chuckles

"whaa, arcee, but you died, you"

"calm down ironhide, I will explain everything."

"sentinel he just, to me and I was,"

"I know old friend, I know"

Ironhide looks at his body. Many spots on his torso have large clusters of the rust, including the large wound in his chest which was mostly healed with the time reversal. One of his hands was mostly covered in it and he could feel some on the side of his face and head.

"why is the rust not…rusting me"

"im not sure ironhide, the best I can figure is the power of the matrix and the time vortex created a temporal distortion in you where your body functions as normal while halting the rust and keeping it frozen in time"

"so, if this time distortion thing where's off, the rust will do its thing, again"

"I don't know old friend, but I do know that you are alive, you have a another chance at life, and in the present, a few days from now, we could really use your help"

"of course optimus, it's just…"

"what"

"what it was like, the way it felt, it was just so…"

"I know my friend, if you recall, I am no stranger to death."

Ironhide merely nods. The three begin to notice that the world around them is beginning to move back in normal speed again.

"quickly, back into the time vortex!"

They jump in and the doorway closes as the world begins to move again. After optimus has explained everything to ironhide, they move slowly through vortex towards their destination, the moment optimus entered the time stream.

"ah, I see now" optimus says aloud

"what" ironhide and arcee ask

"we never found your body in egypt arcee, but since chromia and elita were in pieces we assumed you were obliterated in the battle"

"okay" she says dumbfounded

"and ironhide, we knew you died. sam, lennox, and many others saw it. BUT! We never found any remains after everything else had happened. We believed that the corroded dust that you became either blew away or broke down into smaller particles"

"where are you going with this prime?"

"Don't you see those things, your remains weren't there because they were taken away, just now, by me saving you. Those things happened but were partially obstructed by my altering the past. You guys did die but at the same time did not because you were taken out of regular time"

"woooooa, that is some heavy slag optimus"

"yeah" arcee adds in stunned amazement

"well then, the past has been saved so that it can save the future. Our next stop is the present, the moment I entered. I hope you are ready, we face and entire army of enemies. I cannot guarantee you will not fall in battle again."

"I didn't ask you too" ironhide says with a grin

"yeah bring it on" arcee adds

"very well my friends, autobots, get ready to roll"