Grand Rapids had rapidly become the bad-guy base for Powertron and his crew. As Powertron gazed over his followers, he saw the orange eyes flare with excitement. Now, he knew, they had to be buttered up into fighting, into staying on his side. He also knew just how to do it.

He raised his hand for silence. "So now, my friends," he began, "you all know why you are here. You've come to be rid of those foul-mouthed Autobots and their pets. But that is not all we are planning on.

"You come here because you want to be rid of the government that controls you, is that right?"

Cheers and yells filled the air. "What is it that the government and the Autobots have in common?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer he plowed on. "They cheat you out of what you deserve! They treat you like pets! They take you for fools!"

With each declaration the cheers would come. "Under a new command, your voice will be heard! It is the reason why we have come: strong enough to decimate other worlds!" he declared loudly. "And with your support, the government you once feared so much will be taken down within days! But! Yes but – before the government can go down, we have to remove the foolish Autobots we all fear."

Silence plummeted upon the group. Powertron continued his massive speech. "Yes, the Autobots have to be taken care of first. Why them first? Well, consider this simple fact: if they defeat us, they'll take over, and you'll be come their pets."

In the way back of the crowd, Rockslide slipped away from it. He didn't want to listen to any more lies. He hurried to the riverside, sliding up on a bridge. He gave a series of low whistles.

A minute passed. Then five. Then ten. Finally, after fifteen minutes (during which Powertron drolled on) a set of eyes appeared under the water. "He's grown up fast," Rockslide commented to himself. He gave a low whistle.

A snout with rows of teeth slid out of the water. The metal plates upon it flattened in the cloudy sky. The jaws spread open slowly to reveal another row of teeth. Yet the eyes remained beneath the water, a bright, clear, solid green.

"Clunk?" Rockslide asked, being careful as ever to keep his voice down. He reached a hand towards the water.

The snout, upon hearing this name, slid into the crest of his palm. A low growl escalated from within the open jaws.

"I know," Rockslide said. "I know. Listen; can you still carry our kind without hurting them? It's essential."

The growl became softer.

"Good," Rockslide said. "Here's the problem."

But there was no need to explain. Another growl escalated from the beast beneath the water. A ripple went through the beast, and it grew even bigger.

"Good boy, Clunk," Rockslide said. "Good boy."

A new voice made him jump. "I see you're still with him."

Rockslide looked up. "Bracken! Jeezus H, you scared me!"

"My bad," Bracken said, adjusting the red bandana around his head. "Whatever Brono's planning I want none of it."

"Neither do I," Rockslide said. "So I'm sending Clunk to smuggle Equilibrium back."

"Let me go with him, explain the situation," Bracken said. "But – don't you have a plan for all this? You're just sending him in?"

Rockslide shook his head. "Equilibrium is currently with them," he said. "When he has a plan, he will notify me. Otherwise, he is to stay out of sight."

"I see," Bracken said, looking at Clunk and then at his companion.

"Bracken! Rockslide! What are you two doing over there?"

The two Decepticons looked back to see Powertron's eyes bearing down on them. Bracken dared to speak. "What does it look like we are doing over here?" he said boldly. "We are talking. Is it a crime now for the undead to talk to the not dead?"

"Don't you talk back to me!" Powertron growled. He turned to Rockslide. "Do you have an answer for me?"

Bracken, however, spoke up again. "All we were doing was talking," he said. "If there were any concern, then I would have told you by now. But there is no concern, so you do not have to worry."

Powertron eyed them both suspiciously. "Truly you say that as a means to act like nothing's wrong," he said. "You're not fooling me one bit. What are you two up to?" He stepped out onto the bridge – and noticed the snout sticking out of the water. "That's not a Transformer, is it?"

"Yes," Rockslide answered.

"How is that possible? Him in the water, I mean. How?"

"If he doesn't spend time in the water, he shall die on land," Rockslide said grimly. "He is tough enough to survive in water. In his energon configuration there is a change: he has the chemical configuration of water, enabling his water invincibility. It is because of this that he can live there. It's rare, but it's common for size shifters."

Powertron smirked and walked off. The moment he was out of sight, the beast stuck his entire jaw out of the water and opened. Bracken took one look at Rockslide, nodded, and jumped into the open maw, lying within the waterproof shell, holding on for dear life. The jaws closed and vanished back under the water. Stealthily, the beast swam off, leaving no trace of it ever being there. Rockslide took a deep breath, and silently prayed for their safety.

"Brono's gone mad with power," he murmured. "The sooner he dies, the better." He turned around, and walked away.

Location: Muskegon, 42 miles away. The Autobots, Decepticon allies, and humans stood on the beach, shaken from the flying ones' report. It didn't seem like those in Grand Rapids knew where they were... which was lucky. Then, out of the blue, Tessa let out a scream.

"What is it?" Cade asked, running to her side.

"Something's in the water!" Tessa shrieked, pointing towards the cold lake water. "I swear I saw something move in the water!"

Cautiously, everyone backed away from the water, wondering what it could be that scared her so much. Equilibrium was not dazed, though he was nervous. He slowly walked towards the water – and a massive grin broke out on his face. He cupped his hands and shouted, "Good work, Clunk! You found us! Come on up on the bank, buddy! That's a good boy!"

A crocodile-like Transformer climbed up onto the beach. His entire body was smooth metal, covered by thick bumps like the skin of a real crocodile. His snout had very jagged teeth on both sides, and a thin waterproof filament covered his striking green eyes. His jaws opened steadily, and Bracken climbed out from within the gaping maw. "Good boy, Clunk," he said, rubbing the Transformer's snout as the jaws closed.

"Bracken?!" Brains said, shocked to see his old comrade standing before him. "But – how – weren't you – what – how are you alive!?"

The undead Autobot laughed. "Yes, you saw me killed by Diehard," he said. "Let's just say that the way I've returned is the main reason why I've come."

"How do you know him?" Tessa asked Brains softly.

"He was once a Decepticon, like I was," the drone responded. "When Cybertron was threatened, he teamed up with Optimus before I did, and he came here around the same time I did. We had a falling out about it, and he was killed by Megatron."

"What brings you here, mate?" Equilibrium asked his old mate, clapping him on the back. "And how come you're alive again?"

Bracken's face became serious. "Brono has taken his motives too far. He's raising the dead to be part of his alliance – those he's raising are mainly fallen Autobots and Decepticons like myself. How he's doing it – I honestly don't know."

"He's WHAT!?" everyone gasped. At the same moment, Unicron crashed to the ground, eye tightly shut as he writhed and twisted. Noticing this rapidly, Crosshairs and Drift heaved him upright against the side of Clunk's jaw, fighting to keep the Decepticon still.

"Someone find Mentor!" Drift cried. "Someone do so, and hurry!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Mentor responded, sprinting out from within the trees, the junior at his side. "Thank heavens there was a center nearby! What the heck happened here?" Without waiting for an answer he knelt at Unicron's side, studying him carefully. "He's having another vision. I doubt if he can hear us, but we can try."

Wrecker said, standing behind Crosshairs, "Unicron? Unicron, can you hear us? Are you okay?"

But Unicron didn't answer. His eye remained tightly shut; his mouth remained firmly closed. He didn't move a muscle, even when Clunk shifted slightly. He didn't move at all.

"Is he all right?" Megatron asked.

"Oh my go – didn't you listen? I just freaking said he's having another vision," Mentor said, standing up briefly. "He won't respond to anything we do until he comes out of the trance. If we want to talk to him, we'll have to wait for him to wake up. It will be easier than trying to talk to him like this."

They only had to wait for a minute before Unicron stirred. But what happened was something none of them were expecting. His eye remained shut, but his mouth opened, and he began to speak in a strangled sort of voice. "No... it's impossible... how can they be there... no... no... I won't let you do this!" His voice grew louder. "I won't let you do this!"

"We've heard enough! Wake him up!" Optimus ordered.

Without warning anyone Hound started whacking Unicron on the head. "Wake up, you filthy excuse for a Transformer!" he demanded, continuing to hit the Decepticon. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! WAKE! UP!"

Finally, Unicron's eye shot open as he reached up to stop Hound's antics. He was breathing shallowly as if he were afraid of something. He looked around nervously; upon realizing where he was, he relaxed. "Do me a favor, Hound, and don't ever do that again," he said, reaching for a handheld to pull himself up.

"You all right?" Mentor asked, hurrying to steady him. "You threw us for a mighty good loop there."

Unicron shook his head. "Bracken is right," he said, using Clunk's snout to balance. "Brono has indeed raised the undead; my brother has just shown me how. He has the Dark Spark in his chest, and it is that that he is using to raise the dead. He has also flayed an undead to the point that the undead died again. He's vying to search for something to make heirs to his so-called 'empire', and he has plans to acquire more power than predicted last."

"What's he searching for?" Megatron asked.

"He's searching..." Unicron said faintly, shutting his one eye briefly. "Oh dear god... There's an egg he's searching for, an egg containing two bodies. He's nicknamed them 'Newborn Sparks'."

A gasp escaped from Drift's mouth. "Newborn Sparks!?" he cried, aghast at this series of news. "He cannot be serious! He cannot be!"

Unicron nodded. "He's dead serious, Drift. He believes he'll become fully immortal if he can acquire the egg, and he'll also have complete control over the direct descendants of my brother."

"Then we must rip that Dark Spark from his chest and destroy it!" Wrecker said triumphantly, fist-pumping the air.

This gesture was ended by a whack on the shoulder from Megatron. "Idiot! Have you no sense in that mind of yours?" he growled. "If we go after the Dark Spark we are all dead! The Dark Spark is too dangerous an object to destroy! If we did attempt to destroy it we'd be dead in the water! Besides, it's not the Dark Spark that's our current focus!"

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Wrecker protested. "If he finds those Newborn Sparks we're all dead!"

"We could just hide" Tessa suggested. "I'm sure there's a place where we could hide – everyone included." She opened her mouth to speak again, but Cade quickly cut her off.

Shaking his head, he said, "Hiding won't do us any good, Tess. They'll find us for sure, and then we're absolute toast. Not just us, but the whole universe as well."

"Unicron, what are these... these Newborn Sparks you mentioned?" Mary asked, pushing the corner of her sweatshirt over the bandage on her forearm. "From Drift's sudden reaction they must mean something of mysterious powers."

Before Unicron could answer, the sounds of Clunk sliding back into the water broke the air. They turned to see both Equilibrium and Bracken within Clunk's maw.

"Rockslide needs our help!" Bracken called out. "So we're heading back to give him a hand! He won't be the only spy you guys have!"

With that, the three vanished. Unicron began to speak. "The Newborn Sparks are of Primus' descent," he explained. "They contain more power than the Matrix and the Allspark. In the wrong hands, the Newborn Sparks are power-seekers. In the right hands, they are courageous and noble beings. My brother sent them here a long time ago, in order to help them escape destruction on our home planet."

"So... what do we do?" Cade asked. "If we go after the Sparks, we're still dead. Brono's brought up a ton of undead beings to serve as his army, and how many of us are there? I think... yes... there's a ton of him and only eleven of us. Well, technically, there are eight, seeing as us humans aren't very much helpful in the thick of battle."

"There was more than just the Sparks I saw in the vision," Unicron said. "By raising the dead, Brono's army has become large and powerful. From those calculations, we will need more allies than just who we have now if we choose to engage."

"Where can we find more allies?" Tessa dared to ask. "Everyone's on Brono's side. There's nobody we can turn to – human or Transformer."

For a couple minutes, nobody spoke. They were all considering Tessa's bold predicament.

Optimus was the one who broke the silence. "Grimlock!"

"Who?" Mary asked.

A smile spread over Cade's face. "I remember him! Boy was he fierce!"

Crosshairs snapped his fingers. "Strafe! Slug! Scorn! How did we forget about them?" he declared. "The entire time we're standing here we forget about them! How can we do that to old allies?!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, who the hell are Grimlock, Strafe, Slug, and Scorn?" Tessa argued. "Secondly, everyone's on Brono's side!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Crosshairs said. "I'm surprised you don't remember them, Tessa. Mary I can understand; she hasn't met them. The last time we fought against the Decepticons, we had support from those known as the Dinobots. The leader's name is Grimlock; he bonded with Optimus quite well. Slug bonded with Drift; Scorn bonded with me... I forget about Strafe."

"If we can find them, we can gain our old allies once again," Bumblebee said. "That's brilliant thinking! With them, there are fifteen of us – counting humans! And technically the Dinobots are the equivalent of five Autobots or Decepticons, so times them by four... once we find them there will be thirty-five of us!"

"So where does that leave us?" Cade asked.

Mentor spoke up. "If and when Brono gains possession of the Newborn Sparks, we must counter by find the Allspark and the Matrix of Leadership, and make sure that they are safe in their hiding places. But we can't go around in a massive group; if we did that, we'd attract unwanted attention. I suggest we split up into groups – one to find our former allies, one to find the Allspark, and one to find the Matrix of Leadership. If the last two are already with us, then we do not have to worry about them. When we finish with that, we'll start our search for the Sparks."

"Well spoken, Mentor. Well spoken," Wrecker said.

So it was that they broke up into groups: Optimus, Drift, Crosshairs, and Mary would seek out the Dinobots; Unicron, Wrecker, Hound and Tessa were to find the Matrix of Leadership; and Megatron, Brains, Bumblebee, and Cade were to seek out the Allspark. If any of the groups were to find the Newborn Sparks, they were to warn the others and gather them up.

"What about you, Mentor?" Cade asked.

"I'm headed to Cybertron to find more allies," Mentor said, a jetpack forming on his back. "And to warn them about the coming war. If Brono's building up an army then we'll need to warn the others!"

As he took off into the air, the others became their alternates and drove off in different directions. (Well, the Decepticons flew, not drove) Finding the Matrix, Allspark, and the Dinobots were now their main priority. The army of Powertron must not find them first!