And we get to find the last shard! Along with something else at the end...

I do not own Transformers: Prime...Only my OC's and the Realm of Cybres

Chapter 11

Free To Rise Again

Michael POV

I snuck out of the room as soon as a set of coordinates flashed up on screen and drove off.

"I'll kill him," I snarled as I shot down the road, "I might have felt bad about almost doing it before…now…it's personal,"

There was a knock on my window.

I yelled in surprise, swerving and barely missing a young man who looked like Darby, who was running beside me. How in the Universe is he running so fast?

"What are you doing?" I demanded as I continued to drive, Darby keeping pace with me.

"What do you think?" he asked loudly as he ran, "helping you save Dusk!"

"I don't need your help. Go back to base and snuggle with your partner," I snarled.

I need to get away. I don't have time for this.

I felt my alt shift and move and I was suddenly airborne, soaring upwards just like I always loved to do. How did I do that?

To my surprise, Darby was there again, tapping on my window.

Wait, he flies in human form too?

"I don't need your help!" I screamed pushing my engines harder trying to speed away from him.

The guy kept pace! Jeeze, does he ever give up?

"Don't need it, or don't want it!?" he asked over the wind.

"Both," I growled, "I've handled Draconus before and I don't need you to get in my way,"

He frowned at the response.

He zipped ahead of me, grabbed me by the nose cone and flung me at the ground below. I yelped as I fell and shifted to mech form landing on my pedes.

And I completely lost it.

"Are you fragging insane!?" I yelled as Darby…or a Darby look-alike landed in front of me.

I cursed. For the first time. Aw, Mom's going to kill me.

"No, I'm just sick of your attitude!" he yelled back, "I have done nothing but apologize and try to be helpful as possible and all I'm ever met with is hostility from you!"

I glared at him as he continued to rant.

"Everyone else seems to have accepted me except you," he flew up to my face and glared at my optics his eyes glowing red in anger, well…that's not Darby, "So again, what the hell is your problem!?"

"I'll tell you what my problem is," I snarled "YOU are my problem! Ever since you've shown up you've turned my sister against me and try to tell me how to act around my own family as if you understand how loss feels!"

His eyes widened in anger at the last bit. I shouldn't have said that. I really shouldn't have. This is what Mom always tells me, think before you talk…

I should have listened better.

"I don't know how loss feels?" he repeated "I DON'T KNOW HOW LOSS FEELS!?"

He punched me, knocking me on my rear. I looked at him, stunned, and he landed on my throat.

"Listen you little brat!" he yelled pointing a finger at me, "I have experienced more loss more pain in my entire life while you've lived a soft cushy life! I watched my father die in front of me, my entire race is DEAD and you have the nerve to say I don't know how loss feels!"

I looked at him, shocked. I really should have kept my mouth shut.

Yeah…this is definitely not Darby. Great, memory transfer. Gotta love it.

"And now I'm offering to help save your sister's life and your too damn stubborn to even accept my help!"

Jeeze Darby, you were such a jerk to this guy!

The look-alike ended his rant and the two of us glared at each other. Him in anger and I with a mixture of anger and sympathy.

"Fine," I growled "You can help,"

The anger in his eyes faded slightly and he hopped off me.

"But exactly how do you plan on stopping Draconus," I asked as I slowly stood to my feet.

"You mean you didn't already have a plan!?" he asked incredulously.

"I was just going to kick his aft until you decided to tag along," I growled and once again, we descended into another argument.

I opened my eyes again and looked at Darby, who froze.

"What did you see?" he asked, slightly afraid.

Good.

"Oh, nothing," I replied, "Just wanted to know something actually…do we have a counterpart that flies in human form?"

The blood/energon/whatever drained from his face.

"You mean Kal?" Ben piped up.

"Shh!" Darby hissed, "Ben! Shut up!"

"Kal?" I asked.

"Kal-El…he's another one of your counterparts…from the planet Krypton," Ben said, "He flies, has X-ray vision, super strength, heat vision, frost breath…I mean this guy packs an arsenal of power,"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Darby.

"And you treated him like a jerk," I said.

"He slammed Dusk's head against a metal slab when he first met her," Darby deadpanned, "What would you have done?"

"Probably thrown him into that swamp outside of the cavern and let the Watcher have at him," I shrugged, making Darby relax just a bit, "But…"

He froze again.

"If he's from another dimension and he just got here, he had to be disoriented," I explained, "If he used X-ray vision on Dusk…seeing her biology might have frightened him and that triggers the fight or flight mechanism. He was scared and alone, I see where he's coming from, Darby. Next time, I think you should be more open to those who are new to your dimension,"

"Well, he was nice to Wheeler," Ben supplied, "Dusk told me that Jack learned his lesson with Kal."

"As long as he learned something," I nodded.

"You can say that again," Darby muttered, "I did learn something about him though,"

"And that is?" I asked.

"Never let Kal around the sweets…super-powered teen + chocolate= Primus have mercy on our sparks,"

"I learned that too," Ben said, "And something else,"

"What?" Darby asked.

"Never let you around power outlets,"

"It was only once and Kal threw me into it when I tried to get him to calm down!" Darby protested.

"Lemme guess…over energized?" I asked.

He nodded guiltily.

"Be lucky you're not effected by sugar," I said, "Halflings…we've got the best and worse of both worlds…"

"Dusk on a sugar high!" Ben groaned, "Gave Rosalina a run for her money,"

"Oh dear, she's got that too?" I moaned, "I guess she's got more of Silver in her than me,"

I leaned over and whispered into both of their ears.

"Snickers and Milkyways are banned from the palace they got so bad," I said, throwing a glance at the six Shards who we were supposed to be following, "But…Silver has a safe spot for them,"

"Where?" Darby asked.

I grinned evilly and patted my midsection.

"In my stomach," I chuckled, "She's going to be ticked when she finds out that they're all gone from her hiding spot."

The boys laughed.

"What's so funny?" Firestorm asked, turning around, "C'mon slowpokes! You want to get to the Circle of Stars by sundown…right?"

I sighed and totted forwards towards the Shards.

This was going to be a long trip.

Ben POV

We made it to another gateway right as the sun reached the two o clock position.

"Through here," Lightwave said, "But only one can go in at a time,"

"What?" I asked.

"Creator's rules," Starlight shrugged, "Until the time comes to reawaken the Phoenix, only one may enter the Circle,"

I looked at Jack and again at Michael.

Neither of them looked good, but Jack looked worse. I could barely make out the outline of his left hand.

"We don't have much time," I whispered.

"I'll go," Michael said, "She's my daughter,"

"She's my sister," Jack protested.

"And my girlfriend," I added.

"One of us has to go," Michael started, "But who?"

"The Circle of Stars allows you to see everything," Ember said, "Time is no objection,"

Michael bowed his head.

He never got to see Dusk grow up, become who she was.

I looked at Jack and I could tell we thought the same thing.

"Michael," Jack said, "You go, we'll wait,"

The High King's face , lit up in a smile and he looked at Jack.

"I'd hug you," he started, "But I don't want to get shocked."

"Same here," Jack agreed.

Michael walked up to the gateway…and stepped through.

Michael POV

There was a platform right in front of me, I gave a soft smile as I walked towards it and stood on top.

Almost immediately, images formed and rotated all around me.

I stood in the Circle of Stars, the very spot in which my Creator stood when the Universe was born, and looked out over everything!

Time and space had no limit over what I saw.

I saw through to Cybertron and Second Earth.

I saw my daughter grow up.

From a misfortune-struck little girl dubbed Case-13, to a firebrand teenager, to her first meeting with our counterparts, her meeting with her adopted brother, her stepping through a white portal…

Cybres!

Her setting foot on the planet for the first time in years, her meeting Wheeler and Trimus, Silver and me, running through the battlefield. Omega's Well, her sapphire eyes suddenly glowing energa blue, her form blazing and…sacrificing her own spark to save Cybres.

Her body falling to the ground, into my arms, her gazing up at me…face at, at ease…

A ghostly hand touched my shoulder and I whipped around…

And came face to face with a silver-white version of my daughter.

The seventh, and final, shard of her soul.

Love.

Unlike the other shards, this one looked exactly like Dusk, except more like a ghost than anything.

"Dusk," I breathed, trying to touch her, but my hand passing through her.

"You can look…just don't try to touch," she smiled sadly, "Sadly, I'm only a part of Dusk, my name is Fyrewing, I am…was…the phoenix that took a liking to Ben…I'm also the only one of Dusk's Soul Shards that remembers who exactly she is,"

"You look so at peace there," I murmured, looking at the last frame before Dusk died.

"Dusk was in a lot of pain at the end there…her, our, spark was starting to overload…she's lucky she got to the Well when she did,"

"Still doesn't make it feel better," I grumbled.

"Being dead isn't that bad," Fyrewing shrugged, "I can see you and Silver any time I want…instead of having to wait until nightfall."

"But you can't touch us,"

"True,"

I looked up into my daughter's Love's grey eyes.

"Prima says there's a way to bring you back, to join your soul together again."

"There is," the shade replied, "We need to get the others…and our body…over here though."

"It's time?" I asked.

Fyrewing nodded.

"It is time,"

…..

Minutes later, we all stepped back into the Circle.

"Fyrewing!" Zelenka squealed, running into said Shard's arms, "I missed you,"

"I missed you too," Fyrewing replied, looking at her fellow Shards.

I was surprised that none of the other Shards noticed the resemblance between Fyrewing and my daughter.

And it happened.

"Fyrewing," Firestorm started, looking at the Love Shard and then at Dusk, "You…you look like her,"

"I have been trying to tell you this, but you would not listen," Fyrewing sighed, "Sisters…we are not the souls of ones who lived before. In fact, we are the soul of one person. Dusk is the holder of our soul. We are the seven Shards of her soul that were scattered throughout the Infinite, waiting for Dusk's three champions to save her."

"And now that they're here?" Starblade asked.

"We are to resurrect Dusk, she needs us, and we need her,"

"And if we don't want to go?" Firestorm demanded.

Fyrewing's face was impassive. And what she said next chilled my blood.

"Then we die,"

The other six shards turned towards Lightwave, who had gone pale.

"Lightwave?" Starlight asked.

"She...she's telling the truth," the Honesty Shard whispered.

"We…we're dying?" Zelenka asked.

"I don't want to die!" Starblade shrieked.

"Then we must reunite and save Dusk," Fyrewing said, "And we have but a few minutes to do it,"

The other Shards looked at one another and then nodded.

Fyrewing turned to Ben.

"Place Dusk on the dais," she ordered, then turned to her sisters, "Stand around her,"

Everyone did as ordered. And the Shards joined hands.

And suddenly, Zelenka started to sing.

"Like a dream, the tree of life

Covers me and dulls my eyes

I fall asleep a thousand nights before I wake,"

Fyrewing joined her, creating a haunting harmony as the other six Shards voiced a soaring background.

"Free to rise again

Hand in hand against all odds

We'll overcome

The Future we've begun

For the first time in this life

Don't have to fight to feel alive!"

Suddenly, all Seven Shards shone with bright light. It got brighter and brighter until suddenly…

The light died, leaving us alone with Dusk on the dais.

We ran over to her, hoping that she had been raised.

I put a hand to her throat, checking for a pulse…

Nothing.

I shook my head.

Ben's face grew hard.

"Jack, Michael…put your hands over her spark," he ordered.

"There's only room for one hand," Darby protested, "We'll…

"No. Uh uh," I growled, "I'm not getting shocked again!"

"Do you want her to die?" Ben snapped.

"No," both Darby and I admitted.

"Then shut up and do as I say,"

I put my hand on Dusk's spark, Darby hesitated only for a moment…before placing his hand on mine.

I screamed as the shock ran through my system. Darby's howl joined mine. Ben put his hand on top of ours and pressed down, jolting the shock into Dusk's spark.

"Ok, you," he growled, pushing down, "And your constant pranking,"

Push.

"And your stupid nobility,"

Push.

"And your fragging stubbornness,"

Push.

"Come on!" he shouted, pushing frantically, "COME ON!"

Dusk jolted, but other than that, she didn't move.

"Come on," he whispered as Darby and I removed our hands.

Nothing.

"She's gone," I whispered.

"C'mon, Ben," Darby whispered, "We were too late,"

We had just turned around…

"I had a dream," a faint, weak voice moaned.

We whipped around, just in time to see Dusk's eyes flutter open.

"Dusk!" Ben breathed, running over to her.

"You were insulting me, Ben," Dusk murmured, halfheartedly glaring at him, "Repeatedly."

"Crazy, right?" he smirked.

"No," she sighed, putting her head back down on the dais, "Kinda makes sense."

"C'mon, Firebrand," Ben whispered, helping her up, "Welcome back to the land of the living,"

And she's back! Now...we just have to get Morgana out of the way...right? Oh and Just a note...Dusk's sparksong has changed from Blackheart to Flight. Thanks to Guardian of Azarath for that.

Song in title: To Feel Alive by IAMEVE (saw the Percy Jackson movie and I thought that the song was appropriate)

Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please R&R! :)

Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)

Máriessë ar mára tecië

Farewell and fair writing

Elhini Prime signing off.