Disclaimer: WARNING. Wreck-Gar just broke the Fourth Wall. I don't how he did it, but he pulled a Deadpool and broke the Fourth Wall. Hide the women and children and the dog; he's wacko.

"Pardon me, Bob, is this you computer mouse!"

"Hey, gimme that you friggin' nut job! And stop calling me Bob. That's not my name." (Mouse thrown, hits head) OW! Why'd you throw that?"

"You wanted the rat back, Wilson."

"I didn't say throw it and it's not a rat. And did you call me Wilson?"

"No, I didn't, Wilson. I mean Charlie."

(With teeth grinding) Get back in the story!

Sorry 'bout that. On to the story!

Chapter XXIV

The Planet of Junk-

There was a hush among those waiting for someone or something to appear out of the strangely shaped cruiser. Autobots and Junkions were stood almost frozen when a single figure began to emerge. Springer had his gun trained on the entrance ramp, followed by Outback, Blur and Arcee. Perceptor and Daniel were kept within a defensive circle. Even Wreck-Gar, who wasn't exactly keen on intruders on his planet, had a pistol trained at the entrance. The tenseness was soon replaced with relief among the stranded Autobots when Breakaway appeared from inside the ship.

"Hey guys! You miss us?" Behind Breakaway appeared Kup and the Dinobots, with Wheelie riding on Sludge's head.

"Kup, Breakaway!" Springer said, relieved.

"The Dinobots, too!" Daniel said ecstatically.

Arcee waited and waited until the one for whom she was most concerned appeared. "Hotrod," she whispered as Hotrod appeared. "Hotrod." she said louder and rushed forward.

Hotrod did the same, pushing passed Kup and Breakaway. It felt like teracycles since they'd last seen each other. Both had even felt as if they'd lost each other. Arcee certainly did. Quickly she literally pounced on Hotrod, who held his ground and even hoisted her off her feet. He still staggered a bit but righted himself.

"Thank Primus," Arcee muttered as Hotrod set her down. Then Arcee struck Hotrod hard in his chest. "You scared me half to death."

Hotrod rubbed his chest and muttered, "Nice to see you too, Arcee."

"I'm sorry, Hotrod. I…" Arcee stammered on her words. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Hey, it'll take more than a few 'cons to stop me." Hotrod said with confidence. Then he noticed the Junkion horde, with Wreck-Gar stepping towards him.

"Great," Kup said with his firearm ready. "Out of the supernova and into the black hole," Hotrod suddenly lowered Kup's blaster, much to the vet's surprise. "What're you doing, Hotrod?"

"Guns aren't exactly friendly."

"Neither are they in case you hadn't noticed." Kup said and nodded at the Junkions.

"He's right, Hotrod," Springer added. "These guys haven't finished harassing us yet."

"Trust me, I've got an idea. What was that Universal Greeting again," Hotrod said, further astonishing Kup. "Never mind, I think I got it."

Hotrod stepped up to Wreck-Gar, while Springer said to Kup, "Universal what?"

Hotrod didn't hear them as he approached Wreck-Gar, holding a small bit of energon in his hand. "Ba weep gragna weep nini bong."

There was a small commotion among the Junkions before Wreck-Gar silenced them. "Ba weep gragna weep nina bong?"

"Ba weep gragna weep nini bong." Hotrod said and handed the energon piece to Wreck-Gar.

Wreck-Gar stared at the piece of violet sustenance and then turned to his followers and shouted out to them the Universal Greeting. The rest of Junkions repeated the Greeting as if it had become an overnight religion. Hotrod was pleased with how things went, while Kup felt as if his jaw was about to come loose. The other Autobots were just as stunned. Even Wheelie began chanting the Greeting and Grimlock stomped the ground. Through all of this, Elita One emerged from the spiral ship. The image of the Junkions raising their gun and chanting the Universal Greeting in unison was the bizarre thing she'd ever seen, more so than the machinations at Quintessa. All the while, Wreck-Gar slapped a hand on Hotrod's shoulder.

"Ha-ha, friends all of Clan Junkion." he declared.

"You-know-I-had-bad-feeling-about-these-guys-but-now-I'm-starting-to-like-these-guys," Blur said. "I-think-we'll-get-along-just-fine."

"Yeah, I think you'll fit in nicely with these guys, Blur," Outback said and then saw Elita One. "Elita One?"

"Brawn, is that you," Elita said in shock. "What happened to you?"

"Long story short; I got an upgrade. Name's Outback now. Where's Chromia, and Firestar and Moonracer?"

Elita lowered her head. "They didn't make it."

Hotrod solemnly noticed the Ultra Magnus was nowhere to be seen. "Springer, where's Ultra Magnus."

Springer glanced at Blur and Perceptor and then said, "He's right there; what's left of him anyway."

Hotrod pushed by Springer to where Ultra Magnus should've been. In his place was a pile of red and blue metal and steel; the telltale signs of a torso. Along the perimeter of the torso were the limbs. Hotrod looked at the blackened optics, the mouth open slightly. Obviously, Magnus screen in his final moments. Hotrod also noticed the gaping hole in the chassis, where the Matrix should've been. Galvatron, Hotrod quickly concluded. Elita One stepped up next to Hotrod and even she was stunned at the sight of the broken Autobot. She whispered something, a name, too quiet for anyone to here.

"Dion!"

"What happened, Springer," Hotrod turned to Springer. "What did Galvatron do to him?"

Springer sighed. "The 'cons ambushed us. Magnus tried to hold them off as best he could but they were too much."

Hotrod clenched his hands into fist. "I'm getting sick of losing so many friends."

"By George, what a mess, but fret not," Wreck-Gar cackled and motioned to his clan. Some of them were carrying Magnus' severed limbs "You're smashed up friend, soon be like brand new off our assembly line with 90 day warranty."

Hotrod and company stepped back to allow the Junkion to work. What they actually were doing was anyone's guess. Then it became clear; the Junkions were repairing Ultra Magnus. Arcee had seen this before; the Junkions had an uncanny talent for salvage and repair. During the Autobot's first encounter with then, whenever a Junkion was damaged, lost a limb, they simply reattach said limb and continue on. Perceptor was impressed by the sight of three or four Junkions reassembling one body. It was with an efficiency that would've put First Aid and even the late Ratchet to shame. As the Junkions worked on Magnus, Breakaway had wondered off when he noticed something underneath a crooked pillar. It was a dark blue and white body that Breakaway soon realized was the Decepticon female he'd met back on Earth and then on Quintessa. Breaking into a sprint, Breakaway rushed to the fallen femme 'con and held her in his arms. Her optic were blackened. There was a puncture in her abdomen, like someone had stabbed right through her. Daniel, who'd followed Breakaway, noticed a hurt look on the young Autobot's face.

"Breakaway?"

Without looking at Daniel, Breakaway solemnly told the human, "I never got her name." With that, Breakaway the femme 'cons body close to him, touching his head to hers. A moment later, Breakaway felt a hand lightly touching his face.

The femme 'cons optics flickering on with the same silvery color they always been and they met Breakaway blue optics. "I know you," she said weakly. "Breakaway."

Breakaway smiled. "You still owe me your name."

The femme 'con smiled back. "Tempest. My name's Tempest."

"Don't worry, Tempest," Breakaway said as he hoisted Tempest in his arms. "We're gonna get you fixed right up."

"I'd like that." Tempest said.

The Junkions continue to work diligently on repairing Ultra Magnus as the Autobot watched. It was like bona fide clockwork and in almost no time at all, they were almost done. All that remained was the reattachment of the right arm. It went into the socket and snapped into place with no effort at all. Then the Junkions applied a sort of fluid to the body, which gave off an impressive shimmer. Finally, the chassis closed shut and Wreck-Gar gave a celebratory shout. The optics flashed briefly, and then lit up in a steady light. Finally, Ultra Magnus sat straight up as he'd awoken from a nightmare. Springer and Kup settled him down as he regained himself and he looked around at everyone present.

"You're alive," he said. "By Primus you're all alive. Kup, Hotrod."

"Yeah, we're all here, Magnus." said Kup and patted his shoulder.

Magnus looked around and notice the tall, pink and white Autobot standing before him. "Elita? Is that you?"

"It's good to see you again, Magnus," Elita said. "And… I heard about Optimus. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Magnus said before he saw Breakaway carrying Tempest in his arms. "Breakaway, what're you doing?"

"It's okay Magnus. She's not going to cause trouble," Breakaway said and set Tempest down and turned to Wreck-Gar. "Can you fix her up?"

"Sure can do, Scooby-Doo!"

"I could use a fix myself." said Perceptor.

"Done!" said Wreck-Gar said and motioned two of his crew to Perceptor while he and another began working on Tempest.

Hotrod approached Magnus, a look of determination on his face. "Magnus, where's the Matrix?"

Magnus sighed, feeling defeated as he forced himself to recall everything. "It's gone. Galvatron took it. He's probably halfway to Cybertron by now."

"If the Matrix is gone, then so is our last beacon of hope." Kup said solemnly.

Silence filled the air around the Autobots. The only sound came from the Junkions rapid repair work on Perceptor and Tempest. As everything stood up to this point, the Autobots were routed across the galaxy, Optimus Prime was dead, the Matrix was in Galvatron's hand and Cybertron was cycles away from destruction by a monster planet. Kup might've been right this time; all hope was gone or at the very least, fading fast. But Hotrod shook his head. He wasn't convinced. He didn't come all this way to give up now.

"It's not over yet," he said. "We've got to get to Cybertron, take back the Matrix and destroy Unicron."

"Ah, Unicron. Yes, act now, destroy Unicron. Kill the Grand Pooba; eliminate even toughest stains." Wreck-Gar chattered.

"Even if that were possible, how exactly do we going to get to Cybertron," Springer pointed out. "We've got only one ship and I doubt we can fit everybody inside."

Wreck-Gar suddenly pushed passed Springer. "Step right up, step right up. Hurry, hurry, hurry and test drive our latest vehicle, free with no obligation."

Wreck-Gar opened a panel, pressed several button and even kicked the console for good measure. The Autobots looked with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Then the terrain began shaking beneath the feet of the Autobots. Various bits of junks tumbled to the ground, which conversely began to rise. There was definitely something beneath the terrain and as it rose up, the Autobot realized that it was actually a ship. This cruiser was crudely put together from spare parts, much like the Junkions themselves, and yet it appeared extremely sturdy. Still, a number of Autobots were impressed.

"New and improved from the Junkion Planet, comes this sleak and sexy 2010 import, with torbo handling." Wreck-Gar announced with pride.

"Ooh! Grimlock like junk ship."

"Why thank ye, big lizard bot." said one of the Junkion. And he hopped up actually planted a kiss to Grimlock's nose.

"Ew, Grimlick, no kisser. Grimlock, King."

"Okay," Hotrod said. "I think we've finally got a plan."

"And what about her," Kup asked and pointed at Tempest.

"Look, I know I've done some terrible things, but I'm not like Galvatron," Tempest said. She was starting to move a little better now. "I'm not like any of the Decepticons. I can help you."

"I believe her, Hotrod," Breakaway said and put a hand on Tempest's shoulder. "I think she should at least be given a chance to prove herself."

"Is that your Spark talking, Breakaway?" Kup wondered.

"Bust my afterburners all you like, Kup. But I believe her."

Hotrod huffed. "She comes too! Now let's get to Cybertron."

With that, the Autobots and Junkions all boarded the two ships, dividing into crews. Wreck-Gar, de facto captain of the Junkion cruiser, boarded that ship with Ultra Magnus, Perceptor, Blur, Outback, Elita One and Wheelie. The Dinobots were also loaded onto the cruiser. Meanwhile, Hotrod board the Quintesson cruiser with Kup, Arcee, Springer, Daniel, Breakaway and Tempest. With all on board their respective vessels, and the course laid in, the two cruisers ignited their engines. With a brilliantly blinding light and a massive rumble, the cruisers launched. From the ground of the Junk planet, through the atmosphere and into the stars. As they disappeared, the Planet of Junk grew quiet, with no sound at all but the wind. The wind, that blew over the terrain and over the wrecked carcass of a black and silver winged robot. It was a single machine that belonged to neither Autobot nor Decepticon. A husk of metal that, had one looked very closely to it, began to slowly disintegrate into dust. Not actually dust, not as a human would think but into something else entirely. As the wind picked up this digital dust, a very faint flash of green appeared and then quickly vanished.

Cybertronian Space-
Kaon-

"At least give me the opportunity to study it. To learn what it is about the Matrix that drives the Autobots."

"I didn't pry the Matrix from Magnus' tinfoil carcass so you could conduct a scientific exercise, Shockwave," Galvatron was pacing back and forth, with the Matrix hanging around his neck by a chain. "This isn't some random object from the Badlands," he said, holding the Matrix by the chain. "This isn't some relic from some long forgotten era of… Gods," Galvatron stormed out of Shockwave's lab toward the launch point for the Seekers. "This is a weapon and I intend to use it."

"Against that," Shockwave pointed directly at Unicron, who hasn't moved since destroying the Moon Bases. "It will do nothing against Unicron, Galvatron."

"The Autobots will do nothing," Galvatron bellowed and stormed right up Shockwave's single optic face. "You contacted them on Earth. Where are they? I don't see any them coming through the Space Bridge."

Shockwave stood his ground as Galvatron ranted. All the while, he saw something. It looked as though Galvatron was very slowly losing his mind. Perhaps it was yet another side effect from his reformatting by Unicron. In fact, Slipstream had spoken to Shockwave recently about what happened back on the Planet of Junk. Barricade and Scourge too. Even the normally stoic Soundwave voiced his opinion. Their combined opinions were all the same; Galvatron was seemingly on the brink of insanity. Only Cyclonus remained loyal to his leader.

"You say the Matrix will do nothing against Unicron, but I disagree," Galvatron continued. "You see, Shockwave, I don't even have to use it. The mere threat of its use, just its very presence will bend Unicron to my will. Then I'll use him, just like he used me, to destroy that pathetic insect planet Earth. Once that's been done, no force in the universe will dare challenge the Decepticons again."

Shockwave remained eerily stoic and unyielding. "You're insane. Not even Megatron or Starscream were this maniacal."

"Continue to press the issue, Shockwave. I dare you," Galvatron with a sick smile. Shockwave said nothing. "Thought so."

With that, Galvatron assumed alt alternate space craft form and jetted off. Shockwave watched him go. The argument very conformed what he already knew; Galvatron was slowly going insane. Perhaps he already was insane. Shockwave went to his computer, flipped a switch and moments later, Scrapper appeared. The screen split and revealed the Stunticon leader Motor Master, and then again to reveal Combaticon leader Onslaught.

"Time is short," Shockwave said. "The Autobots aren't coming."

"I told you we couldn't trust the Autobots, Shockwave." Onslaught said.

"I agree with Onslaught," Scrapper added. "The Autobots are too short-sighted to see the big picture."

"Or maybe they're just too scared to face death," said Motor Master. "Not me. I'm happy to take the fight to this so called monster planet, even if I gotta throw Breakdown and Dead End into the fire."

"What about Galvatron," Scrapper said. "It's very clear that he's not of sound judgment anymore."

"Just have you teams ready. If Unicron attacks, the survival of the Cybertronian race will rest with solely with the Decepticons," Shockwave said. "As far as Galvatron goes, I will do what I must."

"You mean you'll take up the mantle of Decepticon leader?" Onslaught said.

Shockwave simply replied, "It's only logical."

Author's note: Okay, it took a while but I finally got Wreck-Gar under control. He won't be breaking down any more Fourth Walls. I hope.

Not too much different from the movie other than the lack of the cheesy dance scene. Which is good; nobody needs that crap. And yes, Tempest is still alive and has joined the fight although she's not officially an Autobot.

Plus, for all you lunatics with lava seeping into your metaprocessors, Galvatron seems to edging just a hair closer to madness. Something tells that his bold master plan is not going to work.

The final battle is fast approaching, so stay tuned and review.