Rian: And so we're here at last, at the precipice. Writing this chapter was a thrill. Probably my favorite so far! I wonder why that is... ;)


"Jack, wait!"

Raf's desperate cry was unheard through, as he could only stare where Jack had vanished from sight. What was he doing?! He couldn't just leave, not when the fortress was about to come down at any minute! Not when they were about to escape!

The mech chastised himself. Why had he let Jack leave?! He could have done something! Pleaded with him! Stung him with his stingers even, and taken him back to base!

Now he was gone! Raf's spark was hammering in his chest, but he tried to keep his hold on whatever logic remained in his frantic mind. Jack always knew what he was doing. He always figured things out. He would come back. And they could go home.

A pitiful moan sound behind him, breaking him from his thoughts. The youngling whirled around, only to see Miko curled in a feeble ball on the ground. Raf rushed to her side, gently placing a servo on her side.

"Can you stand?" he asked, already throwing her arm across his shoulders.

"Y-yeah," the femme nodded weakly, but her optics burned with determination.

Slowly, shakily, she rose to her pedes, leaning nearly all her weight on Raf. The youngling wheezed. She was heavy, but the little one did not dare complain.

Instead he said, "Come on, we need to get out of here. Before—"

He glanced past his weakened friend, only to freeze with horror. There were several black specs in the sky, forming a perfect line over the horizon. They were angular and sharp, speeding ever closer which each passing second.

Raf's spark seized when he realized what they were. F-22s, a whole squadron of them. It was Agent Fowler.

In all the excitement, the human-turned Cybertronian had completely forgotten about the government liaison's attack. They didn't have much time at all.

"Scrap..." he muttered

The word hadn't even left his mouth when there were several roars of alien thrusters. Raf glanced up to see silver streaks—Seekers—racing across the sky, to rid of the invaders.

"No!" he shouted, unable to do anything to stop their assault on the humans.

He could only watch as Fowler's squadron split apart in directions, trying to disorient their opponents. But the Seekers had already locked onto their targets. They took off in pursuit, firing superheated bolts of energon towards their prey. One stray projectile slammed into the wing of a F-22, the engine erupting in a ball of flame. Raf and Miko gasped as one as jet fell from the sky, spinning towards the ground in a fiery blaze. The Seeker circled where it once flew, victorious.

"We have to help them!" Miko insisted.

"How? We can't fly!" Raf argued.

Then he realized he didn't need to. Suddenly there was a flash of red and blue, and Optimus flew into the swarm of fighters. He pulled out his gigantic blaster, gunning down the flyers with ease. Instantly the Decepticons broke off, trying to avoid the Prime's wrath, unknowingly exposing their vulnerable fortress. Two of the human fighters took advantage, rushing forward with missiles cocked in place.

There was a sharp whistle as the projectiles flew through the air, striking the tower with a resounding boom of thunder. Balls of fire exploded across Darkmount. Raf and Miko yelled as one came dangerously close to where they stood.

"Let's blow this joint!" Miko shouted, shielding her face from the heat.

"Can you walk?" Raf implored. His legs were shaking from trying to keep his weight and Miko's, but he couldn't leave her now.

"I-I think so," Miko stuttered, then slowly, cautiously pulled herself from his hold.

Ignoring the claps of thunder and chaos around him, Raf held out his servos, braced to catch her. Although Miko swayed a little, she managed to stay on her pedes. He gave a sigh of relief when he realized she was no longer shaking from pain and exhaustion.

"Ratchet," Raf called out through his com. "Ratchet, I need a groundbridge! I have Miko- have the others made it back yet?!"

"I'm bridging them back as we speak—the Decepticons are retreating from the area," Ratchet replied. "I have a fix on your signal, locking on your coordinates. Raf, you have to get out of there now!"

The moment he saw the swirling greens and blues of the groundbridge Raf was immediately turning in its direction, willing to drag Miko there if that's what it took to get them out.

The same moment the tower let out a deafening roar. The ground beneath them shuddered—violently. Raf stumbled forward, but he managed to keep his balance and caught Miko before she fell to the ground. The air filled with deep, metallic groans, with the distant booms of distant explosions and the high-pitched squeals of overloading systems. The energon in his veins went cold as the throne room reverberated again. Darkmount was collapsing.

"RUN!" Raf screamed.

He launched himself forward, running as fast as his legs would allow. Miko, despite her exhaustion, was hot on his heels, keeping pace. The shaking grew until it was hard to keep their footing, but the pair managed to keep moving forward. Raf kept his helm down as dust and wreckage began to rain down from above, slamming onto the floor with horrible sounds. Then the floor began to tear apart, black abysses appearing before them. Raf found himself jumping from one island to the next, like a deadly game of hopscotch.

"It's not that far!" Raf encouraged Miko as she clumsily landed from jumping over a gap, slowing them down. "We can make it!"

His words seemed to encourage his friend, who optics lit up at the sight of nearing groundbridge. It was then the ground beneath him sunk, and the youngling let out a yelp. The floor was collapsing! No, not now! Not when they were right there!

Summoning what was left of his energy, Raf lunged forward. Feeling the warmth of the groundbridge embrace him. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Miko sprinting towards him. She kept going, even as the world crumpled around her. That was the Miko he knew.

"Let's go home!' he called and jumped through the groundbridge.

The hot desert sun was replaced by cool air-conditioning, and the ear-shattering roars vanished into silence. Raf sighed in relief as beyond the groundbridge he saw the familiar grey shades of the base. Suddenly his legs quivered underneath him, and he felt the energy in his veins drain away. Without warning, the world panned, and the mutant saw the floor rush up to meet him. Only for warm, solid arms to catch him.

"I got you, you're safe now," Bumblebee bleeped quietly.

Raf didn't realize he was venting heavily, his cooling fans on full blast. But he slumped in his guardian's hold, exhausted. The scout was covered in scorch and claw marks, energon leaking from deeper wounds, but nothing severe. He was alive. Everyone was alive; everyone had made it back. The Autobots lingered around the base, either standing to the side or reclining on the walls. Ratchet was already tending to Bulkhead's wounds, the welder sending a shower of sparks into the air.

"Is everyone... everyone okay?" Raf asked tiredly. Optics widened when he missed one figure. "Optimus? Did he make it back, too?"

"He's still out covering Fowler's assault," Bumblebee explained. When he saw Raf's concerned expression, he assured, "Don't worry, he's not going to go down that easy."

He gave a warm smile, which Raf couldn't help but mirror it. It was over... it was finally over!

"Then we won," he whispered. When Bumblebee nodded slowly, his spark pulsed quicker. "We won... We won!" He cheered and turned to Miko. "Miko, we won! ...Miko?"

Silence greeted his audios, the smile falling from his face as dread filled him. Instead of a solid jet-black armor or a flash of pink beside him, there was empty space.

"Miko!" he called out, jerking from Bumblebee's hold. He snapped his helm back and forth, but there was nothing. "But... but she was right behind me! Didn't she come through?"

Before his guardian could reply, Raf spun on his heels, towards the groundbridge. Only for the vortex, to snap close, and it was gone. Along with Miko.


Miko hobbled along with little whimpers and grunt of pain, her middle still tingling even though she had done nothing to warrant further punishment from Shockwave.

It was hard. Every single wire in her screamed for escape. Oh, how she wanted to run to Raf and hug him. How she wanted to go home. But every time the urge came up, the inhibitor shocked her. Something cold and cruel in her processor told her what she had to do. She didn't want to fight Raf, never mind hurt. She prayed he could forgive her.

That she forced her mind away from the thoughts of freedom, and instead directed them to the fight. It was disgusting. That she was doing what Shockwave wanted her to do.

She was relieved that the mech had stopped barking at her from the comms, his attention diverted by something and no longer monitoring his pet. Just in case, Miko was careful. Caring about Jack didn't have to do anything with warping, right? Then they could go ho—

No, no, she just had to focus. Keep her thoughts straight, to not let them stray to prevent another shock.

Another tremor rocked her feet.

They had to get out of here! Surely Shockwave wouldn't prevent her from warping at the cost of her own life? She was too 'valuable' to the mech.

She could get all of them out of here—her and Raf and Jack. She still didn't understand what she had saw. Both mechs were completely different from the boys she had known.

Small, innocent Raf had fought back, holding his own against the two other mutants like a wrestler at a championship match. Then he stared down Megatron, for crying out loud! She couldn't contain her excitement and her pride when he took out Doc Knock!

All the while Jack shivered in her arms. Miko didn't understand. The mech that appeared in the fusion core room—that wasn't Jack. She didn't know who it was, but it wasn't him. Whatever it was, it had caused the poor mechs systems to crash.

Then without warning, the eldest had leaped to his pedes, and he just took off!

Now the Darkmount was crumbling around her and Raf, with the U.S. Air Force blowing up everything in sight. The whole thing was coming down!

"RUN!" Raf screamed.

Miko did not have to be told twice. The pair raced forward as the world fell apart. The younglings found themselves leaping over gaps and ducking under debris, rushing towards the groundbridge.

Raf made it first. He shouted something at her—the noise of the crumbling fortress was too great to determine was he said-as he slipped through and vanished from existence. Now it was Miko's turn. She yelped as the ground opened up before her with a deep metallic groan, twice as wide as she was tall. On the other side was the groundbridge.

She could easily warp to the other side—such a small distance wouldn't put much strain on her tired systems. A determined expression settled onto her face, ready to make the gap. Surprisingly, she felt no resistance on her warpdrive, no tingling sensation or pain as thrummed to life within her. No shout of orders from Shockwave in her audios. Instead, she felt the delicate fabric of space and time bend around her—as easily as it had done before.

"Haha, in your stupid no-face, Shockwave!" Miko laughed.

She could warp! She could escape! She could—

"You are to return to the laboratory and await my arrival," a cold, cruel voice spoke.

"What—" she went to ask, before she warped away.

She felt space and time pulling at her, heard the pop and the air whooshing in to fill the void she left—then realized she was not on the other side with the groundbridge.

The world reappeared, but something was wrong. The air was bitingly cold against her plating. She was first aware that it was dark. It surrounded her as solid, black walls. A pale glow illuminated the broad space, filled with—

"NO!" Miko screamed as she recognized where she was, rushing towards the door to bang on it. "No! I was right there!"

Nonononono!

The Autobots won! She found Raf! She was free!

She couldn't be back here! It wasn't possible! She didn't warp here!

The place she never wanted to return to. The place she hated the most.

Shockwave's laboratory.

With a screech, the femme struck the door harder. And harder and harder. She punched and kicked and rammed her whole body into the steel door. She had even activated her cannons and shifted her servos into battle axes. But it did not budge.

The barrier scratched, dented, and was scorched, but it did not budge. Trapping her forever.

"Rraaagh!" Miko screamed in defiance, continuing to slam and cut at the door with everything she had, even though she knew it was futile. She couldn't give up now... not after being so close...!

She didn't know how long she battled the unmoving wall. She didn't know when her screams turned into sobs. She didn't know when she fell to the floor, curling in on herself, shaking so badly her frame rattled.

It was hopeless, she realized. There was no escape.

Drowning in her misery, she almost didn't hear the high-pitched hum of a groundbridge, and the slow, heavy pedes of her slaver.

"G-go away," she choked out, curling further in on herself.

She half-expected him to continue the discipline of his unruly subject. Instead he was silent as the long stride came closer. Miko tried to ignore the shadow looming over her, tried to ignore—

A solid, calculating, cold EM field brushed against hers. The same one that tormented her, tortured her. The same one that belonged to the mech that owned her.

"I SAID GO AWAY!" Miko screeched, raising her claws as she lunged forward in a flicker of an optic.

Part of her braced for the agony that was sure to come, but it never did. She rammed into the solid frame twice her size, raking her claws across a broad chest. There wasn't even a hiss of pain. Instead an arm wrapped around her middle, plucking her off the ground and pressing her against another chassis.

"Let me go, let me go!" Miko screamed through her tears, pressing against the chest and digging her claws in at the same time. "I HATE YOU!"

The femme flailed and kicked and punched. She screeched as loud as her vocalizer would allow. Miko cursed his name, his existence. She would never be one of them. Never! But the hold did not relent. A blunt cannon joined the clawed servo, tightening the possessive grip around her.

Never letting her go.

Miko felt something. Hot and raw and powerful. It came from her chest, her chamber, her spark. Then it spread, like a wildfire, coursing through her fuel lines until every wire in her body was burning. It spread to her limbs to her servos to her pedes to her helm. To her optics.

She didn't realize it, couldn't see for herself, but Shockwave could. The shifting of blue optics darkening into a tainted purple, before brightening again into a hateful, fiery red. Full of contempt for him.

Miko hated the Decepticons, her captors.

She hated her friends, the ones that failed to save her, that betrayed and abandoned her.

Miko hated the unfairness of it all. How all she wanted was an exciting life, filled with the love of all her friends and family. Only for her to be damned to this awful, living hell.

"I hate you," she repeated lowly, her voice full of venom and spite. "I hope you rust in whatever pit spawned you! All of you!"

As quickly as it came, the storm that swelled inside her dissipated. Miko felt the heat fade away, replaced by frigidness. The energy racing though her frame disappeared.

She wasn't even aware she had slumped against Shockwave's chest, ex-venting heavily, trying to expel the heat that had built up in her systems. She was faintly aware of the sharp fingers stroking down her back, treacherously light and gentle.

She shuddered a little, unable to even sob anymore as she was carried over to the berth. Miko stiffened, instinctively clinging to Shockwave to prevent being placed on the table and experimented on.

Another stroke, this one firmer, almost assuring, tips teasing at sensitive wires. Miko didn't notice her frame was shivering again when Shockwave set her down, carefully taking her frozen servos and prying them off. He placed a servo on her shoulder, gently pushing her down to lay on the berth. It was surreal, the calculated touch that had hurt her and dissected her and tortured her, was soft against her plating. Fingers brushed the side of her face, then petted her helm, comfortingly. It was surreal.

"You require a recharge, Warpdrive," Shockwave broke the silence at last, optic narrowing on her form. "Power down and rest."

Miko no longer had the energy to resist. She felt herself relax under that methodical, rhythmic touch, wires loosening and plating settling. Her bright, crimson optics slipped close.


Jack forced himself through the crumbling tower, his body aching with phantom pains that did not belong to him. Megatron was weak. There was no better opportunity to finish this than right now.

The dark, narrow world shuddered with a deafening clap thunder. Jack gasped as he lost his footing, tilting to the side and just barely managing to catch himself on a nearby wall. He could sense Megatron not far away. Gasping for air he did not need, the pain surging through his body.

Jack didn't even remember stumbling into the power core room. It didn't even look like a room. There was a giant, disfigured machine in the center. There was a sizable dent in its center, along with several ugly tears. However, it was still functioning, lights flashing dangerously as a tremendous roar filled the air. The mech felt the struts of his body rattle as he stepped further.

There were mangled and sparking scraps of metal where terminals once were, and a labyrinth of twisted, shredded debris filled the room. Jack scanned it all, the metal morphing together so much so he almost didn't see it.

The once, pristine silver was charred black, interrupted by bright violet cervices, oozing dark liquid. Dozens of scratches and dents marred spiked plating. Armor was loose and still, revealing inviting, soft gaps. Jack slowly, hesitantly, cautiously approached the unmoving, deformed piece of metal on the ground. There was a deep, strangled groan.

Agony flared across Jacks systems.

He winced as he fell to a knee unwillingly. Venting heavily, he waited for it to pass before shakily getting back up. Jack forced a step forward, looking down at the ruined frame before him.

Megatron was right here.

Unconscious, more vulnerable than he had ever been...

Just like that day when Jack found him, trapped in the mines. Injured, pinned, and his main weapon out of commission, the Decepticon leader was utterly defenseless. Jack thought he was doing the wise choice, by sparing Megatron. He had no right to finish a war that was not his. But he was wrong. It was his war.

The monster that that destroyed his own homeworld, destroying billions of lives. Only to spread his war to other solar systems, ravaging countless planets. Now Earth was next. How many humans had he already killed? How many helpless, innocent beings had he slaughtered?

None of this would have happened if Jack finished the war on that day. Las Vegas would still be intact, Cybertron would have been revived, he wouldn't have been a robot. The Earth would be safe.

Miko and Raf would be human, and with their families now. He could have been hanging out with Arcee at this very moment. Or maybe even glimpsing a restored Cybertron, the first human to ever do so. So many what if's.

Instead he was hurting and suffering and so many people were dead.

All because of the devil that lay at his pedes.

Jack unsheathed his twin blades.

He took slow steps forward, his leg limping as he did so. One strike. One strike and this nightmare would be over.

The former human raised his blade high, braced to bring it down.

He could end it all. He could be with his friends again. He could be with his family again.

He could be with Arcee.

Arcee, who had forgotten about him.

"Surely you realize by now that she does not care for you."

Jack's blade faltered, spark white hot in his chest. His arm trembled as he gritted his denta. Would the Autobots even accept him? After everything he's done?

Jack's fist shot out, colliding with Arcee's jaw.

The plane swerved around once more, missiles loading as he once again set his sights on the bridge, ignoring the people attempting to cross over. There was a sharp hissing noise, the missiles tearing through the air to their target. The bridge fell.

"Ah, but I didn't command you kill them my dear Quickclaw."

It was then that Jack realized that he was too far gone to be saved. Not only for the lives he had taken, but at the realization that even with Megatron's death, the dark energon within him would remain. He would still be tainted, no matter how much time passed or what he did.

Raf said they could purge his systems with pure energon, but what if it didn't work? He would forever be the spawn of Unicron. No different than Megatronus Prime. No different from Megatron.

Jack glanced down at the fallen warlord. Instead of a titanic, mangled frame, he saw a much smaller, weaker, frailer one.

The mech saw himself, alone and broken, in the middle of the waste of Cybertron.

The Decepticons had every opportunity to destroy the turned humans. Destroying the pets of their enemies would have given them the same results. The Autobots would have been crushed, and the Decepticons would have the advantage. Maybe without wasting their time with their pesky prisoners, Megatron would have tracked down his mortal enemies by now.

But the Decepticons didn't kill them. They taken Jack and Miko, treated them, trained them, cared for them.

Jack shut his optics and shook his head. No. The Decepticons were their captors. Monsters.

A scream escaped his vocalizer when his leg was ruthlessly stepped on. There was delicate crack as his leg strut snapped in half.

The mechling screamed, curling into a ball as he grasped his helm, feeling overwhelming pressure on his very mind as he was forced to take the full brunt of Megatron's rage.

He begged for mercy that wouldn't come, pleaded with Megatron to stop, but the warlord did nothing of the sort.

Jack squeezed his optics shut briefly, the pain of the memory vivid in his mind. Megatron was quick to put out any insubordination within his domain.

The tyrant had tortured them. Manipulated them. Used them.

But, he…

"The Decepticons are your family now. We will take care of you."

"I will not hurt you again. No one will hurt you again."

Arms wrapped around his torso, pulling him close to Megatron's frame. He only squeaked, but it died on his vocalizer as Jack leaned his helm against the Decepticon insignia of the warlord's chest. He felt something underneath the armor, thrumming against his audio as it spread across the metal. It was a steady, pulsing rhythm, not unlike his own. It was oddly comforting. The boy closed his optics with a sigh, feeling a strong, dominating EM field embrace him. Talons brushed down his wings, deceptively soft and gentle.

The mutant's arms trembled. Megatron had been horribly cruel, but had been gentle with him. He had acted almost like a—

No, Jack didn't dare finish that thought. He had left a long time ago.

It was all a lie. It had to be a lie. Megatron hated him. He was a human, an insect, to the mighty warlord, that stood between him and total domination. He had helped the Autobots time and time again, foiling the Decepticons' plans. He had restored Orion Pax to Optimus Prime.

"Jackson Darby: much like Orion Pax. A fact that pleases Megatron, and upsets him."

A shudder went across Jack's body. Megatronus and Orion had planned to change Cybertron together. To save Cybertron. Only they had been divided by fate, and war had torn them apart. Soundwave had said they were best friends—brothers. Ratchet told Megatron wasn't just Orion's ally, but he had mentored the naïve archivist. Took him under his wing and taught him the skills that eventually allowed Orion to be the great leader he was destined to be.

Did Megatron see his old friend, ripped away from him by a totalitarian regime? Or did he see something else?

Releasing a breath he didn't need, Jack's blades slid back into their sheaths. His body still trembled. Even after everything Megatron had done to Cybertron, to him...

He couldn't finish it.

Jack fell to all fours with a sob.

He could end it all. He could end the war. But he couldn't.

The human-turned-Cybertronian hardly registered that the entire world was quaking. Metallic growls, groans, and thunder filled the air, competing against the overheating fusion core. A beam of metal slammed onto the ground next to Jack with an ear-splitting clang, but the mech was too lost in his inner war to notice it. He gritted his denta, curling his servos into shaking fists.

And then the he grasped Megatron's arm. Pulling with all his might, he hooked the much larger mech's arm over his shoulders.

"Soundwave... I need a groundbridge. Now."

Jack struggled, his legs shaking as he took a step forward. Only to buckle underneath the weight of the titan, seething as he desperately tried to correct, only to fall in a tangle of limbs. He didn't understand how Cybertronians gathered their strength, but he realized it wasn't like a human. Muscles would pull as one, the body shifting to compensate the weight the best it could. Now Jack felt pistons move back and forth, trying to stay upright. He gritted his denta.

"M-Megatron, I-I can't carry you," he muttered, trying to rouse the unconscious tyrant. He only got a weird, metallic noise. Jack's stabilizers shuddered. "Master!"

Red optics flickered.

"Queclah?" Megatron slurred.

"Come on, you have to stand up, I can't carry you."

Even as he said the words, Jack struggled to his pedes, hoisting the heavy mech upwards.

"Wha... arr yoo... doin?"

Before Jack could even find the words to answer, the red optics turned black once again. The weight seemed to double, if that was even possible. The human-turned-Cybertronian seethed, his body shaking. The tower around him roared. He could hardly see—a thick film of smoke now filled the air.

Then all he saw was a bright, warm light.

Jack closed his eyes, willing the strength to come. He sent a prayer to a god he knew he shouldn't speak to. When it was answered, Jack then understood that he was truly lost. A surge of power fueled him as his optics glowed violet, finding the strength to drag Megatron along.

And together they stepped into the groundbridge.


Misgel: Probably because, Rian, we have come to the epic conclusion of Metempsychosis. This is the biggest project I have tackled with another author, and the journey has yet to finish. Yes, this will have a sequel, of which Rian and I are already halfway through. It will be posted shortly, but as I am returning to school, updates may be longer. We appreciate all the awesome support and lovely reviews, nd hope to see you guys in the next installation!