Author's notes: Some utterly amazing happened to me today. You see, I have been having endless trouble trying to connect this section of the story with the ending, trying make certain things happen within the perameters that I've set up. It's what's been causing my writer's block, preventing me from keeping myself 'so many' chapters ahead of the updates. As of now I have ne more chapter before I run out.

And well, I did it. It all came to me at once how everything fit together into one piece. All the little bread crumbs I've left throughout the story just incase I may need them are now all intertwined. All I can say is, I think this story may excede 50 chapters. Depends on how much I can make happen within a chapter. I don't know. But this means I'll be able to crank out more chapters now that I know where and how to play the pieces. Anway, I must warn you all:

I've left you all a nasty surprise at the bottom and you're all gonna hate me.

Chapter Thirty-Four: The hourglass effect.

Peace.

Quiet.

It was strange and far too alien to him. For vorns it seemed he was constantly fighting, bowing, submitting to a master he never wished to serve, a power that had taken up arms against his people unprovoked. He hated them for everything they had done to him; every bow or salute, every sign of submission he had granted them through his cowardice.

When he had been taken from his planet by the Decepticons, he regretfully recalled feeling a sense of relief; relief in escaping his past. But nothing he had done in his early life would have ever haunted him more then what he was forced to do while under the proverbial, and sometimes literal, foot of the Decepticon hierarchy. Time after time he did what he was told and every time he showed even the smallest amount of resistance, he was reminded of the consequences of his failure.

After a while, he started to feel numb. Something deep in his mind told him that if he could not feel, he could not hurt; he could not fear anyone…as time went on the voice became more vocal and influential. Soon it seemed to be the only thing he ever heard. He felt nothing, did nothing without direct commands, and cared for nothing. In some ways, metaphoric or genuinely, he had died while in his newly bound enslavement. After a time, he could barely recall his home, his friends, and familiar places; he was forgetting the images of home…the feeling of home…the warmth.

All such things disappeared and were replaced by an iciness that seemed other worldly. It took a hold of him and would not release.

But that changed. Everything changed after he had detected the Fourth's signature. The planet was rather hard to find and even harder to navigate through. The air was cluttered with millions of varying signals, none of which made any sense to him. It was a challenge simply keeping his head on the task at hand and not loosing himself inside the crowded airways jammed with human nonsense.

For endless cycles he didn't seemed to be producing any progress and the voice in the back of him mind repeated what would occur if he should fail.

"They'll all die…because of you," The Voice told him.

He hailed to the Fourth key's mind without response.

'Where are you?'

"You'll be a murderer Zandrex…you'll have murdered them…"

'Where are you?' He called a little more urgently.

"…all of them…murderer…"

The word stabbed through him and seeped into his mind where it corroded and festered.

He panicked.

'WHERE ARE YOU?!!!' He yelled out.

In his mind he felt something move, almost like a flinch. He reached out into the presence and traced it back. He had found it…he had found her. Relief filled him.

He flew onward as fast as his Energon deprived systems would allow. His movements made no sound or disturbance of the wind around him. He stopped just above the tree line near a clearing and looked down. Through the organic foliage he could make out an object, small, running. As it came more into view he labeled it to be the fourth. Before it could go any further he fired his rifle so the blast struck the path before the Key, hindering its escape. When the wall of flame exploded, the being seem to fall apart.

No, he realized; there were two of them, a male and a female. He knew, instinctly, which of the two he sought; the female. He wondered though about the other though and what relationship he posed to the Key. Mates perhaps? No. As he drifted into her mind, a word seemed to pop up and though he didn't understand the denotative meaning; the connotative significance was easily discernable.

He was her kin.

Taking his attention from the male, he turned his gaze towards the female and it was then that Zandrex first laid optics on the small creature that was the fourth key – Madelyn.

'There you are…'

A male relation stood just ahead of her while she looked blindly around, presumably to locate the source of the noise she was hearing. He almost smiled.

'Look upwards little one…'

Her frantic gazing ceased and slowly she gazed upwards. Mechanical yellow optics met green organic eyes. Even with the distance between them he could blatantly see the utter fear in her expression. Through the internal link he could feel her mind sputter and hesitate like an old engine valiantly trying to get going.

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Zandrex activated his optics and looked around his cell; his prison on the Autobot vessel. The physical encasement he was bound to for the time being until his fate was decided by a higher power.

He relished in that fact. A physical barrier he could see and potentially escape instead of the mental prison he had endured so long as the first key and now it was gone forever; and with it, The Voice.

The Voice that had tormented him for far longer then he wished to surmise.

A sound caught his attention and he snapped his head up to look into the optics of the large red Mech named Ironhide that served as his keeper. Striding across the entrance to Zandrex's cell, Ironhide stopped beside a panel just out of view and the glowing Energon bars dimmed and faded away. Staying where he was, Zandrex curiously observed as Ironhide walked into the cell.

"Hold out your hands," He ordered flatly. Zandrex did as he was told without a verbal response, and merely watched on curiously. Ironhide held a small device above Zandrex's wrists and pushed a button which then produced Energon bands to encircle the black Mech's wrist, producing a slight buzzing sensation in his hands. "Stand up."

Awkwardly, Zandrex stood and gazed bemusedly at the red Mech. "What is happening?"

"Madelyn's havin' another reaction," He replied. "Prime wants you there as a precaution. He supposes that if something goes wrong, you'll know how to fix it."

"Why though?"

"You know more about this mystic slag then anyone else here," Ironhide replied with a hint of disdain. "'You're our expert', as Prowl put it."

"I'll do my best," Zandrex said with a small nod.

Ironhide grunted and lead Zandrex out of the cell and out of the brig.

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As Ironhide lead the Yasurrian down the hall and up a floor to the medical deck where the Medbay and labs were located, he carefully scrutinized every movement of his charge, trying to read him and perhaps prevent any attempt at escape.

But Zandrex made no such move. Instead, the black armored Mech walked calmly along and remained cooperative with Ironhide's every direction.

Half way to the Medbay, a group of Mechs appeared at a conjoining hall up ahead and Ironhide raised a hand in greeting as the familiar forms of Ultra Magnus, Groove, and a smaller green Mech he recognized as Rimshot. Before the old Autobot could vocalize his greetings, his optics caught onto the glowing shard in Groove's hands.

Ironhide slowed and stopped in front of Groove, careful to keep Zandrex close to his side.

"That the shard?" He asked gruffly.

"I suppose," Groove replied with a small grin. The Second's gaze floated over to Zandrex and his systems gave a muffled rumble and his grin disappeared. "Hello Zandrex."

The black Mech merely nodded.

"Well let's get this over with," Ironhide grunted and began walking down the hall once more towards the Medbay. "We don't want to keep Madelyn waiting."

Ironhide grabbed onto Zandrex's shoulder and steered him forward.

"Don't have to tell us twice," Groove replied as he followed the red Autobot. Ultra Magnus and Rimshot followed suit. Groove quickened his step to match with Ironhide's long strides. "So, is it bad?"

"I haven't seen her since her first reaction," Ironhide replied, his tone flat and steady. He didn't sound very happy. "Those in-the-know are saying this last reaction wasn't as bad. But the first one…I never wanna see that happen to her again. We thought she was dieing."

Groove looked melancholy as he continued on down the hall. The sooner they delivered the shard, the better he'd feel.

Just as they were coming up on the Medbay entrance they heard a series of loud bangs, crashes, and a distinct scream of pain. The small convoy froze, exchanged glances, and hurried onward. Ultra Magnus, Rimshot, and Ironhide all brought their weapons from subspace.

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Ratchet and Wheeljack were silent as they went about the room, adjusting various instruments and gazing over reading outputs. The scene in the Medbay was reminiscent to old 50's horror movies. Large, obscure, and strange devices of unknown purpose were positioned somewhat in a circle around an observation table towards the rear of the bay. On said table was a flat foam pad where upon which lay the still form of Madelyn. She had stopped convulsing several breems ago, but she remained in her powered state. Once in a while she would moan or turn her head, but, for the most part, stayed where she was.

None of their instruments were providing either scientist with an explanation as to why she was reacting this way to the shard abstraction. Both their shifts had ended several hours ago, but neither Mech was willing to pass on the job of monitoring Madelyn's condition to the rest of the medical staff.

Wheeljack was observing a monitor when a flicker of light caught his optic. Curiously, he turned to look at Madelyn, but seeing nothing amiss, he shrugged and returned to his work.

Then he saw it again and he turned.

Ratchet was logging the recent scan results onto file when he heard Wheeljack gasp. Looking up from his own work, he looked to the engineer and then followed his line of sight to where Madelyn lay. She was still on the foam pad, just as before…except…

In her powered state, Madelyn's form had always been an iridescent red-orange, but flickers of silver and blue were sparking along her arms and legs. Both scientists walked the short distance to stand next to her berth, both bemused and fearful. Slowly, and seemingly without reason, her entire form gave an almighty heave and lit up in a dazzling display of blinding silver and blue light.

"Agh!" Ratchet and Wheeljack shied back and covered they optics at the intensity of it.

When they looked back after the light subsided, Madelyn's eyes had popped open. She sat up and looked around her.

"Madelyn?" Wheeljack said cautiously, taking a step forward. Almost immediately he noticed her eyes and how unsettling they appeared. The whites of her eyes had turned jet black and her pupil were nothing but a bright blue dot of color.

Her head snapped up to look at the engineer…and she sneered at him. Madelyn made a swiping motion with her arm and one of the bulky scanners jolted forward of its own accord, smashing into the engineer with a sickening shriek of metal on metal. The force was so great that the scanner rammed Wheeljack all the way to the back where he was sandwiched between the wall and machine. The Autobot engineer fell to the ground, moaning in pain.

Ratchet froze in horror at what he had just seen. He was torn between rushing to Wheeljack's aid and seeing to Madelyn. His gaze lingered on the crippled form of Wheeljack before traveling to the girl, just in time to see her make another swiping motion with her hand.

"Die…" Madelyn's voice hissed.

Ratchet felt an incredible force of pressure on his left shoulder and his systems screamed in pain all before everything went dark.

He cried out as he fell.

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Daiga's optics turned on. He didn't know what had brought him out of recharge, but he had an uneasy feeling deep in his cortex that just wouldn't go away. Sitting at the edge of his berth, he looked across to the offline form of his room mate and felt a twinge of jealousy at the Mech's luck at being able to stay offline.

He was being silly. He knew he was. Madelyn was fine. Like Ratchet said. Once Groove gave her his shard, everything would be fine…fine…

Would it?

Something felt wrong….very wrong.

With an urge of will, Daiga leaped to his feet and made his way out of the room and into the dormitory hall. Nothing seemed to be amiss and he spotted the yellow lights above the key pads to several other quarters indicating a recharging Mech within. If that was anything to go by, all was well.

That was until he tried to contact Madelyn's mind through the internal link.

At first all he could perceive was an incoherent mumbling and then he heard something that worried him.

'…d-dai..ga…hel…p…' Her voice was faint and quivering...afraid. Before he could do anything, a crippling pain unlike anything he'd ever felt assaulted his processor, streaming though his entire body, and literally pushed him out of Madelyn's mind, cutting the internal link completely with an almost audible snap.

"Ah!" Daiga staggered and stumbled to his knees, cradling his head in agony. As the pain slowly subsided, Daiga stared with wide optics at a spot on the floor before him. His hands shook in sheer shock.

What just happened? What was that?

Looking ahead of him he caught sight of Bumblebee as the yellow Minibot came down the hall. Spotting the bronze Key kneeling in the middle of the floor, Bumblebee made his way over to him.

"Are you OK?" Bumblebee asked and offered his hand as support as Daiga unsteadily picked himself up. "What were you doing?"

Seeing the horrified expression on his friend's face, Bumblebee's own face took on a concerned look.

"Diaga?"

"I…I don't know," Daiga hesitated. "I tried to contact Maddie and…something…pushed me out."

Bumblebee raised an optic ridge. "Something pushed you out?"

"I need to get to the Medbay," Daiga grunted as he took a step forward.

The dormitory hall lights suddenly dimmed to an eerie red and Red Alert's voice spoke to them over the private comms. In a ship wide alert was broadcast.

("Attention all personnel: Report to your level 7 stations. Shots have been fired in the Medbay corridor. Mechs down, I repeat Mechs down. Strike force beta, assemble at safe point 54 to await orders. I repeat: all personnel report to your level 7 stations and strike force beta is to assemble at safe point 54 to await orders.")

"No!" Daiga howled, pushing away from Bumblebee and rushed towards the exit, stumbling slightly as he did so.

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No one could believe the sight before them and certainly no one wanted to believe it.

Wheeljack lay on the floor of the far end of the bay. The fins on the side of his head were dim and he was moaning softly as his processor continuously dipped in and out of stasis. Ratchet laid face down on the floor not too far away, his left shoulder mangled and crushed, while a large piece of machinery, a scanner of some sort, lay across his back and effectively pinning him down. His optics were dark and bright pink and blue liquids pooled around his injured arm.

Ironhide and Ultra Magnus were at the front of the group, weapons drawn when they entered the Bay. Rimshot, being of much shorter stature then those two, stood between them with his own rifle poised. Groove and Zandrex remained behind the bulk of the others, craning their necks to get a good look at the scene.

Zandrex felt a sudden dread that he had wished with his whole being never to experience again.

Madelyn was standing a top an examination table, her form aglow in bright blue and silver light that sparked and cracked as it raced around her small body. Her eyes were dark and unsettling.

"M-madelyn…" Ironhide stammered over his words at the mere sight of her. "What the pit happened?"

Her head turned slowly to look at them. Zandrex felt her dark eye fell on him and a chill swept through his body. He felt…afraid.

She grinned darkly.

"Zandrex…" She hissed in a voice that seemed three dimensional. It was her voice to be sure, it sounded like her, but there was something there that…just wasn't Madelyn.

Without warning, her body's light intensified and she shot off the table top like a rocket, coming straight towards them. Programming took over and Mechs dived out of the way of the speeding human.

Zandrex did not.

A powerful force slammed into him, knocking him clear off his feet, and he felt a sense of weightlessness before his shoulders smashed into the wall. The attack jarred him terribly, but he managed to keep upright somehow. He looked down at his chest and saw Madelyn there, her fist pressed against his chest armor around a sizable dent, where her hand had made contact, and her body aflame in brilliant swirls of light.

Her dark eyes glared into him.

"Never…" She hissed, voice barely above a whisper, but seemed to resound within his mind. "You'll never be rid of me…" Her mouth twitched in an aborted grin. "I will see you dead before this is over…no one discards me. You should have waited, instead of running to that old fool."

The Yasurrian started. He knew that voice…it was hauntingly familiar.

Bur it couldn't be!

The Voice! How?

Zandrex was frozen in fear at what was happening. He couldn't move. It wasn't possible. He had gotten rid of the voice…forever. It was gone. Forever. How did it get to Madelyn? How?

"You…you're not real," Zandrex muttered.

This time Madelyn did grin. "Not real? Oh, I assure you, I am real."

Ironhide and the others began to pick themselves up off the ground, the entire situation unfolding before them bemusing them and frightening them.

"Madelyn!" Ironhide barked. "What are you doing?!"

Madelyn ignored them. She floated back a few feet, her arm still poised before her and, those dark eyes never left Zandrex's face. The light around her intensified once more and she smiled as a large glowing orb of silver and blue energy grew in her palm. The lights around them flickered and dimmed as their energy was drained.

It was then that he knew how the Voice had reached Madelyn. It was because of him. By giving her his shard...somehow, his tormentor had been given as well. It was his fault.

"Madelyn…" Zandrex breathed, optics wide. "I'm sorry…"

"Goodbye Zandrex," She said.

The room erupted in a flash of radiant light.