"Oh, you are smart." Mitzi, Middia, laughed. Mitzi snapped her fingers, and suddenly the humongous form of Middia was looming over him. "That took ya long enough, and now since you've figured it out," She smiled, clapping her hands. The duo were suddenly transported into the throne room, Middia once again on her throne. "You're free."
"How- I mean- Wait, how? I-" Ratchet faltered, scrambling to comprehend everything.
"Take it easy, dear. You'll overload your circuits." Middia said gently, her blue/purple eyes softening with a smile. "Oh, since you won I guess you deserve half an explanation." Middia sighed, slouching in her throne.
"I believe that's best." Ratchet swallowed with a nod.
"Well let's see, what do you not know? Oh yeah, Aramayus and Critius were ghosts, they're gone now, yes they were under my thumb in bringing you here. And oh yeah, Mitzi's me. My dear brother Unicron has this ability to create little replicas of himself, my other brother Primus can create any form and use it to his advantage. And me, the one in the middle, can do both. I used Mitzi to get to all of you 'bots, and it worked so easy, so extremely well! You were right about the whole 'Mitzi hasn't ever been in the base', she, I, never had before. Mitzi is one of my favorite forms, easy to work with. She keeps me in check too, so it works pretty well." Middia laughed, and waving her hand Mitzi was on the floor in front of the shocked medic. He may have figured everything out, but that didn't stop him from being flabbergasted beyond belief.
"Sorry, Ratchet. I have to listen to her." Mitzi laughed sheepishly.
"I understand." Ratchet replied after a pause.
"Mitzi is the best scout I have in my arsenal, she isn't exactly what people look for when expecting spies. And she is my absolute best friend anyway, so she's amazing anyway." Middia explained with a grin.
"I'm touched." Mitzi replied with an easy smile.
"So, what happens now?" Ratchet asked awkwardly. "How do my friends get free of you?"
"Well, do you want to do this the easy way or hard way?" Middia replied.
"Middia, one of your opponents beat you. Uphold your honor will you?" Mitzi sighed.
"Why are you out here anyway?" Middia sighed. "You know I don't like you ruling my life."
"Best friend's job, Middy. Now let them all go." Mitzi demanded with a roll of the eyes and a light scoff.
"All right. Ratchet, you better thank your lucky stars Mitzi's on your side." Middia finally agreed, and waving her hand the room's space was suddenly filled with Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee.
"You're all right!" Ratchet breathed in relief.
"We're out." Arcee breathed, the horror she had witnessed permanently etched in her circuits. She would never let that horror happen, Jack would never be harmed, ever.
"Free." Bulkhead gasped, trying to shake off the energon that was no longer covering him. He had witnessed Bolter's death again, and it was worse this time. He could never save her, ever. But he was still alive, his spark still beat, and he wasn't gonna give into those despicable Decepticons. That was one thing he could promise his friend. He would avenge her, somehow, someday.
"That means Raf is alright!" Bumblebee exclaimed, his beeps and clicks easily understood by the whole room.
"He was always alright, Bee. I don't like blowing beings up, takes to long, and it doesn't ever give me a fully satisfied feeling." Middia broke in with a thoughtful air.
"How were we freed? Why were we freed?" Optimus asked, blinking back the sudden colors of the world around him.
"Oh, you're friend Ratchet here saved the day. I knew I had to be careful about this one, but I didn't think your medic would solve the whole puzzle!" Middia laughed, easily brushing aside all the pain and misery she had pushed on the Autobots and made them endure.
"Ratchet?" Arcee asked surprised.
"The one and only." Middia replied for the medic.
"So, what happens? How do I defeat you without the other 2 Primes?" Optimus asked carefully, feeling the isolation of once again being the last Prime. His joy had been complete when he learned he wasn't the last, but now... he was the last. Always was the last, and always would be. Alone.
"Do you honestly think I would allow a threat against me to survive? Please Optimus, be smart for once. I allowed a course of destiny to be taken, a road leading to the existence of only one Prime. This way, my dear idiotic Brother Unicron would finally be brought to his knees! And in this road, you came to earth. Everything that happened after you touched down on planet earth, it only happened because Optimus would be the last. To allow the other Primes to exist, not only would they become my ruin, they would have become corrupted."
"What? Impossible!" Ratchet scoffed.
"Primes can be swayed, little brilliant one. They can be bribed, bought, bigoted, and quite easily told to turn their head away from something dark. Why do you think Megatronus became so powerful? Before he took the title Megatron, he bribed a Prime, played favorites among the Chosen, stirred up hate and resentment and suspicion, he played the Prime Council. Easy as that, but I doubt our Optimus here could be swayed so easily. So proud, so very proud."
"That is just...horrible." Bulkhead murmured.
"Totally horrible." A familiar voice asked, and the Autobots spun to find their Miko leaning casually against the far door frame. "So why'd you bring me up here?" She asked casually, pushing off the frame to walk into the Cybertronians midst.
"Miko! You're alright!" Bulkhead exclaimed in shock.
"Duh, didn't Middy tell you?" Miko replied slightly perplexed with a smile. "You didn't tell them did you?" Miko sighed, her hands on her hips as she faced the great Middia.
"I didn't hear you complaining." Middia replied.
"Yeah, I didn't really notice." Miko shrugged. "Middy set me up in this awesome house down in India. It was totally awesome! There was all these games and rock CDs, I'm talking bands only I've ever heard of, Middy is so awesome. And the place was perfect! It was hidden in the woods and was pure white marble with Greek columns, and it had like a gazillion rooms! There was a waterbed, and a never empty mini fridge, and then a HUGE real fridge, I was in heaven. And Middy didn't leave me alone, so you don't need to worry about that Optimus. She left me in this 'con's hands, his name was Beast Blaster, but I called him B.B, easier that way don't ya think?"
"You're all right!" Bulkhead exclaimed, rushing to his human to pick her up in dumbfounded amazement.
"Uh, duh." Miko laughed.
"She's all right!" Arcee breathed in amazement. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, that is except for Ratchet.
"Where have you been young lady?" He demanded, advancing upon her.
"I told you, India somewhere." Miko replied easily.
"Do you know what you have put us through? What my friends had to endure because you sided with this evil?" Ratchet demanded hotly, and Miko's eyes narrowed and a fire began to burn in them.
"You were perfectly fine, Middy told me everything that she was going to put you through. And none of it was real! It was all an illusion, Ratchet."
"An illusion?" Ratchet repeated dumbstruck.
"Duh dude." Miko replied like she was talking to an idiot. "Illusions become solid and real when you believe them, and things can be just as deadly in an illusion just as in reality. If you got stabbed with a sword in that other world, you really would be stabbed. But in the end, it simply melts away. Like a bad dream, it washes off you when you wake up. All that bad stuff will vanish, and you won't really remember it."
"For once, I think you're smart." Ratchet murmured surprised.
"Thanks." Miko smirked. "So they passed your test, Middy, just like I told you they would." Miko began, looking at the 'evil' Power across the room. "Can we go home now? My host mom's making pot roast and mashed potatoes, so I'd like to get going. She finally started taking cooking classes, so I'm pretty sure my host mom will have finally created something good to eat. I hope."
"Miko dearie, of course, I uphold my promises. Usually. You may leave, but Miko, hang back a second." Middia instructed.
"We're not leaving without her." Bulkhead butted in determinedly.
"To bad." Middia replied, and with a wave cut off Bulkhead's retort to send him and the other 'bots back down to earth and their base.
"What's up, Middy?" Miko asked surprised. Mitzi came toward her and gave the Japanese girl a hug, smiling as she took the silver cape off her shoulders and draped it around her new friend's shoulders. "Thanks, Mitz, it's my color." Miko smiled happily.
"I know." Mitzi chuckled, looking back at her true form up on the throne. "We want to let you know something, your friends are walking down a dangerous path. This road leads to extremely dark places, places we can't even find it's so dark with Unicron's hate."
"My brother is massing his forces, he is trying something drastic." Middia murmured carefully, her weird eyes softening in concern and fear. "We need you to be ready."
"For what?" Miko asked surprised. The two other beings exchanged a look, Middia finally giving a tiny nod.
"Darkness is coming, Miko. Something so dark that everyone will give up hope. We asked you to come with us for two reasons, A) Middia wanted her fun, and B) You hold almost all of the hope and energy in that base of yours. Without you and your courageous enthusiasm, your friends will falter." Mitzi explained quietly.
"Promise you won't give up, even when the darkness chokes you and you are on the brink of death. Promise." Middia commanded, her eyes becoming calm, cold fires, eyes that dared you to challenge her and tell her no, eyes that commanded obedience and strengthened and crumbled wills. Eyes that pulled you deep and made you feel something older than anything you ever knew you had, something ancient, primitive even, that let you know something bigger than you imagined. It was just a feeling, but Miko knew it was so much more. "Promise me, Miko Nakadai." Middia commanded again, and Miko nodded solemnly.
"I will not give, Middia, I won't give in. I will be strong in darkness, I will be a light." Miko promised gravely, and Middia's face brightened.
"Wonderful!" Middia said cheerfully. "Now Miko sweet, remember, the door will always be open to you, the cape my Mitzi gave you will act like a transporter to up here. Your always welcome, and Miko sweet, remember this other thing. I am not calling you the lynch pin of your group, you are important, true, but even without you the group would still function. But you hold a key part, remember that the next time that mean old principal of yours tells you that you won't ever be something great. He's a pure bred idiot, I can't believe the school board allows him to rule an entire school as he does." Middia complained, sighing as she rolled her eyes. "Either way, see you later, sweet!"
"See ya, Middy, adios Mitzi." Miko laughed, in complete agreement about her principal.
"We'll see you when we see you." Mitzi grinned giving a wave as Middia clapped her hands, and Miko was transported back down to earth.
"You know, I can't believe those 'bots actually bought Crit's story about you living in the base for months." Middia suddenly said after Miko had left their presence. "It's so impossible, it makes you a true Mary Sue, you know."
"Mary Sue's are wishful thinking, Middia. I'm as real as the next being." Mitzi replied with a knowing look.
"True, true." Middia replied with a twinkle in her laugh.
"So, now that we have those 'bots out of our lives for now, what do you want to do?" Mitzi asked with a mischievous smile.
"Oh, let's see. We still haven't freaked out a Decepticon today, I think that should take dominance." Middia replied with a grin of her own. "You haven't seen terror until you see true Decepticon terror, so let another game begin."
"It's always games with you, Middia." Mitzi laughed as she went to get another cape. Middia sat thoughtfully as her other form left the room, suddenly quiet and demure and unnaturally silent
"Of course, we only have til the darkness takes us, and I will live my life until it is over. The darkness will not take me without a fight, and I will not be succumbed until the last breath leaves my all powerful body." Middia whispered the words fiercely, so strong that the shadows in the room seemed to retreat. She was Middia, the middle power in the struggle between good and evil, and like it happens every so often, the darkness would win until the true light of Good came back to wipe the world of evil, and she wouldn't let the darkness win that easily.
After all, Middia wasn't just an Original Power. She had a duty to fight for the light, teach others to overcome darkness, she wasn't pure evil after all. Her brother Unicron had that spot locked up nice and tight, and she would fight him until she was finally conquered. But that was a long ways away, and she was still going strong. She had to be, because just living wasn't good enough. If she was going down sometime, she was going to have lived her life, had some fun, and kicked the darkness out of her domain.
After all, she wasn't just the middle Original Power, some being who drifted between good and evil, though she was always tempted one way or the other. No, she was more than a simple Power, she was a being who fought for the light.
No, she was more than a Power, she was a fighter.
Besides, she was a Prime.
The Original Prime.