"But… If Dad gave the Matrix to Ultra Magnus, how did you get it?"

We sat down on my couch again and he told me more.

"Before Optimus died, he handed the Matrix to Ultra Magnus. He was too weak to keep it in his hand and it fell. I caught it and it lit up like a candle. I should have known that meant trouble… But I gave it to Ultra Magnus as I should. Prime also said: 'One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour.'"

"And that Autobot turned out to be you."

"Yeah," he said somewhat proud. "A bit later the Decepticons attacked Autobot-city again. That was our first encounter with Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge and the Sweeps."

"Who are they?"

"Galvatron is a new and improved version of Megatron. Beware of him, he's a lot more trouble than Megatron. Cyclonus is his second-in-command. And Scourge is Galvatron's tracker and the Sweeps are his huntsmen. They're all quit lethal."

I nodded. Should I tell him that I had learned to have complete control over any mechanical life if I wanted to? Hmmm … Nah… not just yet.

"They chased us across the galaxy to get the Matrix from Ultra Magnus. In fleeing we got separated and the Decepticons got their hands on the Matrix. Galvatron thought he could use it to control Unicron."

"Who's Unicron?"

He told me all about that monster planet and how they got stuck in his body – when he was attacking Cybertron - to find a way to destroy him and retrieve the Matrix.

"And there it was… shining in the darkness of Unicron's bowels… The Matrix… Galvatron had it!"

I was all ears as he told me how he tried to get it back and how he finally got his hands on it as Galvatron was trying to choke the life out of him.

"As I got my hands on the Matrix it lit up brightly. I threw Galvatron off of me and held it over my head. Then I heard Optimus' voice say 'Arise Rodimus Prime' and I grew quit a bit bigger and stronger. I grabbed Galvatron and threw out through Unicrons bowels into space. And then I opened the Matrix. The power that came from the Matrix completely destroyed Unicron. Leaving only his head in orbit around Cybertron."

He had my complete attention and my mouth hung open as he told me all that had happened, I didn't notice at first he had finished his tale.

With a grin he pushed my chin up, closing my mouth.

"Oh… sorry… That was so impressive… I'm sorry to have missed all of that… well, except for Dad dying… I don't know if I could have handled that…"

"If you were there, you would have had to."

"So… your name is now Rodimus Prime?"

He nodded.

"That's gonna take some getting used to."

"Tell me about it."

After a quiet moment I asked: "Did you guys burry Dad or anything like that? He does have a grave, does he?"

"Yeah, of course he as. He and the other Autobots we lost in the battle."

"Bumblebee and Ironhide made it, right?" I was afraid to ask.

"Bumblebee did… but I'm afraid Ironhide didn't. He was on the shuttle that the Decepticons had attacked and used to get close to Autobot City. All aboard that shuttle were killed."

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

"Did they know about you too?"

"They were together with Dad on the planet where I first saw them and they rescued me." I wiped away my new tears. "Ironhide was like an uncle to me."

He put his arm around me. "We have created a huge spaceship, a mausoleum, to put our lost comrades to rest. It's drifting in space. I can take you to there, if you want."

I nodded, cause hearing of even more lost friends my throat felt kinda closed off again.

And so I left with him in his shuttle on our way to find the mausoleum. The trip took us several hours at the shuttle's fastest speed. I really didn't want to go there… but I had to. I couldn't just let Dad go without a goodbye. Maybe that would make this all a bit more realistic to me. Now it seemed like a bad dream.

To pass the time we talked a lot about all kinds of things.

"What's it like, being the big boss now?" I asked him.

"I never thought it would be so hard…" he said with a sigh. "I can't possibly fill up the space Optimus left. And his 'shoes' are so darn big to fill up. I never thought there would be so much to deal with as a leader. Most of the time I don't think I'm up for the job."

"Yeah, well, you're only just starting. Dad has been a leader for how long?"

"I know… but still."

"You don't think he started off as a great leader, do you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I always thought he had it in him."

"Why do you think YOU could open the Matrix? There must be something inside you that has that too."

"Must be tucked away pretty deep."

"Do not be so pessimistic!" I rebuked him. "You used to be so cheerful, always something positive and uplifting to add to whatever problem anyone had. What happened to that party-spirit of yours?" I looked at him with a sweet look my bright blue eyes.

"I am trying very hard to be cheerful, positive and uplifting, but it's very hard to keep that up if everybody keeps wining and complaining when I'm doing the very best that I can."

"Don't your friends try to help you in any way they can? And I'm especially referring to a certain pink lady-bot…" I blinked my eyes a few times.

"Wha….? Well… How would you…" His mind worked pretty fast after that. "Oh, yes, you were there that night when I asked her …." He grinned. "Nah, we kinda grew apart. She's more into Springer now."

"And she said she wanted to be independent!"

"She still is. They're not an item or anything. At least not officially."

"Well, if she isn't gonna back you up, I will!" I said cheerfully. "That will make you feel better."

He grinned.

"Can't be that hard, can it?"

"Walk with me for a day, and you'll know."

We looked at the stars for a while. We passed several planets and a gorgeous nebula.

"Hey, why are you going back to Earth? You have found your home again… and you people?" Rodimus asked me. "Don't mean to get rid of you, just curiosity."

"I promised Dad, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Spike and Carly I'd come back to visit. But I think I'd like to come back permanently."

"It wasn't what you'd expected?"

"No, it actually was. I found out all I wanted to know about my life before I was taken from my home. My parents were killed in an attack and I was taken and sold as a pet. I was seven and I had taken the form of a large feline. A young feline of course, since I was still a kid."

"So you've been imprisoned from the age of seven? As a pet?"

I nodded. "After years… don't know exactly how many… Dad found me and rescued me, I told you that. And my brother found me, I told you that too. Back on my home-planet my brother Kanaye showed me everything there was to see. Not just our home, but the whole planet. And slowly I started to remember what I had forgotten. I was taught how to use my hidden abilities and I must say I'm very good at them."

"What kind of abilities?"

How was I going to tell him that without scaring him off? Maybe I should just tell him, he might just surprise me. He was really cool about finding out I was the dog all along.

"I can transform as you know, to lots of mammal and reptilian species. In the flesh and in my organic metal form. I also have complete control over any mechanical life form with my mind if I want to."

I paused for a sec to check out his response.

"Impressive." He said. "Just don't make me do any weird stuff."

I grinned. "I won't make you do anything! That's reserved for the bad guys if they dare to bother me. I can do more… wanna hear?"

"Later, look," he pointed at the front-window. "It's the mausoleum."