Azura had finished drinking the low-grade energon a few minutes ago, and she now she was standing on the platform, watching Optimus and Ratchet gather the broken item to put it away for additional storage and study. She still couldn't believe that the broken equipment came to life and attacked Ratchet. She didn't know how it came to life, only that dark energon had something to do with it. Optimus and Ratchet had begun to talk about it again too, and Azura listened quietly.

"If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought your broken equipment to life…" Optimus closed the cylinder which the broken equipment was being held while he spoke to the medic. "It would stand to reason, that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead."

Azura couldn't help but feel angry about it. Cliffjumper deserved peace and not to have him body used for twisted experiments like that. She knew she herself wouldn't have been able to do anything if she could. She could influence elements and the weather, not the dead. Which she was happy about, as that would seem a little too extreme in her eyes.

Ratchet was rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he pondered the fear Optimus had regarding what has happened to Cliffjumper. "Hmm…that would account for his life signal inexplicably coming back online. But dark energon?" He looked at Optimus in disbelief that this was possible. "It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent. What would it be doing on Earth?"

"It was transported by Megatron," Optimus stated in a concern tone, making Ratchet blink in disbelief.

"For what purpose?" The medic questioned, confused as to why Megatron would collect the substance in the first place.

"To conquer this planet by raising an army of the undead." Azura shivered fearfully as she listened to the words as Optimus spoke what Megatron would do. He glanced at her to see Azura standing there with a tight grip on the rails.

Ratchet just made a light laugh of disbelief. "Well, Megatron will need to break quite a few toaster ovens." She looked at him as she listened curiously to the medic. "I mean where, on this world, would he find that many Cybertronian dead?" He glanced at Azura and looked back at Optimus. "And to be honest, we are scaring Azura by talking about this."

She blinked in surprise and put his hands on her hips. "I am not going to get nightmares listening you talk about this, Ratchet. I am old enough to understand the gravity of things like this." Ratchet's expression immediately changed to amused and she frowned at him. "What is so funny?"

Ratchet chuckled gently and shook his head. "The sparkling attitude seems to be coming out a bit more." She still did not know why he was amused. "Yes, you are old enough to understand, which is why I feel you don't need to hear about it."

"It is a little too late," Azura said bluntly. "Besides, where does dark energon come from? Is it even natural? And is it really that rare and strong enough to bring back dead Cybertronians?" Optimus and Ratchet glanced at each other. "I just…for some reason it feels familiar to me." Optimus's expression changed to curiosity as soon as she said it. "Kind of like how I knew you guys were familiar three years ago, and had no idea why. But I have never heard or seen dark energon before."

"That is interesting that you are somehow familiar with it," Ratchet said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "As far as I know, there is no reason why you should even know. But you could also be overthinking it, Azura. Especially as we have lost Cliffjumper recently." Azura knew that wasn't true, but she didn't make any further comment. "As for how dark energon exists, I think you find it comes from…" Ratchet paused as he heard the sound of vehicle engines approaching through the driveway tunnel. "Uh, we can tell you later."

Azura was a tad annoyed, but she looked towards the driveway as Optimus and Ratchet approach the archway as the three autobots drive in. She heard laughter coming from them, and she realized that they all must have been doing something. It was rather nice to see, but Azura wished she could be at school. Though the kids had to be here to keep them safe as well, and especially with the school being broken into and having student files taken.

After Bulkhead transformed, there was a sound of a clunk and Bulkhead opened his chassis, reaching inside and pulling out an electric guitar suitcase and speakers. "Sorry." Miko gave him an innocent expression as she took the guitar from him and Bulkhead placed the speakers down. "Must have left those in the backseat."

"I see you were dually informed about the issue with school," Arcee commented with a smile at Azura. "I hope you aren't too upset. We are personally concerned about the decepticons taking the files, but at least you are safe."

"It's a little convenient that it happened, but I'll be fine." Azura sighed with a deep sigh. "Besides, I might be able to do something else that I wasn't able to do." She looked at Optimus for a moment. "Maybe we can go for a drive."

"I am afraid that is out of the question for the time being, Azura." She gave him a pouty expression, making Optimus smile widen at her as her expression was very cute. "There is something that we must do." He turned away from her and looked at the other autobots. "Autobots, prepare to…" He paused for a moment, glancing down at the kids who were listening to him.

"Roll out?" Arcee questioned, finishing the sentence for him.

"Remain here." Optimus corrected, surprising the femme as he glanced over at the medic. "Ratchet, you'll come with me." He looked back at Arcee who was frowning unhappily. "Arcee, we'll be outside of communications range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge."

Azura glanced at Miko when she made a comment to Bulkhead about it, but she was focused on Arcee who seemed very unhappy about the arrangement. "Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing. Baby sitting's another!" Jack sighed in irritation and walked away from Arcee, annoyed that he was referring to them as children. Azura, though, felt a little hurt that Arcee didn't want to stick around. It was feeding into her fear of being left alone, and she didn't like that there was some animosity already from Arcee. "Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war."

"My pistons maybe rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever!" Ratchet snapped back at the femme, slightly annoyed by the femme's comment.

Optimus simply responded to Arcee's frustration. "For the moment, it's only reconnaissance."

Arcee wasn't buying it as she placed her hands on her hips. "Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?"

"Arcee, much has changed in the last twenty-four hours," Optimus explained calmly to the femme. "And we all need to adapt. Especially now that the decepticons are actively looking for information about the children." He glanced at Azura and noticed Azura seemed troubled by something. "You are also best at keeping Azura company. She too is mourning." Arcee looked at the girl as she flinched when Optimus spoke of her. "Ratchet, bridge us out."

Ratchet pulled the lever of the bridge and activated it. He and Optimus proceeded towards the vortex, but not before Azura spoke up. "You will come back, won't you?" Optimus stopped and glanced back as her voice sounded so small and fearful that he was surprised. "You will…right?"

"Of course, we will be back," Ratchet responded affirmatively with a light hearted tone and a smile on his face. "You already know what we are investigating, Azura. Please understand it is necessary and not safe for you come along."

"Mmm…okay…" Azura placed her hand on her wrist and rubbed nervously. She watched as Ratchet and Optimus continued to walk, even though she wanted to follow them. Mostly because she didn't want to be left alone. She looked at Arcee when the two went through before looking down at Jack, who was looking at her curiously. "How did you guys find out about the school being closed?"

"Mom got a call just before she left for work," Jack responded with a shrug. "I was eating my breakfast at the time…kind of lucky, in a way. Now we are here." He looked up at Arcee. "Okay, chief, so uh, what's on the activities list?"

Arcee rolled her optics in irritation and turned away from Jack. "I'm going on patrol."

Bulkhead looked at Arcee in surprise. "But Optimus told us to stay."

She turned and gave him a sharp frown. "When you're charge, you can call the shots." She glanced over at Bumblebee. "Bee, with me."

Bumblebee was surprised and grumbled. "Ugh…if I have to."

She turned towards the driveway before speaking to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you're in charge." She and Bee transform before they speed away, leaving the wrecker on his own with the kids.

Bulkhead seemed very worried about this, but he at least was not leaving. "So, uh…what's on the activities list?"

Just as he finished, there was a loud squeal from the speakers. Azura covered her ears as the sound hurt, and Bulkhead grimaced from the sharp sound. She looked down to see Miko had taken her guitar out of the case and connected it with the speakers. Azura was still wondering how she managed to bring those with her without her host parents noticing. That seemed kind of risky to her, but she wasn't going to ask the girl that at this time.

"How about band practice?" Miko asked excitedly with a smile.

"My ears…" Azura complained and looked down at the girl with a frown. "Band practice? What makes you think we are a band?"

"Azura's right," Raf agreed as he really didn't know if this was something he wanted to do. "We aren't a band."

Miko just chuckled as she glanced at Raf and Azura. "Why so antisocial? Come on, Raf, you play anything?" She asked as she walked over to the boy.

Raf hesitated for a moment before lifting up his laptop. "Um…keyboard?"

The girl seemed happy about the response. "Laptops and samples, good!" She looked over at Jack who was leaning on one of the speakers. "Jack?"

"I…sometimes mess around on the harmonica," Jack responded in an uncertain tone.

Miko walked over with a frown, unimpressed at his choice of instrument. "Do I look like I do country? Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming." She turned and looked up at Azura. "What about you, Azura? Do you play anything?"

She rubbed the back of her head shyly. "I…um…I do like playing the piano…" She pressed her fingers together nervously. "But there is no piano here, and I don't know how to play anything else."

"Maybe we can convince Optimus to let you have one," Bulkhead suggested with a smile. "I know he would fully support you playing the piano."

"Oh, well. No piano, no problem! Just jump around screaming like Jack." She looked at Bulkhead with a smile. "Bulkhead, percussion!" The wrecker seemed a bit nervous about being pointed out by the girl. We'll go for big, industrial sound. DIY, we're a band!" She was so enthusiastic about it, even though no one really was interested. "You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad. Mafist, your face!"

Miko began to play her guitar, and Azura covered her ears as the volume had been turned up so loud, and the echoing from the guitar was not helping at all. She saw that none of them were enjoying it, and she did not know why Miko didn't read the room. But no one was trying to stop her either. She thought about running to her room when the lights began to flash and she heard the sound of the proximity sensor going off. She didn't even know when that started, but she knew it meant Fowler was coming. And she was grateful, because it meant Miko had to stop playing her guitar.

Bulkhead glanced up when he realized as well. "Woah, woah, woah!" He ordered, holding his hand out to tell her to shut it down.

Miko just smirked at Bulkhead when he spoke to her. "Come on, you can't handle raw power?"

"Proximity sensor!" Bulkhead snapped at the girl. "Quick, hide!"

Jack, Raf and Miko finally realized and ran behind Bulkhead's leg. Azura saw that Miko did not drop her guitar and when she ran behind Bulkhead, the cord stretched out. She hoped that Fowler wouldn't notice, but it was highly possible that he could. She didn't even need to move and simply turned towards the elevator. When the doors open, Fowler walked out with a grumpy expression, while also holding several bags.

"Prime!" He shouted angrily as he walked forward before looking at Azura with a smile. "Don't mind me, Azura. I have retrieved your clothes, food and other items from the unit." He placed the bags down as Azura smiled and walked up to the second-floor platform to retrieve the items. Fowler held out her pink purse that she left behind at the unit. "Make sure you don't lose this again. We don't need to be dealing with money theft too. But I do hope there is a fridge and freezer somewhere, there was a bunch of ice cream left behind."

"There is. I'll just have to take them there." Azura opened the bags to see what was in what. "Thank you, Will. I really, really appreciate it." Azura missed food, even if she was satisfied with low-grade energon. "Ice cream sounds nice at the moment."

Fowler smiled at the girl and walked away. "While you deal with that…" He glanced up and looked around. "Prime! Where are you?" He placed his hands on the railing and glared at Bulkhead.

"Agent Fowler, uh, he's not here," Bulkhead spoke to the man in a slightly nervous, uncertain tone. "Nobody's here…except for myself and Azura, of course." He smiled at the man as the agent frowned.

"Well, where did he go?" Fowler demanded in frustration. "Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini mall!" He turned to walk towards the stairs, making Bulkhead move to the side slightly to keep the kids out of sight, but in doing so, Azura saw his foot was pressing against the cord. She put her purse over her shoulder and picked up the bags with clothes, she would deal with her food afterwards. "Now I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the decepticons." Azura glanced down when she heard the sounds of the guitar strings being pulled, likely from Miko trying to keep a hold of her guitar while Bulkhead tried to keep them hidden. Bulkhead seemed to notice, but he tried not to make it obvious. "And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word handles means in English. So you tell Prime…" Fowler paused as he finally noticed the cord, the speakers and the sound of a guitar. He was confused when he saw the cord and looked at Bulkhead curiously. "Since when are you bots electric?"

Azura tensed a little as she walked towards the stairs quietly, she knew that Fowler would not be happy about this at all. And as they realized they were caught, the three kids walked out from behind Bulkhead's leg. "Hey, how ya doing?" Jack began in a nervous tone.

"Contact with civilians!" Fowler snapped, hitting the railing in frustration with his hand. "Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don't tell me, you're running a day care center!" He glanced at Azura as she made her way down the stairs. "Or maybe someone ran their mouth while they were at school." She looked at him in surprise. "Maybe that explains why the local school was ransacked last night."

"Woah, woah, woah, this is not on Azura!" Bulkhead said abruptly, disliking that Fowler went to accuse Azura of saying something. "It is a long story, but Azura is not the one responsible for this. You would be wise to hold your tongue unless it is true regarding her."

"Is that so?" Fowler challenged, placing his hands on his hips. "Because that is what it looks like to me."

"We're, interns," Jack said enthusiastically with a nervous smile. "Azura didn't say a thing to us, we just found out about an awesome internship, and here we are."

Raf nodded in agreement. "Student interns!

"Uhh…earning extra credits in robotics!" Jack finished, with Miko also speaking up enthusiastically, even though their story was extremely unconvincing.

Fowler shook his head and walked down the stairs. "Okay, let's move." Azura gasped as the man spoke and she was immediately worried that her friends would get into trouble. "I'm taking all three of you into federal custody. It's for your own protection."

Bulkhead lifts his foot and stamps it down in front of the man. "We're protecting them!"

Fowler was startled by the bot, but he quickly composed himself and glared at the bot. "Is that so?" He turned away and walked towards the telephone with his hands clenched. "Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon?"

Fowler picked up the phone and dialled a number. "Don't use that phone…" Bulkhead began before leaning down and pressing his finger onto the keys, squashing the box itself and making it unusable. "It's out of order."

The man threw the phone down in frustration. "This isn't over, big foot! Not by a long shot!" He stomped up the stairs and looked at Azura as she reached the floor and walked towards the tunnel. "I still have a hunch you're a partly to do with this, Azura." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Regardless, this is not by the book and Optimus is the one who had the final say. He will be hearing it from me!"

Fowler stomped his way to the elevator and hit the button to head up to the top. Azura heard Bulkhead sigh while the kids' glance at each other in confusion. They were confused as to why Azura was being spoken to as though she was meant to live with the autobots. They had seen the day before Fowler knew of Azura's existence, but as the man had wanted to take the three of the kids into custody and not her was a little strange.

"Why would Fowler think that I had anything to do with Jack, Miko and Raf being here?" Azura asked softly as she held the bags against her with a worried expression. Bulkhead turned around and softened his expression. "That…does not make sense."

"My guess is Fowler assumes you might have unintentionally said something at school," Bulkhead explained to her, stepping forward and dropping to one knee. "You know as well as I that it isn't your fault. Fowler's a jerk." She raised an eyebrow at him. "He does do good, but he's still a jerk."

"Okay…I'm going to put my clothes away." She glanced up at the other bag before looking at Bulkhead. "You guys still have the fridge and freezer, don't you?"

Bulkhead nodded and stood up, reaching for the bag. "Of course." He saw the bag was open and looked inside. "Ice cream, eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, cheese…seems like you only have one frozen thing, which is good."

"I did go grocery shopping, but I guess some of the stuff might not have been good when Fowler retrieved them," Azura said with a shrug. "Which is fine. I don't mind, I can always get more. There are some biscuits and sweets in there, including chocolate."

"I see them." Bulkhead smiled at her. "I'll put these away for you."

"Uh, before you go and do that, I do have a question." Jack stepped forward with a curious expression. He looked at Azura as she listened to him. "Why did Fowler not take you into custody like he was trying to do with us?"

She tensed at his question. "Uh, um…well…my situation was a little…different." She saw him raise an eyebrow and she swallowed nervously. "You see…uh…the reason why I am living with the autobots, because…um…"

"Let's just say the reason is something you will learn about eventually," Bulkhead said as he interrupts Azura, making Jack look up at him with a frown. "This is a lot to do with Azura and Optimus, that is all I will say."

Miko looked at Azura curiously. "Are you both trying to say that you're in love with Optimus?"

Azura widened her eyes at the girl in shock. "What? How did you come to that conclusion?" She shivered at the thought. "Nope…definitely not that." Azura did feel some kind of love for Optimus, but it wasn't strong. Of course that was normal since he's her father, but she was shocked that Miko came to that conclusion. "Just thinking about it sounds awfully weird."

"It just seems like it could have been that way." Miko shrugged and walked away over to the speakers. "We should get back to doing some band practice. This is way too boring, otherwise."

Jack ignored Miko as he walked closer to Azura. "I don't see the reason why you wouldn't tell us. Is it the case of that you don't trust us? I thought you would have trusted me, since we are good friends."

Azura felt tears in her eyes and she turned away from Jack and walked away from him. "I am just not ready to tell you. Please don't pressure us about it. When you know, you'll understand why. All I can say…is that it has to do with my…my identity and birth."

He widened his eyes before frowning in confusion. Jack was fully aware that Azura was an orphan, so this certainly was a surprise. He turned to ask Bulkhead, but the wrecker had left already to put the food away so it would be chilled. He considered following Azura, but remained with Raf and Miko as he did not want to upset Azura any further.

Azura made her way to her room, letting a few tears fall as she really disliked lying, but she also was scared on how the kids would react to knowing she was Optimus's daughter. She hasn't even fully accepted it. They already knew that they had to wait to be told, but the evidence was really piling on and Azura felt as though they will find out who she is before she is ready to let them know. But she didn't have control of that.

She entered her room and walked over to her closet and drawers, setting the bags down and taking her clothes out. She was happy that they were clean and folded neatly in the bags. She put her underwear away, shorts, jeans and dresses. She didn't have a great lot of clothes at the unit, but she had enough that she wouldn't need to buy more for a while. Unless she ended up growing some more, which she was expecting given what she has learned.

She walked over to the fish tank and sat by it, looking at the rainbow fish, tetras and catfish in the water. She smiled as they swam around happily in their tank. "You guys are so lucky that you don't have to deal with any problems…" She watched one of the rainbow fish chase one of the glolite tetras. "Aside from bullying fish you don't like, of course."

She looked at the other tanks as she still planned on getting other fish. She looked at the fifty litre, the hundred and eighty litre and sixty litre tanks. She had thought about getting a bigger tank to cichlids, but she did like having the smaller tanks. They were manageable, and she didn't need as many fish. She had been discussing with Ratchet on what fish she had wanted, and she definitely wanted more tropical fish. She considered other tetras, angel fish, swordtails, sharks and so on, and she thought about setting another up. She had everything she needed to set it up.

I need something to distract me from everything.

She was settled on the decision and grabbed a few buckets to begin filling with water. She set up the filter and heater, but she didn't turn them on just yet until she began filling the fifty-litre tank. She went with the fifty-litre due to it being smaller, so she didn't need to take as much time to fill it. But she than decided to set up the sixty-litre. She would set up the hundred and eighty litre some other time. She added water treatment chemicals so that it would create a safe environment.

She didn't have any gravel or ornaments for these tanks, but that was fine. She really didn't mind buying more gravel and ornaments for the tanks later on. She just cared about the tanks being ready for new fish. Once she was satisfied, Azura couldn't help but smile and make her way back to the lobby excitedly to talk about it with the others. She knew she had spent longer than she had intended in her room, at least an hour setting up the tanks, and she would apologize for it.

But when she arrived in the lobby, Azura realized it was too quiet. She stopped when she reached the lobby and looked around. "Bulkhead?" She shouted as she walked towards the platforms. "Jack? Miko? Rafael? Where are you guys?" She heard nothing but her voice coming back to her from the echoes. "This isn't funny!" She noticed Miko's guitar and speakers were still here, along with Raf's laptop, so they definitely had left these behind. "Bulkhead! Please, don't be hiding! I don't want to be left alone!"

Azura walked up the stairs quickly and she glanced at the computer, noticing there was a new set of coordinates on the ground bridge screen. She felt herself getting upset. "Did you guys leave without me?!" She felt herself starting to panic. This was her fear, being left alone. She knew where Optimus and Ratchet had gone, and they would be back. She hoped they would. But Arcee left because she didn't want to babysit, taking Bee with her who went begrudgingly and now Bulkhead and the others were gone. "Did you leave because you're upset with me?"

It might be an extreme reaction, but Azura had become clingy to the autobots, and her friends. She didn't want them to leave her alone without a good reason. But here she was in that very situation. It took a moment before she began to cry. She felt lonely and wanted Optimus to come back. Someone would definitely say it is an extreme reaction, but an autobot would call it normal for a sparkling. She was only reacting to it how an infant sparkling would.

Meanwhile…

Walking through a dry, arid, dark area of the world, Optimus walked between tall cliffs as the ground beneath his feet crumbled easily from the lack of water in this place. He could see the very old, faint battles scars this part of the world had endured many years ago. Optimus could see that life didn't return to this corner of the world. No trees, no water, no animals, no humans, just the dust beneath their feet. And Optimus hoped it would remain that way.

Ratchet was still confused as to why they were even here. He knew this was to do with dark energon, but he still did not know why they were there. "Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" He looked around the barren land, thinking that this might be a waste of time. But he knew Optimus well, and Prime knew where they were going.

"The site of the largest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," Optimus responded as he continued walking. The dark skies above them really gave this place an eery feeling.

Ratchet was shocked to hear this from Optimus. "On Earth? You must be joking."

"Do you recall the period late in the war when both sides began hiding their energon spoils off world?" Optimus questioned, glancing at the medic who listened to him intently.

He blinked and nodded. "Of course, it's the reason energon deposits exist on planets such as this one."

"It is also the reason battles came to be waged such planets such as this one," Optimus said in a calm, yet dreaded tone. "And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history."

Ratchet did not really know what to say. "If that's true…I guess he could find undead soldiers if he knew where they were buried." He glanced to the side for a moment before looking at Optimus. "Not to change the subject, but how do think Azura has a subconscious knowledge of dark energon? Or at least, knowledge of the name of the substance? We haven't even taught her the history of Cybertron, Primus and Unicron yet."

Optimus did not say anything straight away as he thought on how to answer the question. "I believe a part of it comes from the Matrix of Leadership. Part of its power did infuse with her upon her creation back when she was just a small, new, habloid spark. The Matrix has seen dark energon before, and I do believe she has a lot of knowledge in her subconscious mind from the past. After all, there is a lot of our history that not every Cybertronian knows. Especially the creation of the Matrix and Star Saber itself."

"That does seem to make sense…but the Matrix came from Primus, did it not?" Ratchet was not really following. "In order for her to even have some kind of memory from the past, the Matrix would have needed to hold memories of someone. Are you suggesting, maybe, one of the thirteen original Primes?"

"I am not a hundred percent certain, Ratchet. It is difficult because of how she was created." He placed his hand on his chassis, remembering the moment Azura had been created, and the painful separation he had to go through to save her and himself from certain destruction. "There are other things that happened during the time the thirteen Primes faced Unicron that could also be a factor in Azura's memory. But we cannot know for certain. And I do not wish to find out."

"You don't? Why not?"

"Because I do not want Azura to feel as though she needs to live to a certain standard," Optimus responded calmly. "Even if she somehow has some memory of those before us, it is not in her best interest to live up to that same standard. Especially when one of those who took part in defeating Unicron was not Cybertronian."

Ratchet almost stopped in his tracks in surprise. "What? I…uh, is that even true?"

"Alpha Trion taught me many things, Ratchet. There were archives only a few knew of. I will tell you about it some other time. But understand that part of the power of the Matrix isn't Cybertronian, it came from another world where Unicron's treachery was starting to affect them." Optimus could still sense Ratchet's confusion as he was not aware. "Rest assured, old friend, Azura is a hundred percent Cybertronian. She simply was born with those memories, or at least, whispers of those memories."

Ratchet trusted Optimus, but he was still curious. "Alpha Trion did seem to know things that others did not. If it was part of our history with the original thirteen, why was this never told to us?"

"Only certain Cybertronians were allowed to know. This is something I know Primus wanted." He gazed ahead as he saw they were getting closer to an open space. "When the time is right, I will tell this to you. But we have more pressing matters at hand. Look ahead, old friend."

Ratchet did wonder how much Optimus knew about Azura that he did not know about. He didn't even know Optimus had suspicions that Azura would hold secrets, but if that was the case, Ratchet understood Optimus was only keeping this quiet for the sake of his daughter's protection. However, as they reach an open part of the canyon, he widened his optics as he saw the remains of dead Cybertronain bodies of autobots and decepticons.

He could not believe what he was seeing. "For the first time in my life, Optimus, I had hoped that you were wrong."

He didn't have much more time to say more as he and Optimus heard the sound of a familiar jet. They turn and glance up to see the silver jet flying above them and transforming at the other end of the canyon. They both were not happy to see him right now, especially as this was supposed to be reconnaissance, not a fight.

Landing on top of the cliff, Megatron was grinning as he eyed their both with bright, purple optics and his decepticon badge glowed of the same bright purple. "Optimus, been well?" His voice had some mockery in his tone as he spoke. "I see you brought your trusty watchdog. I was certain he'd be convalescing in a scrap yard by now."

Ratchet narrowed his optics and spoke to Optimus as he cracked his knuckles. "Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?"

Optimus ignored Ratchet and spoke to the silver mech. "I know why you're here, Megatron."

"Hardly a surprise, Optimus," Megatron responded gleefully. "After all, you and I have been at this a long time. And must give you congratulations on reuniting with your sparkling." Optimus widened his optics slightly. "A little seeker informed me that your sparkling was located on this planet three years ago. And that you have a femme. Isn't that wonderful?" Optimus pressed his lips together as he didn't wish to play into Megatron's taunting. "It must be quite the disappointment that she has taken on the life and appearance of a human. But it was to be expected, of course, our experiment could only produce weak sparks. But it is nice to know that one has survived."

"If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have had to suffer," Ratchet said bluntly, punching his fist into his hand angrily. "But you have failed to destroy Optimus using a sick, twisted method, Megatron."

"Oh, but that was never my intention, doctor," Megatron responded with a light laugh. "However, your time has come to an end!" He pulled out a shard of dark energon, surprising both Optimus and Ratchet. "And once I have dealt with you, I can assure you, that she will be welcomed into our ranks with open arms and raised to become a decepticon. After all, without me, she wouldn't exist at all!"

He threw the shard at the ground. Optimus and Ratchet watch as the shard sinks into the Earth, and the power of the dark energon began to spread and touch the spark chambers of the fallen Cybertronians who lay dead before them. They felt the ground shudder and grumble, the dry crust would crack as they felt the uncertainly aura of the dark energon around them. They were in disbelief at what they were seeing, and a sense of fear filled their sparks. Even Optimus felt it, even though he remained calm despite the fear he was feeling. After all, fighting the dead was not something he was trained to do.

Megatron's chassis was glowing, and his optics were completely purple, with his pupil being the brightest purple now. "Rise my army!" He shouted gleefully, raising his hands with a devious grin on his face.

Claws of the Cybertronians rise from the ground, others pushed their way to the surface with their bodies fuelled by new energon and their lifeless, purple optics stare at the two bots. Some still had their weapons, others did not. And with all the time has past, their bodies were nothing but black and dark grey rust. There was no sign of who they used to be, only what they were.

"By the All Spark," Ratchet whispered. "And I told Azura we would be back."

"And we will." Optimus narrowed his optics as he stared at the Cybertronians before glancing up at Megatron. He was disgusted that Megatron would even do this. It showed how far his old friend has fallen.

The silver mech was still grinning as he was being fuelled by the new power he has claimed for himself. "Behold the power of dark energon!"