As Optimus neared the top of the mountain, the key ignited and a beam of energy filled the sky. The portal was now beginning to open, so they now have lost that time. But there was still more than enough time to battle Scourge and stop him. With Saphira travelling with Mirage to find the point of entry, Optimus focused on Scourge. He desired to kill the terrorcon for taking Bumblebee, and threatening Saphira the way that he had done. But the desire to stop Unicron was far stronger at this time, and this small chance was all they needed.

As he reached the top of the mountain, Optimus narrowed his optics as he glared at Scourge. The terrorcon turned with a sneer on his face as their optics lock. They might not have known each other for very long, but the anger was there and simmering. While Scourge was simply doing his job, Optimus was here to protect the universe. No matter the cost, Optimus knew what had to be done. Just as Optimus Primal knew what had to be done.

Optimus looked at the bridge as Scourge seemed to summon multiple terrorcon warriors, and he could see the warriors pushing out of the metal of the bridge like it was liquid. Optimus at least knew this fight wouldn't be quick, and Scourge was going to do everything that he could to stop them. Though he did count the number of terrorcons on the battlefield, and there seemed to be hundreds. And Scourge probably could summon a lot more if he wanted to, but he probably felt this was enough.

Primal walked up beside Optimus and growled, looking at the fight that they were about the face. They all at least knew that the warriors that Scourge has summoned were much weaker than the three terrorcons standing on the bridge. Primal had hesitating facing Scourge before, but now he knew there was no way he would turn away now. He tightened his clenched fists, ready to fight the terrorcons.

"Maximals!"

"Autobots!"

"Roll out!"

The maximals and autobots ran down the slope of the mountain into the shallow valley, though it was clear this probably was a dormant volcano. Primal roared loudly as he ran down the slope and Optimus followed them quickly. The terrorcons quickly gathered and began to shoot at them, and both Battle Trap and Nightbird jump down from the bridge to join the fight. Scourge remained where he was at this time, likely to protect the key himself, but his optics were watching the fight.

Arming his sword, Optimus eyed the army in front of them, ready to fight them. Nightbird flew around shooting at the autobots and maximals, and irritating them at the same time. Though Nightbird noticed that Mirage wasn't present with them and she looked around for a moment, even though she could not see him. She continued to shoot to act like she was focused on the fight, but she was searching to locate where the bot was. It was strange that only one was missing, though Nightbird did assume he would be with the human.

"Rhinox! Cheetor!" Optimus glanced at Primal as the maximal shouted at the two maximals. He said nothing and assumed he would be giving an order. "Maximize!"

The autobots didn't have time to think much as they witness Rhinox transforming suddenly, followed by Cheetor. They had not expected that, and assumed they would have remained in their animal forms. But they seemed to have another form for fighting, which was similar to their full forms. Both Rhinox and Cheetor had their own weapons ready to fight, and Primal was the last to transform, arming himself with his own blade for the fight. It was a welcome, unexpected surprise to the autobots, and none of them questioned it at all.

As they began to engage with the terrorcons, Arcee leaped into the air and kicked Nightbird to the ground, making the terrorcon hiss and glare at the femme angrily, even though Nightbird had been looking around for Mirage and Saphira. But now the two femmes were engaged with each other, even though Nightbird would still keep an eye out as she fought Arcee, though Arcee would find the other terrorcons joining the fight and she would have to fight them as well.

Battle Trap remained back from the frontline as Primal attempted lunging at him, though he slammed his fists on several of the other terrorcons instead. Primal growled and pierced his weapon into several terrorcons, and he glanced towards Scourge with narrowed optics. He felt Scourge was a coward for remaining on the bridge and not joining the fight, but he quickly looked away as he punched another terrorcon to the right.

Optimus sliced his sword upwards, slicing a terrorcon in half straight down the middle and punched another terrorcon right behind it. He glanced around briefly to see the other maximals and autobots fighting the terrorcons and sliced another terrorcon near him. He was making sure that none of the others were going down, but as these terrorcons didn't seem to be very strong, he wasn't too worried about it right now.

His mind did go to Saphira and wondered if she was in the tunnel yet. Mirage has not yet joined them in the fight, and he knew that they were still making their way. Regardless, Optimus continued to focus on the fight. He hoped to make his way onto the bridge to distract Scourge, knowing that Scourge was guarding the key right now. But with so many terrorcons bearing down on them at this time, there was no way for them to get to Scourge right now.

Optimus grunts as one terrorcon had lunged and scratched his left arm, and he quickly punched it into the ground and sliced another terrorcon. As he did so, Cheetor jumped beside him, slicing several terrorcons at once and kicking two terrorcons before stabbing them. He was extremely agile, which was unsurprising, given how agile he was in his animal form. The maximal was very focused on the fight, and Optimus ran at several more terrorcons to punch them.

He tackled one of the larger terrorcons, slamming it into the ground and held the terrorcon's abdomen before pulling upward, ripping it in half and throwing it at several of the other terrorcons. He turned and sliced through another terrorcon and glanced around at the battlefield with a low growl. Optimus still could not see Mirage, but he wasn't about to contact him. Scourge was watching intently, and anything that might alert him to their plan was something he was not ready to do.

But as the battle continued, Optimus would hear the sound of a Porsche engine after five minutes and turned his head to see Mirage hitting multiple terrorcons. He was shouting in excitement as he rammed the terrorcons, and Arcee jumped on the back to shoot at the terrorcons while he drove. Optimus smiled, glancing at the bridge for a moment, knowing that Saphira was inside it. He did not know how long it would take for her to reach the antenna, but he knew she would take the time she needed. Especially with Scourge at the bridge.

"Nice of you to finally join the fight, Mirage!" Optimus shouted at the young bot as the Porsche sped closer to him and spun around, hitting another few terrorcons and Arcee jumped off the car as Mirage began to transform. "I might have to take a page out of that, as a truck packs a bigger punch than a Porsche."

Mirage chuckled and slammed his fist in the face of a terrorcon and began to shoot. "No offense, Prime, but you aren't as fast as I am. You might have the strength, but not quite the speed."

Optimus rolled his optics in amusement and punched another terrorcon. "You are right." He glanced at the bridge again and narrowed his optics. "Just remember to be ready if needed, Mirage. The universe depends on us shutting that key down, and we cannot let Scourge stop us."

"I know, Optimus. I am sure you can see where she is right now anyway." Optimus nodded, even though it was only the signal from her ring that he could track. Mirage shouted excitedly as he punched another terrorcon and shot one at point blank. "At least Unicron's not here."

"Yet."

The key was still activated, and the portal would open wide enough for Unicron to pass through. There was not much time left before Unicron would be able to enter, but Optimus was not giving up yet. They were already destroying a lot of the terrorcons with ease, and they would be close enough to reach the bridge, so Optimus had confidence that they would be able to beat Scourge and stop Unicron completely. Without the key in Unicron's possession, he would remain trapped where he is.

"Woah!" Optimus turned at Mirage's surprised shout, and lifted his hand to cover his face, running over to a boulder, as Battle Trap had armed his weapon and began to shoot. It looked like it was a machine gun of a sort, but they were forced to take cover. Wheeljack ran towards them to take cover as well. "Not cool!"

"Take cover, Wheeljack!" Optimus shouted, gesturing for him to get over and helped him to duck down as Battle Trap shot at the boulder.

Battle Trap stopped firing, seemingly amused by the hiding autobots, and unlocked the mace on his arm and began to swing it around. "Someone give me a real fight!"

He swung the mace around several times before he grunts as the mace had been caught. He turned his head and Battle Trap saw Primal holding the mace and glaring back at him. "It's a fight you want! You got one."

Optimus armed his sword as he stood up, running towards Battle Trap as the terrorcon began shooting at Primal to try and get him to let go. Optimus slid on his knees and sliced the terrorcon's arm, just enough so Primal could yank on the chain hard and pull the terrorcon's hand right off his wrist. Battle Trap roared in pain and Optimus sliced his left leg off, and proceeded to try and stab him. But he was cut off as Primal ran over with the metal mace in his hand and proceeded to slam it down on Battle Trap multiple times until he was dead.

Optimus was surprised, as usually, no one would do that. Primal looked at Optimus with a smug expression, and Optimus gestured at Battle Trap's body. "He was mine." Primal chuckled lightly at Optimus's response.

Mirage chuckled as he witnessed and heard what happened. "Are we keeping tabs of our kills, huh? I didn't realize this was a competition, I would have already had the highest score."

Wheeljack huffed in amusement, kicking and shooting a terrorcon next to him. "You only just joined the fight, hombre joven. If anybody has the highest score, Cheetor would be at the top. He's kicking the tailpipe of a lot of terrorcons right now!"

Primal chuckled and slammed the mace onto another terrorcon. "And you would be right, Wheeljack. But this is no competition." He glanced up and narrowed his optics. "After all, we are running out of time."

Optimus looked up at the sky and narrowed his optics. He saw that the portal was wide enough that they could see Unicron, and a dark cloud began to stretch across the sky, bringing a shadow over the battlefield. "Unicron…"

"You fought bravely…" Optimus and Primal both flinch upon hearing Unicron's voice. Neither expected him to hear or speak to them, but that didn't matter now. He was very close. "But this world is already mine."

Mirage glanced at the bridge for a moment and groaned before shrieking as a terrorcon bit his wrist and he punched its face. "Not yet its not." He looked at Optimus who nodded in agreement. "He hasn't won yet! He's merely prepping for the main course, which is going to be delayed indefinitely."

"And no appetizers to go!" Wheeljack added, slamming his foot down on a terrorcon and shooting as more charge at them. "We are all lucky no one is dead yet."

"This isn't even a challenge, that's why!" Mirage chuckled before shrieking as Nightbird slammed in him. "Aahh!" She began to drag him across the ground and he glared at her. "Don't even think about it!" He shoots her chassis, and she shrieked, letting him go as she fell to the ground. He huffed and stood up, brushing the dirt from his chassis. "I do not appreciate being dragged around like a ragdoll!"

Nightbird chuckled and stood on her feet with a grin. "I quite enjoy making you look like a ragdoll!" Mirage aimed his cannons at her and she jumped at him, kicking her feet against his chassis and forcing him to fall on his back on the ground. "I just find it strange you weren't here at the start of the fight. Were you up to something with that human of yours, or were you too much of a coward until you saw everyone else fighting, hmm?"

Mirage narrowed his optics, as he knew that Nightbird was fishing for information. "I didn't particularly want to get squashed, but seeing as your little minions that Scourge conjured to boost your numbers are easy to slice and dice, I decided to join in." He shifted and kicked Nightbird away and stood up, aiming his canons at her. "I'm not like Optimus Prime."

Nightbird chuckled in agreement. "We all know that!"

Mirage huffed and fired at Nightbird. He glanced over his shoulder briefly to see that Optimus and Primal had resumed fighting the other terrorcons, though Optimus was keeping an eye on Mirage in case he needed help. While Battle Trap was dead, Nightbird wasn't. And she was formidable, and was using her ability to fly to her advantage against the autobot. She flew in the air as Mirage shot at her, and she was clearly amused by the fight.

Though as he turned, Mirage glanced at the bridge and gasped as he saw Scourge had turned away from the fight and was reaching down to grab something. Mirage immediately knew what Scourge was trying to grab, especially as he sensed where the signal of the tracking device was, and knew Saphira had reached the panel. But Scourge was no fool, and Mirage narrowed his optics and shot at Nightbird's jets, successfully hitting her down before he transformed and began to speed towards the bridge.

Meanwhile, fifteen minutes earlier…

Mirage had moved away from the autobots and maximals as he scaled the side of the mountain while he walked up the slope with Saphira sitting in his palm. He could still feel her trembling as she stared at the top. He completely understood the girl's fear, even though he did do his best to try and give her the courage she needed to be able to do this. But he knew she will do her best, and that is all they expected of her.

As Mirage had moved around to the side of the mountain that Scourge would not be focused on, Mirage climbed to the top and ducked as soon as he reached the top. He glanced up as the beam of energy shot into the sky, and Saphira stared to see it was definitely going to take time for Unicron to get through. But it wasn't much time, that was for sure. She swallowed nervously as both of them watch and see that the three terrorcons turn upon sensing the approach of the autobots and maximals.

"Well, we are where we need to be right now," Mirage said, making Saphira jump and look at him in surprise. He smiled at her as he knew he had startled her. "Hey, the scary ones are on that bridge, not here, Saphira." She smiled and looked back at the bridge. "We should wait a little bit before I send you into the tunnel."

Saphira nodded as she was still rubbing her hands together nervously. "I…I just hope that…that I can do it." She looked up at the sky, staring at it as she tried to imagine what Unicron would look like. "Do you really think that I can?" She looked at Mirage uncertainly. "I know I am the only one small enough to get to the antenna without being seen…hopefully…but do you really think I can do it?"

"I do." She looked away as she was unconvinced. "Listen, Saphira, I know that it might seem hopeless right now. But I know you can do it. It really does not matter how large or small someone is, because if they are able to change the fate of their future and save lives, then they are fully capable of doing it. I know you can." Saphira was still unconvinced. Mirage smiled and she was startled as the bot hugged her suddenly. "I think of you like a little sister, Saphira. If anything happened to you, I will be blaming myself for dragging you into this fight. If I didn't let myself be treated like an actual car, none of this would have happened."

Saphira relaxed as she listened to Mirage and hugged him with a smile, appreciating his words. "I think of you like a big brother…an annoying big brother…"

"That's what brothers are for!" She huffed in amusement and Mirage leaned back with a smile. "I know you find me annoying, but it's just one way of showing how much I care about you and love you, Saphira. But when it comes down to it, I am more than ready to stand between you and Scourge, even though that action would likely take my life."

"Yeah…goofy when you want to be, and a protector when you have to be." She wished she could see Prime right now as she looked towards the bridge and sighed softly. "While Prime remains serious and stable."

"That's who Prime is, and he has to be." Saphira nodded in agreement and she jumped as Mirage lowered her to the ground. "It might be a good time to get ready, Saphira. Scourge is sprouting a hoard of terrorcons right now."

Saphira stared at the bridge and she saw the hundreds of terrorcon warriors that Scourge was somehow calling, or creating, and seemed to step out from the metal of the bridge. She didn't quite understand how that worked, given that the creatures he makes likely were not natural. But he obviously got that kind of power from Unicron so that he could always have an army ready to fight for him when needed.

She hoped that the maximals and autobots would be able to stand their ground against this army, because she definitely did not want them to die from Scourge. "Maximals!" Saphira and Mirage both gasp as they hear Primal's voice boom loudly.

"Autobots!" Saphira gasped when she heard Optimus, and she felt goose bumps all over her body from hearing that.

"Roll out!"

"Oh, yeah! I love to hear that! Never thought Primal would say it as well as Optimus…but I guess it must be an Optimus thing if they both said it." Mirage chuckled and looked towards the battlefield as they could now see the maximals and autobots running towards the terrorcons. "Alright, guess they got it covered."

Saphira nodded in agreement as she watched the autobots and maximals charging the terrorcons. She shivered as she didn't really want to see them die. "Rhinox! Cheetor! Maximize!" Saphira and Mirage both were surprised to see the maximals transforming, and she smiled upon seeing them.

"I guess this would be their warrior form or something." Saphira turned her head to look at the bridge for a moment and looked at Mirage. "Scourge is still on the bridge. Should I get into the tunnel?"

Mirage nodded. "Scourge isn't looking this way. If I stay hiding much longer, he might suspect something is up." Saphira groaned as she understood, looking towards the battle before she took a deep breath and began to make her way towards the support of the bridge, keeping low so Scourge would not see her. "I'll stay here until you are in the tunnel, Saphira."

Saphira nodded as she understood. She moved down a short slope, and spotted an entrance into the tunnel. She was intrigued at how the metal pierced the ground and looked like this tower had been on this mountain for a long time. She didn't know how it worked, but she guessed it was due to the technology that they had. She glanced towards Scourge, and he was still watching the fight, and she was relieved.

She walked over to the panel covering, and peered inside. There was a large space within the tunnel and she grabbed the covering and pulled on it. She grunted in surprise as she realized that the panel was stuck. She tugged at it again, and it would not budge. Saphira groaned a little, realizing she couldn't open it and shook her head. She was glad Mirage waited, because she would be in trouble otherwise.

"Mirage…" She leaned back and Mirage peered over the hill for a moment curiously. "I can't open this. Do you mind?"

Mirage smirked at her and nodded. "This wasn't part of the plan, but you don't exactly have a muscular figure." She rolled her eyes and stepped back as Mirage walked over to her, remaining crouched as he moved closer and reached up to the panel. "At least if you needed me, you could have called me back." She nodded as she knew that. He pulled the panel off with ease and placed it down. "Alright, you'd better get to it. This should lead you to the bottom of the Transwarp control panel, if Primal has been right about it. Shut down the portal, get the key and get the hell out of there as fast as you can. When you do, call me and I will pick you up."

Saphira walked over to the opening, peering inside and took a deep breath. "Alright…" She moved her bag to open it so she could get her flashlight out. "I will try to do it." Mirage smiled and he was about to turn away as she looked at him. She paused for a moment and turned towards him. "Mirage…" Mirage stopped and turned, only to be surprised as she ran over to hug him. "Thank you for being supportive. You're the best brother anyone could ask for."

Mirage smiled as he hugged her gently and rubbed her back. "Awe…that touches my spark. But enough stalling, Saphira." She chuckled as she backed away from him. He lifts his right arm with a closed fist. "After all this, I'm going to find some beachside for you and Optimus to lay on for your honeymoon."

Saphira chuckled again and fist bumps Mirage's fist gently. "That sounds like a good plan, Mirage. I might hold you to that." Mirage chuckled and turned to walk away. "Be careful, Mirage."

"You too, Saphira. Now get in there and get going!"

Saphira nodded and turned to walk back to the opening. She glanced back at Scourge to see he was still not looking in her direction, and she took a deep breath before crawling into the opening and stepping down to the floor. She turned her flashlight open and swallowed nervously. She was glad there was enough space to stand in. She hoped that the symbols she found were indeed the code, as she didn't want to let them down.

She began to run down the hallway, taking care to not let her feet to hit the ground heavily in case Scourge would hear her. Though as she ran down the hallway, she could hear the sound of the fighting outside the closer she got to the main part of the bridge. So it would be unlikely that he would hear her, but Saphira was still mindful. She didn't want Scourge to know she was there at all, so any precaution was good.

She glanced up as she walked under an open panel in the roof of the tunnel, and she grimaced as she hoped Scourge was not standing by one of these. It would make it even more awkward for her to get by him. But as long as he kept his optics on the battle, Saphira knew that she would probably be okay. So she continued to run along the hallway as quickly and as quietly as she could, even trying to control the sound of her breathing so that Scourge would not hear her.

As she got closer though, she spotted a shadow over one of the panels and she came to a stop. She knew immediately that it was Scourge and she took the moment to catch her breath so she would not be breathing loudly. She glanced up at the panel right in front of her, and she didn't see Scourge. He was by the next one. She grimaced and cursed under her breath, knowing she would have to go right underneath his feet.

Just keep your eyes on the battle, Scourge. I don't need another, angry bot trying to kill me. Transit was more than enough.

Saphira crouched to see where Scourge was exactly, and she could see only his legs, so that wasn't really helpful. She shuffled closer, and she could see his abdomen and chassis, making her shiver and step back nervously as she realized she was so close to him. She tried to not panic at the moment, because she really felt like she was in a corner at this time. But she needed a moment to gather her courage again and took deep breaths.

You can do it…everyone is counting on you…there's absolutely no pressure right now. They believe in you…

Even though she was thinking those things, that didn't really help. She wanted to hear Optimus's voice right now, but she knew speaking to him would distract him and Scourge would certainly hear that. So Saphira just moved to the right side and walked by the roof window and there was no movement from Scourge, or any indication that he noticed her. She was relieved and she tiptoed further, only to notice the next window. There was no shadow, but she groaned internally as Scourge would like see her if she walked by it as well. So she did the same as she did before by moving to the side.

She could see the end of the tunnel, and she could feel heat the closer she got. So once she was by the window, she tiptoed quickly towards the end of the tunnel. She saw lava falling from the tower, and she knew that was where the heat was coming from. But when she reached the end, she let out a loud gasp of surprise she saw a huge, pit of a lava directly beneath and she was not expecting that. She gulped nervously, and glanced up to see that Transwarp Key above her.

Great…and it had to over a lake of lava!

As she knew she had to climb, she took the moment to see how she would be able to climb up to the panel without falling. She wiped her hands on her shirt to wipe any sweat from her skin before she was about to reach up, and she than noticed that the portal began to open and she could see a large, orange glow approaching the the world. She shivered as she knew this would have to be Unicron, and she knew that the portal was opening, but it was not yet wide enough for Unicron.

"You fought bravely…" Saphira shivered as the whisper of Unicron's voice was not something she expected, but it made her shiver regardless. "But this world is already mine."

She definitely did not like the sound of that, and she frowned as she glanced at the panel again and began to climb the edge of the bridge to try and reach the panel. She ignored the intense heat that she could feel on her back, pulling herself up and moved her legs to push herself further. She didn't want to let Unicron win, even though it seemed like he was going to. She was still terrified, but she didn't want to let the autobots and maximals down.

She gasped as she felt her right leg slipping suddenly, and she gripped the ledge tightly with a grimace, though it was a loud thud from the movement. She looked towards Scourge, and he was looking up at the sky. He did not hear her. She was glad and she pulled herself back up again, reaching to the panel to get out the gap so she would not fall into the lava. Scourge still not notice her, and she glanced up at the panel.

She swallowed nervously, stepped slowly around to the front of the panel, and she placed her bag down for a moment. She prepped the gauntlet on her hand in case she needed it and reached down to open the bag to grab the book out. However, as she did so, she felt the hairs on her neck stand as she heard a low growl behind her and a pair of optics glaring at her. She shivered and whimpered a little before turning to see Scourge looking at her.

"I must say I am impressed you managed to get under my feet." Saphira turned fully as Scourge began to walk towards her, and she yelped, turning and jumped as she hit the panel when she tried to instinctively back away. The terrorcon just chuckled and reached down towards her. "Brave, but futile. You might think you have the key to stop Unicron from devouring your world, but your pathetic attempt has all been in vain." Saphira shrieked as he grabbed her, clamping his fingers tightly around her body, and the force made her cough as air was forced from her lungs. "How amusing it is to watch how fragile your pathetic race is." Saphira took deep breaths and began to charge the gauntlet as Scourge looked up. "Can you not see? Unicron is already here."

Saphira did not know what to say in response to Scourge. She glanced at the panel for a moment and looked back at the battlefield. She could see the autobots and maximals were still fighting the terrorcons on the field, though she could hear the rev of an engine in the distance though, and it sounded like a Porsche engine. She thought that Mirage was driving through the terrorcons at the moment, but she did hope that they would notice and reach the bridge. She knew that the autobots would likely hear Scourge through the device within the ring on her hand, and she looked around to locate Optimus. She could see Primal, but at the moment, she could not see Optimus. She hoped it was just where Scourge was standing, and she looked at his face to see he was now looking at the battlefield and she began to charge the gauntlet, hoping to try and get away from him.