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Chapter Text

My day started like any other day: endless meetings across Cybertron. Writing lessons with my mentor Thundercracker. The art of rhetoric with Starscream. My Skyhopper was taking me to my science lesson with Shockwave when it suddenly lurched.

“We’re so sorry, Rubble,” my pilot Nightflight said. “We got a small fuel leak. Gonna land for repairs.”

Cybertron was constantly glowing and I was still not used to it. I didn’t have to know how to get anywhere; everyone just took me where I needed to go. Everything had its right place. I barely heard the pilot’s words as we landed.

As our crew began repairs, I stepped outside. Sweeps swarmed overhead, always a dozen in the sky. Friendly Insecticons buzzed by: wasps, beetles, bees…I looked at a swarm of them crowded over a region in the distance…

“What’s that, way over there?” I asked a mechanic.

“Oh, over there? That’s the Dead End…it’s um…” Tailwind said. Two mechanics came over. “You really don’t wanna go over there,” Storm Cloud said. “It’s full of crazies.”

I couldn’t believe it. Crazies, on this perfect world? 

“You’re joking,” I said. “Cybertron’s full of energy, and every bot has its place here. Why would there be a dumping ground for defective bots?”

“Cybertron hasn’t always been perfect,” Whisper said. “There was the Final War…”

“But all that was over long ago!” I said, quoting my studies dutifully. “There’s no more of that today. We should be good citizens and clean up the refuse over there. Come, Storm Cloud and Whisper. Show me more about this Dead End.”

My two jets flew overhead. Further up into the sky, I could see the shadow of a Worldsweeper shielding Cybertron from nearby meteors.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. There were a series of craters, with various bots strewn about. They were in terrible, energy-depleted shape. I saw missing limbs. I heard glitches and sparking circuits. I heard the grinding of metal skin on the scarred surface of the world as they slid about.

“Rubble, I must suggest you stop right here,” Whisper said. “Don’t go in there. The Skyhopper is almost repaired.”

“Nonsense. They’re Cybertronians too. I should like to meet them.”

“They aren’t civilized like us. Some think they are a totally separate species,” Storm Cloud said.

As I walked among them, some raised arms or limbs or sensors towards me. “Spare a cube, kind bot? Even a little will do…” one said. Just as I was about to offer a portion of energon, Whisper knocked his hand away. “Get back! No one lays hands on the Decepticon Junior Council!”

I was taken aback by this. These poor bots seemed like Cybertronians, not defective machines. But I’ve been told otherwise. Is this all some big misunderstanding?

I was interrupted by an awful screeching sound–it was laughter. A small red and blue bot sat hunched over in a corner. His large shoulder wheels were flat and sagging, and his panels were covered in rust.

I walked over to him. “Oh, you poor bot. Why do you laugh? Are your circuits damaged?”

“Hehehe. Haha! You? Pitying me? You’re worth less than the rust on my skid plate.”

Storm Cloud and Whisper aimed null rays at the bot who insulted me. “Stop!” I said. “I want to hear what he has to say!”

“Name’s Gears. Aren’t you a sight, leaving Crystal City to walk down here among us common bots?”

What a disgusting name, I thought. Who would name himself after our innards? It was visceral and provoking. But I could not be provoked so easily. I was not as young and naive as the other Council members said I was.

“I’m Rubble, and I am the top ranking member of the Decepticon Junior High Council. We’re all Decepticons here, and I come here in the spirit of goodwill and strength. It is by pure accident that you find yourself in my presence. If you could ask for any one thing, what would it be, lowly one?”

“Any one thing? It’d be for you to move. You’re blocking my sun, you skid-rust. ” More hideous laughter.

I clenched my fists. “Why do you say such things! I’m trying to help you!”

“What help do I need? I’m free! Every place I step is my home. I say what I please. You couldn’t survive a klik outside your little bubble, surrounded by your little prisons. Which of us needs help?”

“Stop talking!”

Gears stood up slowly, his rusted knee joints creaking. “I remember the wars, little oil-speck. Long ago. I remember the slaughter you Decepticons brought. I was on Earth when you vultures took that world–”

“--ignore him!” Whisper said.

“--how you all took the world, took so many worlds. And look at you, hurt by mere words. So weak! There’s no hope. And my bots, we were weak to let you take over. There are no good bots, little speck. The more good you think you are, the worse you are!”

“And just who are your people?”

“Hehehehahaha!” Gears laughed, rubbing a sign on his chest. A reddish symbol appeared, like a vicious, grotesque mockery of a symbol that I was taught about long ago.

“No, stop!” I said. “Why do you call yourself something so profane! Stop!”

“Say the name! Autobot! Hahahaha! Autobot!”

I began to run away. And as I fled to the Skyhopper, I still remember his hissing voice: “Who will save your spark, skid-rust? Who will save you? Ask your masters– Who was Optimus Prime?!”

Chapter Text

[Self-destructing log activated.]

Ironhide. It’s Prowl.

I hear you.

I think we snagged one.

First time I’ve ever heard you be so sure.

I think this is it. Gears got to him. I’m certain of it.

I think you’re gettin’ desperate, ol’ pal.

Simulations give 99.8% confidence.

I ain’t riskin’ everyone out there unless you’re 100% sure.

Impossible.

Impossible to be that sure?

No. Impossible for me to be wrong.

What’s the mission?

I want to sting him.

Primus, you’re serious.

Make it happen. Call your bots and let him know. We have no time to waste.

No “time” to waste…so you want “Ariel” too.

I leave all that to you. Happy hunting. Freedom is right.

Freedom is right.

I had trouble focusing for the rest of the trip. The beautiful sky over Cybertron and her two moons, the glowing surface, the faint purple hue over everything that I took for granted–I couldn’t see any of it. All I could remember was that hideous, nasty bot’s face–Gears. How could he say he was happy, living in a hovel? Who would wear such an awful symbol, the red symbol of blood and oil. 

The Autocratic Robots, the Autobots. Why are my lessons about them so limited? Am I not ready to understand them?

I didn’t even notice Crystal City at first, the whole jagged, twisting gleaming building jutting out of the side of Kolkular. I was told Crystal City was once a home for “ivory tower” types, those who talked but didn’t actually do anything, leading to the decay of our great society. But long ago, it was liberated from all that, and grafted onto dark Kolkular. Even the Great Megatron said it was beautiful, and he usually said things like “beauty is a lie to hide the truth.”

My mentor Thundercracker met me as I left the ship. He hovered just over the ground. “Hey there! How are you? Big day today!” he said, floating over to me.

“Hey.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I…we got laid over in the Dead End. I saw something there…”

“Oh, of course. It’s a depressing place. Our ancestors had to throw meteors at the ground back then to destroy the enemy. We should probably clean that up one of these days…”

“No, I know that, but there was a bot there…he was wearing that red symbol. The one we brand criminals with. But his looked different…like he chose to wear it. ”

Thundercracker’s cheer faded. “You saw one up close? Did that make you feel weird?”

“I know that…when we brand bad guys with that symbol and hunt them down, that’s the only way to maintain order. And if someone gets the brand, they are sent to Shockwave’s review panel. But he was happy to wear it. I don’t understand why someone would be happy to wear it.”

“These bots sometimes, they’ve got glitches in their brain modules, Don’t overthink it. C’mon, this is a big day!”

“Why can’t we talk about what they’re like? I looked through all the Soundwave-approved data on them but couldn’t find anything! We can’t even say their name–”

“Shhh” Thundercracker hissed. “Not here! Don’t say it here–this place of all places. We’ll talk about it later. Oof. I’m wondering if we should reschedule with Starscream if you’re feeling this badly. He’s gonna hate it if you’re not engaged.”

“No, I don’t want to postpone…but we do need to talk.”

We walked–well, I walked and he hovered. Starscream’s throne room was at the very top of Crystal City, 83 levels up. At each level were dozens of purple copies of Starscream, the Vehicon Seekers. It was said that there were a million of them in Vos alone and that they outnumbered even the Sweeps.

I know that Starscream’s receiving room was designed to be flown to, but it’s difficult for those of us like me that haven’t chosen an alt-mode yet.

When we finally made it to the top, two Seekers guided us along the long promenade. They smiled at me.

“Such a wonderful day,” one of them said. “You’re so fortunate.”

I was so excited this morning. Every time I tried to remember that excitement, I just saw that gross face in the Dead End. I nodded and smiled back.

We finally arrived at the Great Dais of Starscream. A giant statue of Old Starscream the Warrior rested behind his throne, brandishing a wing-sword, holding Grid The Valiant in the other hand. Starscream himself stood, purple cape swooshing as he descended to our level.

“Rubble!” he said, with arms open. “Welcome! I welcome you on behalf of the line of Starscreams on this auspicious day, your Destiny Day!”

Standing next to Starscream’s throne was Bumblebee. He had been painted purple like the rest of the Seekers, but the paint job was done deliberately badly, and it was flaking off, showing irregular yellow bits beneath. Our Decepticon symbol had been affixed to his chest crudely, leaving cracks in his rudimentary armor. His hands were clasped at his waist and he was not permitted to look up.

Starscream noticed who I was staring at. “Oh, ignore him. I dressed him up for our special occasion.”

“Why must we parade around our criminals like this? It just wastes resources,” I said.

“My, but someone’s sure grumpy today!” Starscream said, looking over at Thundercracker.

“Don’t blame me. He had a trip to the Dead End. Skyhopper malfunction.”

“Well, that would put anyone in a bad mood. Did you see how the lazy-by-choice live their lives?”

I steeled myself. “Starscream. I want to know what the Autobots were.”

I watched his faceplate–nothing. Not a flinch. Or maybe it was like a thin cloud in front of the sun. I couldn’t tell. Thundercracker’s optics were wide.

Bumblebee didn’t move at all.

“We shouldn’t sully Destiny Day with discussions like these…maybe that’s just part of growing up. Hmm. Well, it’s a long, sad story for them, the wars they made us fight, the decay they stood for…our society today would be impossible if they hadn’t been wiped out.”

“Why didn’t you all tell me?”

“Rubble! You’re so young. You have the brightest future ahead of you. Don’t get mired in the wars of the past. It’s all over now. History is over, remember? We won. If you really want to study all of that dusty rusty stuff, ask Megatron.”

“Will…he be at my Destiny Ceremony?”

“I’m afraid not. Criminal outbreak in Praxus, you see. He would love to, but, you know. The criminals. But the other Junior Council and Senior Council will be there. And of course I shall be presiding!”

“Oh…I see.” I remember Gears’s words: Who was Optimus Prime? Maybe I should save that question for Megatron when I see him.

“Come now!” Starscream said. “You must receive a full wax and paint refresh before your visit. It isn’t everyday that Thunderwing the Mystic tells of your destiny with the Matrix, you know!” He turned and spat towards the enslaved Bumblebee. “You come along too. Perhaps my Seekers will entertain us while we wait by using your head for a football.”

Everyone but me laughed.

Starscream and Thundercracker floated in front of me and Bumblebee walked quietly next to me. 

Then he stuck out a leg and he tripped me. It was the last thing I expected. 

I fell onto all fours, and when I looked up, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

There were three bots: a blue and white bot with a shimmering yellow grid surrounding him, a rocket launcher on his shoulder looking down at me. Was he…invisible? Another bot next to him, much taller, pink and red, the English symbols “E-1” tattooed under her left optic. I felt like I was moving in heavy, thick water around her, as if time were standing still. She stared down at me too.

In front of them both was Bumblebee, suddenly grinning at me, as if he had just beaten me in a game, leaning over to look at me. He only said four words in a confident voice:

“You are being deceived.”

Then the other two bots vanished.

The next thing I knew, purple Seekers were aiming at Bumblebee. “How dare you!” they said. Starscream and Thundercraker spun around.

“Stop!” I said. “It was a mistake. I–I bumped into him.”

The Seekers all stopped and appeared confused. Starscream and Thundercracker turned around and resumed their conversation.

My fuel pump was about to burst. What had just happened? I turned back–was there still a shimmer in the air?

Bumblebee walked alongside me, head hung in dejection.

Still, Gears’s coarse laughter rang through my mind.

Chapter Text

I thought that the day between visiting Starscream and meeting Thunderwing would make my stress go away. But it only became worse.

My mentor Thundercracker, Starscream, and I approached Grand Mal Castle. There were Destiny Day banners streaming across the Soundwave-lampposts along the way. Purple Seekers, Reflectors, Sweeps, Insecticons all flew overhead, spelling my name in Cybertronian languages and English. They waved and shouted at me, how lucky I was to be named, to be remembered, to have a Destiny Day.

I waved back and smiled. But I couldn’t let on how I was feeling.

You are being deceived. 

All I could hear were Bumblebee’s words. Did he really speak? He never spoke. Starscream told me he had lost his vocal systems and couldn’t talk. Could he have been faking this whole time?

I walked up the stairs of the Grand Mal. Thundercracker patted my shoulder. “Feeling better, Rubble?”

“Um…yeah. Sure,” I said. But I knew that he knew better.

“We had medics check out your systems. I was worried you had an AI virus making you moody.”

“This is supposed to be my Destiny Day!” I said, waving at thousands of Decepticons far away. “I’m not supposed to be like this. I’m so mad. Why now?”

“There’s no turning back now…” Thundercracker said, looking back, apparently nervous at all this attention.

You are being deceived. 

“Starscream,” I said, tapping on his wing. “Can we talk?”

Starscream had this way of making you feel like you were a trophy when he looked at you. “Why of course! What is it, little one? Are you worried about Thunderwing’s prophecy?”

“A little…”

“Well, Thunderwing is never wrong. Because of the Matrix, you see. And those of us who are blessed enough to be named always have good destinies. You have nothing to fear!”

“Starscream, I…wanted to ask Thunderwing a question. I wanted to ask him about the…the…” I tensed myself. “About the Autobots.”

Starscream spun towards me, his optics flashing. “Shhh! This is not the time for–for speaking slurs!” He quickly looked around, saw that no one had noticed, and continued smiling and waving. We entered the castle.

He hissed down to me. “Listen! Lesser bots have been killed for even saying that word, especially in this holy place. Watch your mouth!” He looked at Thundercracker. “What kind of mentorship is going on here?”

Thundercracker waved his hands. “Look, I told you, it’s been a weird few days. Rubble’s under a lot of stress. Give him a break.”

“I just want that word out…out of my head. I hate them. I just can’t stop thinking about them.” There was a silence, and then Starscream said. “Rubble. I know you are a dutiful, diligent student. You know that there was a Great War that we won so long ago. And it was a terrible thing. But from that awful war came the seed of the Great Hierarchy. You know this of course. Like a giant tree. You know, trees from Earth? Megatron at the root, me at the top. And all other Decepticons fall in between, on branches…”

I got tired of listening to the same old speech. “I know, I know…”

“And now we have a stable system. Most Decepticons will tell you that’s how it has to be. But here’s the truth: we need the enemy. Everyone does. If someone tells you they’re peaceful, they’re lying. I should know! Bots who stray outside of the Great Hierarchy need to be labeled as defective.” 

“Starscream, can we not talk politics for one day?” Thundercracker whined.

I could now see Thunderwing’s throne room as Starscream went on. “I’m sad to say that many former Decepticons, because of their poor decisions, had to be labeled ‘Autobot’. They received that red brand you saw. Some bots wear it by choice, but it means the same as it always has: rejection of stability. But the most important thing is to label them. Do you understand, Rubble? We need a few Autobots to keep stability. We always will. You’re old enough to hear the truth now.”

We stood in front of Thunderwing’s door. “My advice to you? The labels don’t matter. They will always exist. But you had better learn how to be the one who enforces them. That’s how you leave your mark. Let everyone sort themselves into little boxes. You control the warehouse that stores them. ”

“This is you hoping I’ll choose a Seeker alt-mode, isn’t it?” I said.

“Aha. Hahaha. Just say the word and you will be a glorious purple jet just like your mentor and me!”

“We’ll see…” I said.

“Always with the ‘we’ll see’! You’ll have to choose soon…now, no more of this slur talk. It’s time.” The door opened.

Sitting in the center of the great room was Thunderwing, wrapped in white robes, the Matrix floating over his head. His Pretender shell had begun to decompose a long time ago. I don’t think it was considered polite to even look at him directly now. His body looked slightly melted, like candle wax; must’ve been the old synthetic Pretender plastic. His optics were deep in shadow under his hood, but his white optics stared directly at me, through me.

He raised a shaky finger to point to me. I shuddered.

“Young one. Do not fear. The Matrix has told me your future. Would you like to hear your place in the Grand Hierarchy?”

“Yes, Keeper Thunderwing, Matrix Master,” I said, having rehearsed this many times.

“Good. Good…” he said, his voice becoming a hissing whisper. His optics closed. “I see…oh. The power is so strong in him. Can you feel it?”

I turned to Starscream and Thundercracker with the largest smile I had ever had. They smiled back.

“Your function…oh dear Primus. Your function…I cannot describe it. Come forward. I will give you a glimpse of what the Matrix has shown me.”

I walked up to the old bot, who placed his hand on my head. 

And all hell broke loose.

Suddenly I was in a wasteland. Surrounded by–corpses. Rotting organic matter. Rust and scraplets. Then the ground split open, and five bots erupted from the molten crust, in shadow. Each of them held a glowing sword. 

And each of them wore the red symbol that I hated so much. 

In front of them stood a–a human? Something human-shaped? I couldn’t see its face…but, it was reaching out to me–

Then I was back in the throne room. 

Thunderwing laughed. “Though I cannot see your vision, the power…the sheer death you will bring to your enemies…truly fantastic, young one. Your function is ‘Deathdealer’. Shall that become your name?”

“Death…me? Causing…death?” I stammered. Who were those terrifying bots in my vision? “I don’t want to cause…this! I’m–I wanted to–”

“Quiet!” Thundercracker said. “Don’t contradict the Keeper!”

“Yes!” Starscream said with a smirk. “Young Rubble here has a lot to learn about the world. Of course he’s a bit overwhelmed.”

Thunderwing continued to laugh. “Why, yes. He has a lot to learn. But that is all well and good, because the Matrix tells me that he will be the new leader of the Decepticons. ”

I felt like I had been knocked off my feet. Me? The leader? Megatron’s rank? I looked at Starscream’s face, and I had never seen a face so twisted. Something happy died inside him, I could just tell. I would never forget that look for the rest of my life. He was so upset about my destiny, my odd function–at least I think that’s what upset him so much.

Chapter Text

You’ve failed me again, Starscream.

On the contrary, Megatron: everything I do is victorious.

No, no. Stop the pointless strutting about. Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m referring to your obvious fear about Rubble.

How–how did you see–

Don’t be a fool. I don’t need to be near you to see you, and all of Cybertron. Condor clones, Soundwave-posts, Reflectors everywhere. I can see your face. You were terrified that Rubble was named my successor. Admit it!

You dare plant surveillance in my castle–

Oh, Starscream. Is this a tantrum? I already told you that you were to be the next leader, and yet you respond to this news like a child. How can I call you my successor if you are going to lose your composure at the slightest deception? Is this the caliber of decorum I can expect from ‘Cybertron’s Greatest Air Commander’? What would Starscream of the Great Armada say if he saw such a display–

All right! All right, I overreacted!

A drop of genuine humility from Starscream–the rarest substance in the universe.

EEEYAHHH!

Calm yourself. Yes, Thunderwing and I have conspired in this matter. Rubble is the bait to lure them out.

You mean–the Autobots? There’s only about 50, out of billions–

They are becoming desperate. After all this time, I think they will make their move to snare young Rubble. You must be ready. And discard Rubble when you’re done.

I live only to serve, Lord Megatron.

I couldn’t believe it. I could hardly walk straight. Me, Decepticon leader!

Thundercracker hovered behind me. “I’m so proud of you!”

“It’s so amazing!”

We came upon the Dome Ruins of Iacon. The long, scarred streets were a fun shopping district, with the best boiled energon you’d ever tasted. Large statues of the Old Heroes lined the street into the Dome: Scorponok the Terrorcon. Abomenaticus. Demolishor the Brave. Devastator the Six-Builder.

“Let’s celebrate. How about an energon cone, on me,” Thundercracker said.

“I wish we could have a big party!” I said giddily.

“Well, Starscream said we should wait until things become more finalized. It may not happen for a while, but Thunderwing never lies!”

“I know, I know…I’m just impatient.”

A human wearing an exo-suit pushed a large red energon snack stand near us. 

“Oh wow,” Thundercracker said. “A free human. Most of them should be on Powermaster duty right now. It’s lunch time!”

“Howdy,” the human said in really good Cybertronix. Their faces can’t really make the sounds we do, and even though we use a lot of their words, their languages aren’t really allowed here. “Anything for you two today?”

“We’re celebrating…a big event,” Thundercracker said. “How about two energon slush cones.”

“Oh, a big event, eh?” the human said. He pointed his finger up and “Ah. I have an idea. I just got an import of extremely concentrated energon, freshly mined from the inner mantle. It’s good stuff.” The human worked as hard as he could in his awkward exo-suit, and in a few seconds, he presented us with two of the darkest purple cones I’d ever seen. “On the house. For your special occasion.”

“Wow, thanks!” I blurted out. You have to eat energon very quickly before it sublimates into gas and I couldn’t gobble it up fast enough. Thundercracker smirked at me, and I wondered if this behavior didn’t really seem…leader-like.

There was a small explosion about a kilometer away.

Thundercracker stopped eating and looked in its direction. “Huh. That’s odd.”

“Yeah, there’s some malfunctioning power conductors. They’ve been having trouble all day.”

“I’d better go have a look…Rubble, you stay here,” he told me.

“Can I have your ener-cone?”

He laughed. “Sure, kid. I mean–my liege.” He winked an optic and darted off.

The human leaned against his concession stand. “Wow. Liege. That sounds really nice.”

“This cone is so yummy! What’s your business called?”

“Doesn’t have a name. But I’m…well, my name back on Earth was Gene.”

“Gene…well, I’m Rubble. And…guess what.” Should I tell him? Why not? He’s only a human–aren’t they low-INT, low-STR? It’s like talking to your pet. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? But I’m gonna be leader of the Decepticons one day!”

Gene whistled. “That’s great!” He popped off his helmet, and I saw a young human with dark eyes and spiky hair.

I froze mid-swallow. “You…you can breathe without your helmet!? There’s no air here!”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been…surgically modified to live here. So wow. Leadership. That’s a grand calling. We need good leaders.”

“Yeah we do. And let me tell you: as soon as I’m leader, there’s gonna be some changes around here.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“First off I think we’re entirely too mean to you humans. You may be barely alive by our definition, but you all had the sense to invite us in to take over and liberate you from yourselves. So that counts for something.”

Gene nodded slowly. “Liberation’s a good word. Do you feel free, Rubble?”

I thought about his words. He was looking at me with a patient smile. “Yeah, I’m free. I’m on the free-est planet and I’m about to be top of the world. Megatron wouldn’t put me in charge if he didn’t trust me, right?”

“I'm sure Megatron knows exactly what he's doing. Leadership sounds difficult. All the weight of everyone’s hopes on your shoulders. I’m glad you have bots around you that you can trust.”

“I do! Thundercracker is so good. Although some weird things have been happening lately…stuff I have trouble explaining. Nothing fits like it used to in my head.”

Gene laughed. “Well, on Earth, we have a name for that. It’s part of just growing up.”

“I think Starsrceam’s not telling me the whole truth.”

“The truth is a big thing. Too big for any one of us.”

“Yeah…wow, that sounded deep.”

“You have a deepness within your spark, Rubble. I could tell as soon as you walked over here.”

“Hey…what? Are you trying to sell me a horoscope or something?”

Gene pushed off the side of his concession stand. “No, no. I call it like I see it. And I like what you said about liberation. I’m fond of that too–liberation for all beings.”

I wondered if eating two ener-cones had made me woozy. “What was your name again?”

“Gene. Well, my name’s actually Ginrai. But my friends call me ‘Gene’.”

“I gotta go check on Thundercracker, Gene…hope to see you again soon.”

“Oh, we will–I want to keep this conversation going,” he said, smiling up at me.

Chapter Text

Great job with the pyrotechnics, Warpath.

Boom. Bang.

Did Thundercracker give you any trouble while I was talking with Rubble?

Zap. You sank my battleship.

Don’t worry. All this is for the cause. Rubble has been near the Matrix recently. I can sense it. 

Kablam? Fadamm?

Oh, of course. Megatron’s probably onto us. That’s always a possibility. I’m in no danger, though. Chromia, Elita, and Nautica are nearby as always. Those three Fates have never let me down.

Shakradoom…

Ironhide’s right here. He makes a great concession stand, don’t you think? We’ll coordinate with the other squad leaders soon. But I think we’ve almost got Rubble. Wait just a little longer, my friend. Very soon.

I met with Gene a lot over the next few weeks. “Weeks.” An English word. He made me think about the humans a little bit more, how many words we’d borrowed from them, even the way they tell time. It was hard to think of Gene as anything but sentient, but everyone swore that humans were more like “smart bags of chemicals” instead of anything, you know, actually alive.

But now I wasn’t so sure. He makes a good energon cone though. I don’t know what he puts in there.

I even told Gene that I’m meeting Megatron Lord of Lords today. I’ve only seen him twice in my whole life: when I was born, and once, on Asteroid Day, when he cleared a whole asteroid field from Cybertron’s path. That was before we started orbiting this star, Sol.

There were some Decepticons you just never saw, but we all knew they were there protecting us in the background. Megatron and the two Waves: Shockwave who saw everything and Soundwave who heard everything. There were others, but we were encouraged to never talk about them since we might spoil their plans.

Megatron stood at the entrance to Kolkular, the City-Castle. He was surrounded by the Tanks, his personal guard: Quake, Bludgeon, and Brawl. They didn’t so much as look at me: each of them was terrifying to me. Bludgeon always gave me the sense that there was something crawling up my back.

“Greetings, Rubble!” Megatron said with a cheerful voice. His faceplate made it always appear to be frowning; was that just me? “Or should I say: Rubble, future leader of the Decepticons!”

Brawl and Quake exchanged glances.

“I…um…hi. Hello!” We pressed palms in greeting. “Thank you Lord of Lords for accommodating me in your busy–”

“Nonsense! You are an honored guest here at my home. Did you find the Seeker lift pleasant?”

“Um…yes.” I was lying. Kolkular is a giant city raised above a large gulf in Cybertron’s crust; the only way in is to fly, and I can’t. So a pair of purple Seekers had to carry me by lifting me up by my arms and flying me over here. It wasn’t elegant and I may have screamed a little, a few times.

“Splendid. Splendid! Come now. We will need to have many meetings before I can pass the reins of leadership onto you.” We both sat down in matching thrones, opposite each other. “I appreciate you not revealing your new status so soon,” he told me. “That is the first test of leadership: strategic revelation of the truth.”

“Oh! I…thank…thank you?”

Megatron laughed. “Such a gentle spark you are! You remind me of ancient Demolishor, the powerful gentle giant who fell backwards into power. He and Starscream of the Cracked Jewel were among the first of us, breaking free of the shackles of the Autocrats. I take my name from those brave Megatrons: Megatron the Mini-Con-queror, Megatron the Tyrannosaur. Do you know these names?”

“Yes, Lord of Lords.”

“But we have become more efficient at leadership than our ancestors. They could not have created this perfect world. No, with me, the Decepticons have become so much more, much more, and we have so much farther to go. When we brought Cybertron to this Sol system, we tamed the slimy, wild Earth, of course, but there are more worlds here ripe for the cyberforming. I leave Cybertron to you, Rubble.”

“I…I…”

“We shall have to improve your eloquence!” he said as I found my words. “Some sessions with Starscream will be in order. Now, tell me. Surely in these few weeks you have been imagining the responsibilities of your new position. What sorts of initiatives will you undertake?”

“Well…I was thinking about the humans?”

“Yes?”

“I know we use them as Powermaster energy cells now, and they’re all very renewable energy sources, but…well…”

“Go ahead.”

“Maybe if we restored some of their rights, they would produce more energy for us…maybe…we could have a partnership…between worlds?”

Megatron sat quietly, smiling at me for a long while. I don’t know what he found so funny. Then: “Such an interesting proposal. Giving the humans more power. You know, one of the key facts about humans is that they are unable to wield power over more than, say, about 100 of their peers. After that, their decisions become increasingly terrible. Do you know that when we came to Earth, they were already Phase Sixing themselves? It’s true! They remained more afraid of themselves instead of us. The Autocrats had no chance at all, and they were betrayed on all sides: by us, by sympathetic humans. Learn this lesson well, Rubble: there is not a single good human. Not one. ”

I thought of Gene for a moment. Did Megatron notice my attention waver just then, for a second? If not, he surely saw me try to regain my composure.

“I…um, I see. I’ve been meaning to ask about something I heard, a few weeks ago…when my Skyhopper crashed in the Dead End. Something a bot said…I can’t find any answers about it.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Who is Optimus Prime?”

Now it was my turn to see Megatron’s optics flinch. I swear they did. 

“Optimus Prime. Well now. A very old name. I barely remember it. Why do you ask?”

“A…deranged old bot mentioned him. I can’t find anything in Soundwave-approved data nets about it.”

“I’m aware of that incident. We collected him and executed him.”

“You killed Gears?” I asked, not realized I let slip that I remembered his name.

“Yes. For unauthorized display of hateful Autocrat symbols. Is this a problem?”

“Oh, no. No…” I trailed off.

“Rubble. I will tell you what I remember of this Optimus Prime to put your curiosity to rest. Long ago, he betrayed us. All of us. Each of us on Cybertron. The planet was running low on resources. His solution was to let us all die in some pitiful self-sacrifice. Well, I said never! We are strong, unique. No one in the universe is like us. We will not sit and rust while we can flourish. And when we brought Cybertron here, he died on Earth. I killed him. I ripped the Matrix from his chest. I watched his optics fade. I watched him turn grey. I used to keep his body here until too many complained, over the years. But he was my greatest trophy–removal of the decay that plagued this world. Your world, Rubble.”

I nodded. It seemed he remembered more than he let on. “Thank you, Lord or Lords.”

“Well. This has been a most refreshing chat. I pray that we have more in the future.” As I turned to leave, he went on. “Oh, one last thing. We’ve had to ban human vendors at the Iacon Hall of Heroes. Humans, you see. They’re causing a contamination problem. They’re contagious. I’m sure you’ll understand.” 

It took every ounce of strength to not react. “I understand, Lord of Lords.”

The three Tanks, Bludgeon, Brawl, and Quake, didn’t even look at me as I left. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being mocked as I was awkwardly airlifted from Kolkular once again.

Chapter Text

Long before my time, Galvatron the Planet-Smasher brought Cybertron to this solar system. He destroyed the red planet here and we took its orbit as our new home. Thundercracker taught me Galvatron’s Prayer, to remind me whenever times got tough, to remember the bravery of my fore-bots.

I muttered it now, for what I was about to do.

“Whisper,” I said to my lieutenant, “take me to Iacon.”

The Air Strike Patrol all froze and stared at me. “Uh, boss, you sure you wanna–”

“Yes. Prepare the Skyhopper at once,” I said, trying to sound official.

“Uh…right." They went to their control stations and I sat in my passenger seat, hands gripping the chair arms tightly. I just had to make sure he was really gone and not waiting for me. I’d never live with myself if I knew I’d passed on this chance.

I’m sure the night sky was beautiful, but I didn’t notice. I only saw the radar, the dots moving together as we approached the quiet bazaar in front of the ruins of Iacon. We settled down.

And I saw him. Gene was right there as always, leaning on his concession stand.

“How–Megatron ordered all humans to be removed from Iacon!” Nightflight said. “How’d we miss him–”

I ran out of the ship to him. “Gene!” I said.

“Heya, Rubble. Long time no see. I thought I might see you here tonight.”

“You avoided the human curfew.”

“Sure did. Like I told you way back when–surgical enhancements. Nifty, huh?”

“I really…just came here to say goodbye. And thank you. Er…and I’ll miss your desserts.”

Gene laughed. “How’s about one more energon cone. Well…that is…if your friends say it’s okay.”

He pointed behind me, and I spun around. The Air Strike Patrol were aiming cannons at me.

“What? What are you doing–”

“Boss, we’re under orders from Starscream himself. Consorting with curfewed humans is forbidden…” Whisper said. “Come back to the ship. You’re under arrest.”

“Looks like Starscream’s had a secret police under your nose this whole time,” Gene said in perfect Cybertronix.

“Shut up!” Storm Cloud said back. Gene stood up fully now and said, “Guess I better shut up then,” with a smile on his face.

“Don’t hurt him!” I screamed. 

Overhead, there was a loud boom! And a blue blur zoomed in between me and the Air Strike Patrol: my mentor, Thundercracker. He transformed, his arm cannons aimed at my former lieutenants.

“Put your weapons down!” he said. “Don’t aim at my Rubble!” His weapons powered up and surged with purple static.

“He’s in violation of Starscream’s orders!” Tailwind said, charging up his own weapon. “No exceptions for mentors!”

Over his shoulder to me, Thundercracker said, “You’re out of your mind for coming here. You’ve gotten us both in so much trouble!”

“I’m sorry but I just had–”

“Shut up!” he said to me, and I cringed. I felt like–what the Earth people call a child. Undeveloped. Insolent. Thoughtless.

“Hey, I remember you!” Gene said to Thundercracker. “Back on Earth. You spent some time there…”

“Don’t speak to me, Earth-thing.”

“Yeah, no doubt about it. You don’t hate all Earthlings, eh? I remember that dog you found…you named her, I think…”

“Arghhhh!” Thundercracker screamed, turning his cannons towards Gene, who merely raised an eyebrow. Who was this human, who didn’t skitter and scramble at us? Was he ready to die?

Gene raised his hands. “Whoa, whoa now.”

“How do you remember that–that was a long time ago–longer than humans live–”

Suddenly Thundercracker seized and glitched, as if his brain module spasmed out of control. He toppled over, motionless. A null ray.

Starscream landed near us, followed by the Tanks: Bludgeon, Brawl, and Quake. 

“Rubble!” he called out. “Are you…consorting with forbidden humans? And setting your mentor up for treason? I have never heard of such treachery!”

“I–no, I–”

“The future leader of the Decepticons!” Starscream said. “Was this…all a plot to you? To corrupt the Decepticons? To take the side of humans against your own kind?” The Tanks all transformed into robot mode behind him. “Oh, dear. Oh dear, dear, dear. We shall have to take this human for interrogation, and as for you…well, your future isn’t so bright, it seems.”

“Starscream–wait–it’s all a mistake–you know me! I love the Decepticons, I–”

“Silence!” he said with a wide grin. I’d never seen him make that face. Was it his true face?

I covered my face and fell to my knees. Like a child. Like a weak child. Starscream and the Tanks laughed.

“The future leader of the Decepticons!” Starscream said again. “Admit it–you’ve been secretly working with Autobots!”

“No–never! No!” I babbled.

“And what if he has?” Gene said.

“Quiet, fleshling!” Starscream said.

“You all are so rude, with your ‘silence!’ and ‘shut up!’. No, no I don’t think I will. Let’s talk, Starscream. Let’s talk about Autobots.” He slammed his fist against the side of his concession stand. “Combat Deck, transform!”

The red box cart of food transformed into a heavy red armored robot with a glass chest and a gladiator’s crest on its head. “Heyyyy!” it said with a grin. “Been waitin’ for this for a looooong time, Starscream!”

“N-no! It’s–Ironhide! Here!? Fire on him! Fire!” he said, and the Air Strike Patrol shot at him. Ironhide the Combat Deck shielded himself with massive, dense arms and plodded forward towards them.

The Tanks were already on the move, shoving me aside. “Capture the human!” Bludgeon said.

“Heh heh. I don’t ‘capture’ so easily. Convoy!” Gene shouted out. 

Gene crossed his wrists together in front of his chest. A large neon grid appeared above him, like a digital ghost, of another red robot with a blue face and a mouth mask–two glass chest windows–his left arm a glowing yellow axe–those awful symbols that Gears wore on his arms.

“One shall fall, Starscream! One shall fall!” the robot–was it a robot?--said. Starscream screamed and fired null rays at Convoy, who deflected the shots with the axe. Bludgeon, wielding a saber of his own, came up behind Convoy and slashed at his head, but Gene spun toward him, countering the blow with a fierce electric crackle. As Gene’s body moved, so did Convoy’s.

“He’s just a human!” Quake said. “Just squish it!” As Quake moved to do just that, Gene shouted, “Roller!” and from somewhere a little blue and grey tank sped towards him. Gene jumped and landed atop Roller, and he surfed on Roller into the sky.

“Nautica!” he called out. “You know what to do! We’ll catch up later!”

I felt arms embrace me from behind and I flinched. “Hey there! I’m a friend. I promise,” her voice said. “This will feel a little weird. We’re going to quantum-tunnel. Hold on!”

My vision began to blur, and I felt myself unable to even make a sound. I couldn't even call out for her to save Thundercracker. But I could still see Gene–and before I teleported, I heard him shout:“Ginrai! Combat Deck! Roller! Convoy! Let’s combine into Prime! Yes, go tell your masters, Decepticons! Tell them that Optimus Prime is back!”

Chapter Text

Soundwave, it’s time.

Yes, Lord Megatron.

Rubble is with the Autobots, and Optimus Prime reveals himself again in a tiny, corrupted form. At last, we will crush the rest of them! Deploy the Nine Demon Generals! None shall rest until they are vanquished!

When I had come to, I felt like I had been dreaming. Had I? I was in a dark, echoing cave of some kind. I saw…a few computer terminals. Everything was a dull brown or orange color. I saw blue screens. Long shards of rock hanging down from the ceiling.

I was lying on a recharge slab. I felt two hands hold mine–purple, friendly. They pulled me up.

“Hello,” the purple bot said to me. She motioned towards her chest, over her spark. “I’m Nautica. I brought you here. Don’t move too much. Quantum reassembly will take a lot out of you.”

She had warm tones in her voice–she was speaking…an Earth language. German? English. That must be it.

Then I saw the red symbol on her chest and shoulders. The red symbol Gears wore. The symbol I’d been told was hate all along. I flinched.

“I’m–I’m Rubble, leader of the–the Decepticons…” I started to say, but my voice faltered. There was no hiding my weakness in front of her. She looked at me through the visor as if I were just babbling.

“We know who you are,” a stern voice said behind me. A blue bot holding a bayonet stood close enough that I knew I was being watched very carefully. She too wore the hateful symbol of the Autocrats. Was this the secret world of the hatemongers the Decepticon Council told me about?

“Chromia,” Nautica said in a warning tone.

“This one hasn’t earned the right to say my name. And most likely will not.”

“Chromia.”

“Very well. I’ll wait just outside.” As she left, I saw Gene and a red bot enter. 

“Gene!” I said. “What’s going on–wait. You, I remember you…” I knew that red bot from somewhere. But where…oh. It was when…

“Bumblebee,” I stammered. “When Bumblebee spoke. I saw you there…”

“You’re correct. I am Elita-1,” she said in almost musical tones. “Welcome to the Ark.”

“Where am I?”

Elita and Gene exchanged glances. “Can you walk, Rubble?” Gene asked me. “Let’s go for a walk.”

I stood up and felt very low on energy, as if I hadn’t eaten in ages. But my internal fuel systems said I was actually running on a fuel tank.

“Gene, I don’t feel so good…”

“That’s Commander Ginrai,” came Chromia’s muffled voice from the next room.

“Ah,” Gene said. “You were about to eat a delicious ener-cone before we were so rudely interrupted. Well, come on. I still have one left for you.”

We walked through the long, dark hallways of…whatever the Ark was. “Gene…Ginrai…please tell me what’s going on?” The Ark was plastered with red symbols that remained as grotesque-looking as ever.

We reached an exit, spilling out onto a rocky terrain. I could see overcast skies and scattered bunches of trees.

“This–this is Earth?” I said.

“Yes,” Ginrai said. “Welcome to Earth.”

“I’ve…never been here before.”

“I know.”

“You do? How?”

“Rubble, we’ve been monitoring you ever since you were forged,” he said. “I know you’ve never left the planet.”

I felt a chill. “Why…have you been monitoring me? Who are you really, Ginrai?”

Ginrai perched on a rocky seat near the entrance, and sighed. “I’ll give you the short version. You’re on Earth, yes. This is the Ark, the last Autobot ship. You’re our guest here, because I think there’s something special about you, Rubble.”

“Autobots…not ‘Autocrats’?”

Ginrai laughed. “Autobots. That’s our name for ourselves. I’m sure you’ve heard Decepticon history about the Great War. Let me give you the short version.” He looked out towards a sunset and appeared to gather his words.

“Cybertron was once a beautiful place for all sorts of robots. But our resources became low, and Megatron wanted to seek another planet’s resources. The Autobot leader, Optimus Prime…he approved, so long as we didn’t harm other living species. But Megatron brought Cybertron to Earth, and…he didn’t really consider us alive. Not like you’re alive.

The Autobots fought among ourselves about whether or not humans were alive–fought about things like that while Decepticons simply mobilized and took over. And we were all destroyed. Maybe only 50 of us are left. We had to hide while the humans were conquered, made to power Decepticon bodies…’flesh-Mini-Cons’, we were called at first. We had to hide. Hide and watch our kind become subjugated, our name corrupted, turned into insult, into obscenities. For so long now, hiding…waiting for the right moment to overturn the Decepticons, to free the humans.”

“No,” I said. “That’s all wrong. That’s not what I was taught. The Autocrats were stingy and hoarded energon while we all starved, and Megatron wanted to free the energy for everyone…”

Ginrai looked up at me with a sad expression. “We failed. We failed to come up with a plan to save our world. And we failed to save your world too. But I’ve come to know your spark, Rubble. I know you want to live in peace with the humans. If that’s what you want, that makes you an Autobot in my book.”

“Don’t call me that awful name.”

Ginrai looked down and smiled slightly. “I get it. I don’t much care what you call yourself. But our goals are the same. The Decepticons won’t take you back now.”

“You’re wrong! I have friends–I have my mentor–Thundercracker–why didn’t you save him!?”

“We once tried to. We almost reached him. We took care of his dog for as long as we could…”

“He’s going to be waiting for me on Cybertron–I need to contact him!”

“You're not ready to face the Decepticons.”

“But Thundercracker was going to be punished because of me! I have to save him!”

“Right now, you can’t even save yourself. But I can help with that.” At that point, Roller rolled up to us, an ener-cone in its front seat. “I owe you one more dessert. Eat it and let’s talk.”

I didn’t care how undignified I looked: I grabbed the energon cone from Roller and tried to take my time eating it, but I couldn’t slow down at all.

“You once asked who Optimus Prime was. He was nearly killed by Megatron and the Matrix stolen from him. But Megatron didn’t get all of the Matrix. Optimus managed to claw out some of the crystal before he was left for dead. I found his body later, kept just barely with residual Matrix energy. I became a Powermaster for him, and Ironhide gave part of his body to restore Optimus’s.”

I listened to him as I ate. As he spoke, the projection he called “Convoy” appeared over him and began to speak in tandem with Ginrai. “Prime lives through us–through Roller, through Ironhide, through me.”

I couldn’t eat fast enough.

Ginrai smiled up at me. “I am Optimus Prime. ”

I began to feel energetic, super-powered at the–was it the energon cone? Was it his words?

“The last thing I’m going to tell you is that the Matrix only calls to a few, Rubble. And it calls to you now. It’s been calling through you with every bite you take.”

I froze. “I’ve–I’ve been eating–”

“That’s right, Rubble. You’ve been eating concentrated Matrix crystals. Most bots, the ones who aren’t called by the Matrix, they don’t find its taste…palatable. With you, I knew from the first snack that you were the one.”

“What’s happening to me–”

“It’s hard to explain. You’ll see for yourself. Look.”

Right in front of me I saw five huge robots, each holding a burning sword. 

The middle one stepped forward and said in a gruff voice. “Come. We start now.”

“Meet the Dinobots, Rubble. The Matrix accepts us all in different ways. For you, it’s going to be a bit of a struggle, it seems. Trial by Dinobot.” I looked down at Ginrai and his eyes were shining bright blue. Is that how my optics looked?

“I saw your vision, when Thunderwing showed it to you. The Matrix linked me to it–and that’s how I knew to find you. He called you ‘Deathdealer’. Is that your name? What will you build from the ‘rubble’ of your old self?”

“I don’t care about that name. I’ll call myself whatever I have to, to save Thundercracker. ‘Deathdealer’...trained by Dinobots? Fine then, I have a name.”

I stood up and followed the Dinobots. Over my shoulder, I said to Ginrai:

“Call me Deathsaurus.”

END PART ONE

Chapter Text

Prime. You realize that Rubble can never really be an Autobot.

He’s Deathsaurus now, Prowl. And I think he can. He’s got a good heart.

I hate when you say “heart”. I don’t know what “heart” is. Spark, I can see. “Heart”, though?

Maybe you can learn from him. 

I need you to know that I only see him strategically. He’ll never be an Autobot. Not to me. The Matrix you fed him was our last chance. We’re creating a monster.

We’ll disagree about this. Watch him. He’ll surprise us. Give him time.

Swoop

Earth was such a strange place to be a stranger. I walked through a forest of brown and green things. The green things rustled–trees. Like little circuits. I couldn’t see or taste any metal in the air here. I worried about rusting. 

I felt like my body was changing. It had changed a little after I left Ginrai behind to train with the Dinobots. Swoop led me through a clearing, a large forest surrounding a patchy field of grass.

She turned to face me and smiled. “I know you’re in a hurry. So I won’t waste your time. You have one, and only one job: catch me.”

“Catch you…?”

“That’s right.”

“Like…a game?”

“A very serious game, yes. Ready?” And she leapt to the top of a tree, holding onto it with one arm, smiling down at me.

“Come on. That’s no fair. You can fly and I can’t.”

“Can’t you?” She nodded her head behind me. I turned and looked and–wings? I had small wings that weren’t there before!

I tried to use them–no good. I was too heavy.

“You call that flapping? Come on. I weigh more than you. How’re you gonna catch me?”

“Tell me how to fly then!”

“How’m I gonna do that? I can’t be you. You have to be you. I’m waiting.”

“This is dumb! It’s a skill. I need to know how to do the skill. Tell me how!”

“Oooh boy. Are you going to stamp your foot until you get what you want? Is that what the Decepticon Council is these days? Spoiled, pampered protoforms?”

I didn’t say anything. I tried to flap harder. Still nothing.

“Wow, you really want to waste time. Thundercracker’s over on Cybertron, waiting on you…and you’re wasting time.”

“Argh!” I said. I ran over to the tree and tried to climb it. I heard it crack and begin to lean. Swoop adjusted to the shifting tree easily.

It took me about 15 minutes but I finally made it halfway up the tree before it cracked. I fell onto my face. Swoop had already jumped to another tree, standing on the very top, her arms crossed. “This just won’t do at all,” she said.

She partially transformed, her head becoming a large beaked creature, and she spat something out at me.

Whatever it was, it had claws and was cackling at me.

“Slash here will help motivate you!” Swoop said. I started to run away from Slash, who was half my height but was all teeth and claws, grinning at me. “Rahhhh gonna getcha!” she called out. Was this a game? Would she really–

“Stop overthinking it! Get out of your own head! Get up here! She really will eat you. She’s hungry!”

I tried to scramble up another tree, but it too fell over. I managed to dodge Slash–just barely.

Finally, I tried something different: I jumped on Slash’s head, and used it to springboard up to Swoop. I heard Slash make an “Urrrr?” sound of confusion as I stretched my odd wings out as far as I could reaching for Swoop.

I missed her by a nanoklik and went crashing into more trees.

“These trees are alive,” she told me. You’re killing them by failing. Is that okay with you, Decepticon?”

“I’m not a–” but I stopped myself. Slash was already upon me again and again I jumped, angling my wings a little differently, and that’s when it hit me: what if I mass shifted while I jumped? Put some of my mass into subspace? Then I’d be lighter.

I tried this. I made it a lot farther.

“Hmm! Very good. I don’t know what you did there, but you’re on the right track. You almost had me.”

I ignored her and fell to one knee. I grabbed Slash just as she jumped on me–where did I learn to move this fast?--swung in a circle and tossed her up at Swoop.

It worked! Both of them fell to the ground, and I ran over to Swoop and tapped her on the head.

“Tag. You’re it. Are we done now?”

Swoop sat up and winced. “Well…technically I guess that means you’ve won. Sneaky little Scraplet, aint’cha?” She transformed into a flying mode: huge wings, long beak. Pteranodon? Pterodactyl? She opened her beak and Slash transformed into something…vicious, and climbed inside. She must have shrunken to fit inside.

“Catch me again. This time for real.” She soared into the air in circles over my head.

“No way. I can’t do that!”

“Then your mentor is dead. You think this is hard? Try living in exile like the Dinobots did! Try being dishonored by being weak! Own your weakness and get up here, brat!”

I remembered my mass-shifting trick and launched myself into the air.

I couldn’t believe it–I was actually flying. My wings felt too heavy, then too light. Then the wind pushed me to-and-fro. Swoop was already in front of me, doing barrel-rolls and loop-de-loops.

“The Matrix affects those it calls differently. With Rodimus, it changed his body completely, instantly. Optimus didn’t outwardly change at all. What it did to him, none of us really understands. But with you, it’s a slow change–”

–nearly caught her, I had to dive and turn around in the air painfully slowly compared to her, how did she do it–

“--because you’re not holding the Matrix within you. You ate it. It’s running in your fuel lines, your blood. Your body is being rewritten by a sacred energon. Ginrai told us about your vision–you saw us–”

–almost caught her again and she banked away just in time and I flew into trees–

“--didn’t you? I dunno what all that Matrix energy is going to do to you. This chase we’re doing, it’s always going to be there within you. Try not to forget it, okay?”

She stopped–and I tapped her wing. For a moment we glided next to each other.

“Thank you…for helping me, Swoop.”

She looked over at me, her eye sad, her beak drooping. “I’m only the first trial. And the others say I’m the nice one.”

Slug

I met Slug on the far side of the volcano. He stood facing away from me, holding his sword. It sizzled in the dry air.

“Hi…Slug? I’m Ru–Deathsaurus…I’m here to train with you…?”

“Training?” Slug said. “This isn’t training. This is survival.”

“Okay…?”

“You don’t get it. Here’s how this works. You have 15 minutes in battle with me. If you survive this, I’ll send you to the next bot. But I’m going to kill you before you get that far. ”

He was already charging me, bringing the red-hot blade down on top of me. I tried to shield my face but–

There was a sword in my hand. Where had it come from? My white sword clacked and shook under Slug’s weight. He swung his blade down again and again, more like a blunt object than a sword, and the impacts drove me further and further down into the ground.

I scrambled out of the way, trying to put some distance between us. I couldn’t.

“I’m not killing you because I want to train you. I hate you because you’re a Decepticon. All this time we’ve been hiding and dying, and that piece of shit Optimus decides to give you the Matrix. That’s a slap in the faceplate to all of us who fought against them–against you!”

His rage was a weapon all by itself; he could’ve probably knocked me over with it alone. I was trying to learn, to mimic his motions.

“We’ll always hate you. You weren’t just some grunt. You were born to the elite, sat at the very top of your society. Hobnobbing with Starsrceam! Little meetings with Megatron and Thunderwing! And we all risked cover to save your little ass! Fuck you!”

I didn’t understand all his Earth insults, but I didn’t have time to understand them either–he’d cut me, really badly, on my left shoulder. I dropped my sword. I fell over.

“No one’s coming to save you. Fuck Prime. Fuck Prowl. Fuck all those pissant ‘leaders’ who don’t know shit. Look at you. You think you can fight a ‘noble’ fight or ‘just’ fight. You can’t. You’re a monster.”

I clutched my shoulder, which dripped a blue fluid I had never seen before.

“Look at this loser, never having seen his own fuel spill. You think you’re ‘one of the good guys’. The minute you start saying you’re doing something for good, you’re screwed. You’re saying it’s okay to screw over someone, because anything you do must be good, right? Who cares how anyone else feels!”

I struggled to stand. Think of Thundercracker, I thought to myself. “I’m sick of listening to you whine,” I said, not knowing where that boast came from.

He howled and transformed into a Triceratops and began to charge me. I prepared to dodge at the last minute, and I did–and he stopped too–he saw it coming and out-thought me–

And gored me in the side.

I had no words for the pain and my stasis lock circuits began to kick in. My vision got blurry. He walked with me impaled on his chest…was he walking up…the volcano…?

Why wasn’t anyone stopping this?

I was so hot. The volcano was filled with…magma…he’s going to toss me in and there’s nothing I can do…no one’s going to help me–

Falling now.

Falling.

Hitting a burning hot wall. Can’t vent hot air. Is this what it’s like to melt? 

Slug dived down and punched me deeper into the lava. I was submerged. His voice was muffled: I told you I’d kill you! I told you! We’ll both die here together!

And then I was possessed by something I had never felt, a real need to be alive that overrode everything else, everything else was just a shell around this need and I punched him as hard as I could–

–punched him out of the volcano–

–and I rocketed after him, needing to kill him so he doesn’t kill me, his sword and mine clashed–when did I pick it up again–

A loud ding. A voice saying “time’s up!”

“All right, brat. That’s time.”

“What!?” I said. “I’m not done with you–”

“Heh. Hahaha. That’s a good look you got right now. You want to scare yourself to death, go look in a mirror, kid.”

“It’s…it’s over.”

“I guess so,” Slug said. “You made it. You look different already. Close to what I think a Dinobot can do.” He looked at the cuts and dents in his own armor. “Got me good. Not bad, kid. Survive first, think later. Remember that.”

“I hope I never see you again!” I shouted at him. 

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he said, already walking away. “Oh, and kid. You may not have noticed it, but we went 15 hours, not 15 minutes.”

Chapter Text

I found Sludge sitting next to a river in his brontosaur mode. He had craned his neck into the stream, lapping up water and spitting it out, over and over again. He chuckled each time he did it. I tried to sneak up behind him.

Could I bring him down before he even noticed me? No. No, that’s not what I should do. I should face him directly, like a true Dinobot.

I stood a ways behind him and prepared myself. “Sludge!”

His head whipped around to face me. “Uh?”

“I’m ready. I can do this!” I squeezed the hilt of my saber, which pulsed with a blue energy.

“Huh. Hi.” He turned around and resumed drinking and spitting water and chuckling.

“What’s going on? Aren’t we going to…train?” I wondered.

“Too tired. Too hot. Sleepy times,” he said, transforming. The ground underneath me vibrated when he transformed. I stumbled for a moment. He held a gigantic cannon in one hand and a sword in the other. He put them both down.

“Nap time. Come sleep. Night-nights. Then fight.”

“Is this a trick!?” My sword seemed to vanish into thin air.

Sludge slumped to his knees, and then faceplanted into the dirt. “Take nap, need rest. Wasting time.”

I sat down, leaning against a rock. “You’re not waiting for me to shutdown, right? This isn’t a trick? You have to tell me if this is a trick!”

“Sludge says sleep, it means sleep. Why make words so tough? Just sleep. Rest good for you. Tell dumb voices in head to shut up. Sleep.”

I tried but I couldn’t. I was still rattled after Slug, and my systems felt unstable after learning to fly. Then again, I was feeling a lot of new systems coming online. I didn’t even know what some of these functions even did.

“Why no sleep? Just turn brain off like Sludge.”

“This is difficult for me…there’s so much on my mind…I can’t stop thinking.”

“Fight hard, rest hard. Too much brain waste of time for Dinobots. Learn how to stop. Night-night.” His optics flashed off, and all I heard were pistons slowly rising and falling.

How could I sleep knowing Thundecracker was out there in danger? Or that the Autobots needed me? I tried to just listen to the rising and falling of Sludge’s mighty ventilation system until I was finally able to shutdown–which took a whole hour by itself.

When I came to, I was definitely taller. My wings were huge. They were cramped because I’d rested on them. My helmet…was there a beak on my helmet?

Sludge was sitting up, staring at the river, completely motionless but awake. 

“Hi Rubblesaurus. Good sleep?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Sludge kept brain empty for training. Empty mind, empty fist. You understand?”

“Not…really?”

“When Sludge fight, Sludge have one goal: win. Clear everything else out.” Sludge stood up, shook off all the dirt and mud caked on his body. “What goal in Rubblesaurus head?”

“Protecting. I want to protect my friends…protect…the weak. I think.”

“Think-word, again…” Sludge turned to the river. “No river on Cybertron. Sludge protect this river. No beauty like this on Cybertron. Protect is good goal.”

He walked over to me. I only came up to his chest.

“Rubblesaurus have to not get hit. Sludge punch, Rubblesaurus dodge, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Sludge did simple slow punches, again and again. The same right punch and I dodged to the left. Again and again.

Again and again.

“Is this it?”

“Yep,” Sludge said. Then left uppercuts and right punches. Then left, right, left…it was all so slow.

“This is too slow for me,” I said. “Speed it up!”

“No. Rubblesaurus brain too fast. Slow it down.”

Now Sludge added kicks and punches, every moment fluid. Now he would transform into dinosaur mode, adding tail swipes and bites. All so easy to dodge.

Great. I’m here with this idiot when my mentor’s in danger. I should think of a plan while I…

And then I was whacked with his tail. I was flung into the air against the side of a cliff.

“Uh-oh,” I heard Sludge say. “Rubblesaurus brain full of something when it should be empty.”

I struggled to stand. Just with one tail swipe? How strong was he?

“Gotta start over, Rubblesaur. Sorry.”

“What!?”

“Rubblesaur have bad instincts. Stuck in your own head and let Sludge tail whack you. Why you do that?”

“You stupid, stupid–bot!” I spat out.

“Why call Sludge stupid?”

“Because you are! ”

Sludge looked sad for a moment. “Sludge was wrong about you. Rubblesaurus just like other ‘Cons. Think brains make you better. But smart Autobots and smart ‘Cons cause big problems. Sludge hate–disgusted–with Cybertronix, speaking only simple Earth languages now. Still make me seem stupid. Stupid is bad to bots like you, but you not follow simple task. Changing now to English.” 

He assumed a boxing stance as I stood feeling awful for what I’d said. “You are not fit to spar with me at an advanced level,” Sludge said. “You think advanced is better than basic. But you don’t know the basics, do you? Come now. Dodge me a thousand times, and then we will talk about advanced techniques. Use all that brain power to focus! Come at me!”

1,000 dodges.

2,000 dodges.

He transformed into a dinosaur and I dodged in the water.

5,000 dodges. 6,000.

He stomped the ground and split the earth. I dodged.

10,000.

I could see him face to face. 

20,000.

Finally, he rested. I lost track of time. I don’t know if I ever consciously stopped dodging–or if I ever will. But at some point I sat next to him by the river and we stared at it. And the not-moving was a kind of moving.

“I’m sorry I called you stupid,” I said.

“Already forgotten. You can make it up to me by protecting this Earth, its people, its life.”

He transformed into a dinosaur again and fell asleep. I sat on his back, looking up at the sky–the giant river of stars cutting through it. I must protect that river too. All of it, I thought.

Chapter Text

I found Snarl by a dark cave, his head buried in his hands. 

“Snarl! It’s Deathsaurus. I’m here. I’m ready to train.”

Without moving, Snarl said, “Ah. You can see me. I wonder if you will be the one.”

“The what–” I started to say, but he had leapt into the air, clutching his energo-sword with both hands and swung it down towards my head. I deflected his attack easily, only needing to slash with one of my arms. I walked towards him, unafraid.

“Will you? Will you be the one?” He clashed swords with me. I never took my optics off of him. I saw his attacks before they launched and dodged them easily. I felt a little surge of excitement, and then he said:

“Thundercracker is dead.”

I froze for a split-second, and that’s all Snarl needed.

He vanished from my sight. I knew he must have gotten behind me, but I couldn’t dodge fast enough. I felt the crackling sword pierce the back of my left leg. 

I limped away and tried to regain my stance. I couldn’t see him–but I heard his voice.

Thundercracker is dead. And you killed him.

“How do you know?!” I screamed. 

You tell yourself little lies, don’t you. “I’m protecting the weak because it’s the right thing to do”. But that’s a lie, isn’t it? You don’t want to look into that nasty darkness at the center of you. Cut it out, discard it, glorify it, give into it–anything besides look at it. You can’t look at the truth: you’re alone right now. You always will be. 

Another cut–this time diagonally across my front. I slashed in return, but struck nothing.

You’ll never see me unless you acknowledge that truth: that you’re hopelessly alone, stuck in your own mind.

“You’re wrong!”

That’s why you’ll die here. You think you can gain this power from us and not be changed. You want to be a “good bot”. But there is no such thing. There’s only the void at the bottom of everything. Look down!

And I obeyed. A sword was slicing up towards my face. I dodged only at the last possible moment.

You had a moment of clarity. How can you save anyone–even yourself–if you’re lying to yourself about why you’re fighting?

“I know why I’m fighting! I’m going to bring it all down–the ones who did this to Thundercracker and me–”

–I saw Snarl attacking me from the right side–

“--and I won’t let them win!”

“Everyone you try to protect will die. Look at how you tremble when I even say that!”

I flinched, but he didn’t vanish from my sight this time.

“You’ll fail. You’ll lose. You lost the moment you met Gears that day.” He transformed into his Stegosaurus mode, and sun rays reflected off of his spines. I had to shield my optics.

“You can’t bear to see the truth, can you! You think you’re saving someone else besides yourself!” With his tail, he fired a laser beam that pierced my shoulder. “Decepticons have mastered that–lying to everyone, and themselves!”

I fell to one knee. After all that flying and cutting and being buried in lava and dodging, I can’t die here! I can’t! I thought.

“You…you’re right. If I fight against the truth, I’ll lose every time,” I said. I stabbed the ground with my sword and hoisted myself.

Snarl screamed and transformed, rushing towards me, the point of his sword aimed at my neck. 

As he attacked, his sword vanished. The scorn on his twisted faceplate faded.

“But you’re wrong too, Snarl. None of us are alone,” I said.

He smiled, looking down. “Have you figured out what’s happening to you, yet?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you even recognize yourself? Look!” And in the reflection of his shiny golden metal I saw a bot that I didn’t recognize. I was tall now–as tall as Sludge. I had large gray wings. I looked at my body, which had become more colorful: blues and whites and reds. My helmet looked like a bird’s head; giant golden horns erupted out of my chest.

“Is this…me?”

“This is Deathsaurus. Your name was Rubble. Listen to that! You were destined to be a powerful conqueror, demolishing everything to the ground. A true Dinobot.”

“But–I don’t know how to transform…how do I do that?”

“I think Grimlock will have to help you with that.”

I looked away for a moment, then back at him. “You were so miserable earlier. I don’t want to leave you here like this.”

“Heh, look at you, already looking out for your fellow Dinos. That was all a routine. Dramatic training and all.”

“You being miserable wasn’t a routine. Come on. That was real.”

“Can’t lie to you, I guess. No one sees me, and then when they do, I’m too bright,” he said, the sun reflecting off of his stegosaur spines. 

“That’s…like truth. Truth is like that,” I said, pondering.

“Ha!” he said, smacking my back. “You philoso-raptor. It’s been ages since I talked to someone who actually saw me. I appreciate it. Go on, we’ll catch up later. I'm going to get some sun.”

"Thanks." As I walked away, I stopped and asked over my shoulder, "That thing you said about Thundercracker...being dead. Was that just part of the 'dramatic training'?"

Snarl had turned away from me. "If you survive Grimlock, ask him."

Chapter Text

Next to a large, bubbling tar pit, I found Grimlock waiting for me. He quietly watched the percolation, bubbles swelling and then popping.

This was a strange place. I didn't know much about Earth, but as I looked around, I saw the tar pit, two large volcanos dripping lava, a quickly reddening sky; to my left, the forest where I met Swoop and Slash was burning; the river where I met Sludge, dried up and dusty. 

"You did good to get this far," Grimlock said, with his back to me. Welcome to Earth--world of ash."

As he spoke, the forest burned more brightly; Snarl's cave collapsed.

I drew my sword and looked around. "What's happening?"

"Not happening. Already happen," Grimlock said. "You still not realize where you are."

"What's happening--what's--what's happened to Earth?" I said, trying to stay on guard. 

He finally turned towards me, and I felt a--a gust of rage. I don't know how else to describe it. Just from looking at me, I felt like I was moments away from death. It took everything I had to meet his gaze. I felt like I was melting away, that my body was boiling.

"You still in Matrix. It still changing you. Dinobts all die long ago. Last stand here on Earth."

"No, that can't--this is all--fake? A vision?"

"No, not fake. Your spark still changing. Very dangerous time. May not survive."

I shook as I struggled to stand. I felt exhausted, as though I were low on fuel.

"What...happened, Grimlock?"

"Optimus Prime and Megatron tried to save Cybertron. Come to this solar system to get fuel. Megatron wanted to slaughter humans. Prime say no. Megatron say yes, with fusion cannon and a million Seekers. Autobots lose, try to hold out on Earth as long as we can. Few Autobots stay on Cybertron in deep disguise. Dinobots as usual do the dirty work, sacrifice ourselves, make Decepticons think we all dead."

Now Grimlock looked more and more tired. "We gave Decepticons hell. Swoop and Slash destroy Skyquake the Predator Captain. Predaking brought down by Slug. Sludge destroy Seacons, and Snarl bring down Abominus. Never before or since they see such savagery. Prime and me, take down Trypticon the Tyrant. but it not enough. Prime ripped to pieces by Megatron. Matrix taken. Grimlock was last Dinobot. Took Shockwave, Starscream, and Megatron to finish Grimlock."

Grimlock stumbled--maybe from grief? "Grimlock die unable to save friends and team. Very last lesson in weakness. Hardest lesson to learn."

I reflected on what he said--and became tired when doing so, as if I could feel his pain.

"I want to...make all this right," I said.

Grimlock limped closer to me. "Strange words from 'Con. But me suppose you not consider yourself 'Con anymore. Let Grimlock tell you bit of advice. It easy to go from one extreme to another. You big-shot Decepticon. Now big-shot Autobot. What really change?"

"I'm...I'm good now." 

"You think you good before. Why so sure now?"

I didn't have an answer.

He went on, sounding almost out of "breath", ventilating extra. "No get caught up in Optimus and his big plans. It his fault we die too. What use is strength without conviction? What use is 'being good'? You need to walk line between Autobot and Decepticon. But no forget line exist!"

"I understand."

"Understanding not enough. Dinobots no care for rule by groupthink. Rule by tooth and sword!"

"I'm ready!"

"What you mean, you ready?"

"To...to battle you? I know I can't be a Dinobot until I fight all of you."

"Ah. Me Grimlock see now. You not realize we already fighting."

And then it hit me. Swords slashing, dodging, headbutting, throwing and flipping--we had been doing it all the whole time. I hadn't realized it--I'd become so used to the battle that it was just...just...

"Just a conversation. Good. You see no difference between combat and existence. Very good." I saw all the wounds on him--his limping, his arm, his damaged leg--I had done it. I looked around at the burning Earth. Snarl, Sludge, Slug, Swoop and Slash were all standing around the bubbling tar pit all of a sudden. 

"But now me Grimlock stop going easy on you." He transformed into a Tyrannosaurus, and spewed fire to the sky. The other Dinobots raised their swords to the sky at the same time. "Face Grimlock! Prove you really one of us! Transform!"

And I knew how. I did.

The next thing I remembered was Ginrai's voice. "Welcome back," he said, and I could hear the smirk in his words. "Boy, you sure are a sight for sore eyes."

I opened my optics. How long had I been fighting Grimlock? Days? Months? I looked down at Ginrai, and realized I had a long neck like Sludge, horns on my chest like Slug, wings like Swoop...

"Look at you--you're like a blend of all the Dinobots. Deathsaurus indeed!"

"It...it was all the Matrix? The Dinobots are all dead? How long was I...in there?"

"About 5 minutes. Yeah. It's been quite a light show, watching you change. Stupendous. We often call it the 'Matrix of Leadership', but that's mainly what I called it. When Solus had it, she called it the Creation Matrix. When Rodimus had it, it was the Matrix Flame. But with you, it's different yet again."

I knelt my long neck close to Ginrai. "Thank you...for rescuing me. With this power...I can...seize the future..."

Ginrai smiled and stood. He raised a fist into the air. "Arise, Deathsaurus, the last Dinobot!"

I felt as though the great beast I had become had a mind of his own. I had to rein him in and he roared as I transformed.

"Grimlock would be proud. Trust me," Ginrai said. "But we have a matter at hand. We're not alone here. Every Decepticon on Earth will have detected the energy you just put out. But I have a feeling you're okay with that."

"YES!" I said, not knowing why my voice was so loud.

"Good." Ironhide stood next to Ginrai as he hopped atop Roller. Convoy appeared over him, axe glowing. "Let's go show them what you can do."

Chapter Text

My location: Bio-Fortress Scorponok-X! A purple and green machine! Would wonders never cease.

The Great Scorpion Base opened its doors to me. “ENTER, ESMERAL,” it said in a booming voice.

I couldn’t believe it. Rubble had gone, and I was getting promoted in his place. I had worked so hard in Decepticon Junior Council. I’d caught five of the “flying abomination” jet Autocrats. The “Superion-killer,” they called me. Little Rubble had looked up to me then.

Before he betrayed us.

I entered Scorponok-X’s Demon General Command Room. "Welcome, Esmeral,” Overlord Super-God said. “Here to watch the end of Rubble?”

“You’ve–you’ve found him?” I asked. In a dark corner, refusing to sit around the holo-display, was old Sparkless Ulchtar, a red and brown Seeker who coughed rust and laughed. 

“So eager to see him fall, eh?” he muttered.

“Scourge has found the Autobot’s Earthbase at last. In a volcano on Earth,” Drift the False Autobot said. “And we don’t have to do anything. Megatron will praise us for watching a screen.”

“Don’t believe everything you see,” Sideways the Two-Faced said. “The Autobots have eluded us for some time now. We may have to get involved.”

Antagony ground her mandibles together. “I need to. I need this. Need to replace them with the colony. Need, need.”

“What if he comes here? He looks different–more powerful now. How did that happen?” Nightracer the Impaler said, squinting at the display as though she were aiming through a sniper scope.

“Let him,” Overlord said. “I have a perfect punishment for him if he tries.”

For an hour, we waited.

Ginrai and I sat cloaked in some sort of holographic illusion in the ruins of a nearby city. I saw the Decepticons driving around the city in a fleet of black trucks. I had never seen them before. The humans, mining fuel and constantly eating to supply Decepticons with Powermaster fuel batteries, looked terrified and exhausted. A black truck would transform into something that looked a little like Ginrai’s Convoy form and perform a brain scan.

How had I never seen this? How did I never notice that humans were alive? They were just little weird meat-robots…not alive. But I couldn’t unsee it now or ignore their fear. I could see it even in Ginrai's eyes. He stared at the black trucks and I saw pure hatred in his face. I knew he was risking everything, exposing us both like this to the enemy.

“Now. Now!” Ginrai said. Nearby, Mirage decloaked us.

We appeared on a city block, and all of the humans turned towards us with horror in their eyes. Several black trucks spun around in the ruined streets and headed for us. 

They were driverless. Good. One headed straight for me and I bisected it; its halves rolled past my sides and exploded. Alarms went off.

More black trucks sped towards us. “Run! Run!” Ginrai screamed at them. “Ironhide, Roller–get them out of harm’s way!”

The black trucks transformed and looked like a dark version of Optimus, with red, malevolent optics. Ginrai screamed and a holomatter Convoy seemed to appear around him, and he rose into the sky near its chest. Convoy bellowed too. Ginrai dove into a group of these evil Convoys, shouting “BEGONE!” and hacking away at them.

Several dark Convoys surrounded me, each of them sporting an axe. My nervousness about this battle quickly faded–compared to the Dinobots, they may as well have been standing still, or moving through mud. But I knew not to let up until it was over. Maybe this was too easy.

I saw Ginrai get flung back into a building. It crumbled on top of him. It had been some sort of vehicle repair shop–”S. Witwicky and Son”, a crushed sign read. Before I could go over to him, Convoy burst out of the rubble.

“That’s it! No more playing around!” Ginrai shouted. I heard desperation in his voice–these dark Convoys were sending him over the edge.

“Ginrai, wait–be careful!” I called out. “They’re regrouping all around us–”

“Ironhide! Roller! GATTAI! Form–” and Roller appeared from somewhere behind him, zooming under his feet, doing a vertical loop in the air. Ginrai backflipped into the air as he, Ironhide and Roller fused into a robot I had seen only briefly, the holomatter becoming denser, until it was–

“--Optimus Prime!” As he said his name, his optics blazed blue. His voice was a flanged version of Ginrai’s and another voice, deeper and noble. “Decepticons–it’s over–finished! This time, no force in the universe can stop me!”

The “evil Primes” looked afraid and stepped back and Optimus was soon upon them.

“Heh heh. Very good. He’s occupied,” I heard a voice taunt behind me. I turned and saw a single dark Prime standing in front of a portal–but this one was different. “Now you and I can have a talk. I’m Replicating Seeker Demon General Scourge. Megatron has marked you for death, Rubble.”

“I’m not Rubble anymore–I’m Deathsaurus now! And you can tell Megatron to come fight me himself! I’m not afraid!”

“Oh? We shall see. Megatron knew you were weak. He knew you would lead us to the Prime Autobots. And now it’s time for you to say goodbye!” He aimed an ion cannon at me.

Without thinking, I leapt, transforming into my–my beast form. It was so easy; the beast wanted to come out. He–I roared and I blew Slug’s Fire Breath on him. He had no time to dodge. I clamped my fangs on him, crushed his wrist. With his other hand, he fired at my head at point blank range. I flung him into a building: Mister “O”’s Diner. 

I called out “Sludge STOMP!” and the ground split open. Scourge leapt from the diner’s remains to avoid the fissure in the ground, but I knew he’d do that, and I met him in the air, slicing his midsection with my wing.

Scourge tumbled to the ground and summoned a laser red saber, holding it in his remaining hand, calling out, “Sword of Fury! Howl like hell!” and the sword pulsed with red lightning and fire, shooting spirals of fire and electricity at me. I took the blast on the eagle-shaped shield on my back, and the energy passed through me until it concentrated into a point on my tail. “Snarl’s Riposte!” I said, and fired the beam back through my tail–piercing and shattering his chest windows and a part of his face.

I landed, stomping over to him, fire blazing from my nostrils. I was happy he was terrified. I stepped on his leg, crushing it. He screamed with two voices, oddly.

“You’re a new Demon General, eh?” I said. “I used to be so scared of them. Megatron kept us all through fear. I won’t let him make me afraid any more!” 

“Y-you…always were…a slow…l-learner…”

I recognized one of those voices. Scourge staggered to his feet, hopping to avoid his crushed leg. Blue and red armor crumbled out of the wounds I’d inflicted. Through his chest wound, I saw a shattered golden cockpit.

His mask and black helmet fell off. 

It was Thundercracker.

“M-mentor?! But…b-but how–”

“You left…ran away with terrorists…Overlord and Megatron t-took me…tortured me…changed me with Matrix to find you…track you…bring you b-back…but you betrayed…betrayed us…”

“No! I wanted–I wanted to save you –”

“H-hey…I know…w-wanted to protect my dog…from long ago…Rubble…”

And suddenly a yellow energon axe cleaved Scourge–Thundercracker–in two. I stared in shock for an eternity as my mentor fell.

I slowly turned, saw Optimus Prime from afar. He’d flung the axe. All the other dark Convoy clones collapsed all of a sudden.

Optimus threw the axe. Optimus killed him.

“What have you done!?” I screamed.

“He was about to stab you with the sword,” Prime said. “I was protecting–”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” I screamed even louder, shooting fire into the air. “YOU KILLED HIM!” I rushed at Prime, transforming into robot form, bringing my sword down on him.

The axe was already returning to Prime’s wrist and it got there just in time to block my attack.

“Deathsaurus! Wait! Stop!” he called out.

Walk the fine line. I could hear Grimlock’s voice.

“AAAAAAAGH!” I screamed.

The fine line between Autobot and Decepticon!

I couldn’t face Prime anymore. I didn’t have anywhere to turn, nowhere but–

The portal that Scourge…that Thundercracker came through. It led to Cybertron. 

To Megatron, and the other Demon Generals. I knew I had to destroy them all. There was no other choice.

“Wait! Please, wait!” I heard Ginrai scream, but I ignored it. I had attacked him. I couldn’t go back now. There was no going back at all–except to Cybertron.

I flew through the portal.

END PART TWO

Chapter Text

For a while, all I could remember was cold. I couldn’t see or hear or move. Just an everlasting cold. I had never seen my own spark, but I could imagine it looking like a dim piece of frosted glass.

Had the portal malfunctioned? I remembered jumping through it. I remembered Ginrai yelling at me, remembered…

Thundercracker.

At his memory, I felt heat returning to my chest, but with the heat came a spike of pain. My optics switched on in safe mode. I was getting sensory updates from all over my body. They all said the same thing: Error! Error! Deformatting warning. Deformatting warning!

I had never heard of that one before.

I felt motors struggling to move: my torso flexed. I felt like it took every bit of strength I had to even bend a finger.

I could hear something. A bot walking towards me. I saw…a light? The bot dangling a lantern in the night sky. (Was it dark? Or was it just my optics?)

I tried to speak, but only static came out. Eventually I got a few words out: “Wh-who…are you…”

The harsh, grinding voice answered me: “Oh? Don’t mind me, little oil-stain. I’m just looking for a decent bot–anyone will do. Too bad I can’t find one! Hehehe! HAHAHA!”

I knew that awful, hateful voice–it belonged to Gears.

“Scourge is dead,” Esmeral said. The other Demon Generals were silent. 

“How…how did he die?” Drift asked.

Nightracer sighed. “The Autobots on Earth had some strange ally. A big monster called Deathsaurus. We’ve never seen him before. He and Prime killed Scourge.”

“I thought…Rubble was Deathsaurus…?” Sideways said.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Overlord snapped, sitting at the head of the Fortress Scorpion Table. “Rubble was kidnapped recently. How could he change so rapidly? A little brat like him, getting that much power and bulk so quickly? Think!”

“Maybe someone’s just a little concerned that there’s another Point Zero Zero One Percenter out there,” Sparkless Ulchtar said from the corner.

“(I hate this old fool.) Where did the monster go? The remaining Dark Convoy Sweeps on Earth–”

“As soon as that Death-monster jumped through Scourge’s portal, it vanished. No trace,” Nightracer said. She glared at Overlord. “I looked three times. Nothing. ”

“Clearly, the portal malfunctioned. We’ll just have to check every single open portal in that time period to find where he went,” Esmeral said. “It’s just a matter of time before we find him…why are you all looking at me like that?”

The other Demon Generals stared at her with wide optics: Drift had his fingers curled around his sword, ready to unsheathe it; Nightracer was tense with her hand at her hip, where a pistol was magnetically attached.

“Your mask is down again,” Sparkless Ulchtar said, laughing. “Your voice…Primus. It’s hideous when you start to change…”

“My…” Esmeral said, running her fingers over her face. Sure enough, the large purple Decepticon symbol mask had slid down. “Oh. Everyone, relax. I told you, I can control it now…”

“But last time–” Overlord started to say.

“--is not THIS time. Is that clear, Demon Emperor?” And the mask flipped up.

“Yes, Demon Empress,” he said warily. “Crystal clear.”

“Good. We have nothing to fear from Rubble or this beast. Wait for my signal–I will tell you where he is very soon.”

I sat propped up against a wall in a ditch, looking at Gears.

“Welcome back to the Dead End,” he said. “Only place worth living on this dump.”

“Thought you were dead…” I choked.

“Can’t kill old Gears so easily,” he said. “They showed up to kill me and thought I was dead. And they were right! Half-right, anyway. HAHAHA!” He leaned over to me, with splinters of glass in his vehicle mode headlights crumbling to the ground. “Not that you look much better.”

And that’s when I noticed: I didn’t look like Deathsaurus anymore–my wings, my height, all my power…gone. My energy levels were near empty.

Deformatting.

“What happened to me…I changed back? I don’t look right…”

“Oh, I saw what happened. It was pretty gruesome. You crashed a few mega-kliks from here. You did look like a big nasty monster, and you were bleeding weird blue crystals. I knew what they were; old Gears remembers all that junk.”

“So…what–”

“The portal you jumped through reacted with the Matrix-energon in your body…turned all to crystal. The Matrix wasn’t meant to be fuel, you chump! You should’ve listened to Optimus. You left before you were ready. Idiot.”

“So it’s all gone…all that change I went through…it’s all gone…”

“Change? Change!? What change? You mean you getting bigger and scarier-looking? That’s what you mean? Primus you’re dumb. New body, same dumb brain module. Do you even know what it means to actually change?”

“Too tired to argue…”

“Good, then sit there. I’ll join ya.” And he sat down next to me, and stared where I was staring. I couldn’t remember when I had ever felt this awful: so low on energy that it hurt to even think, every circuit sore or damaged, my Deathsaurus body gone.

“Sittin’ there feelin’ sorry for yourself, huh?” he said. “You jumped through that portal ready to fight, and didn’t think about what really mattered. So let me tell you what matters. It ain’t your stupid dino-body. It ain’t your symbol on your chest. It’s how you change. You’d think a transforming robot would know that!”

All I could do is nod.

“You just relabeled yourself. You just repackaged your old crap and said you were new.”

I nodded, beginning to doze off.

“There’s no portal shortcut to change. I mean who is Rubble? When you get rid of all the trash and collapsed junk that makes up rubble, what’s left?  Who is Rubble when he’s not chasing after some leader, or trying to fit in with some team?”

I didn’t know how much time had passed. I slowly got better at slowing down nonessential systems, functioning on very little energon. Eventually I could even get up and walk slowly, just following Gears on his slow walks in the Dead End. I saw other bots, some rusted in death, some miserable, some begging for fuel or shanix. Did they not recognize me? Was I that disfigured in my crash landing?

“They’re gonna come for you,” Gears said.

“I know.”

“You should find my brother Swerve. He looks like a piece of scrap. My spitting image! HAHAHA!”

“Where is he?”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. He’ll find you. Autobots, see, instead of a ‘network’, we have a ‘Nautica-work’. She handles communications between us here and on Earth. I’ll let him know you’re looking for him. He’ll find you.”

“What happened to the Autobots on Earth?”

“They hid. Volcano erupted. Ark’s gone. Don’t get attached to them. They’re good at hiding. And I know that look, you feeling guilty about Prime. You two are both idiots. He feels guilty about you. I don’t know why you two morons can’t just get past this and move on.”

“Tell him…I’m sorry, please.”

“You tell him yourself, if you live that long. Now, I got a farewell present for you.” He opened a hatch in his chest, and a small orb came out. “Here. Take this.”

“Is…is that your transformation cog?!”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I don’t need it. It stopped working ages ago. But look inside, dummy!”

The transformation cog popped open like two halves of an egg. Within it was a dense cluster of blue crystals.

“That’s all I could save after you were bleeding. I’m guessin’ that if you connect that to your energy systems again, you’ll change back to that monster form you had. If you want to, that is.”

I took the cog from him and stared at it. “This is a test, right? You want to see if I’ve actually changed.”

Gears grinned. “Do with it what you want. I don’t care. Good to see you being less stupid. Or is that wise? Is there a difference? HAHAHA!”

I placed the cog into my chest cavity. Even its mere presence made me slightly more energized. But I didn’t connect it into my energy systems fully. The Decepticons here must not be sure if I even was Deathsaurus. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

“It’s not too late for you to just smash that stupid crystal,” Gears said.

“Maybe I will, when I come back here and rescue you, I’ll smash it over your head,” I said with a smirk.

He waved me away. That was the last time I would ever see him. 

I walked ten mega-kliks before looking up and seeing a Decepticon search fleet heading towards me.

Chapter Text

I sat in the Grand Throne Room atop Kolkular once again. 

I was surrounded: Megatron and the Tanks directly in front of me; Bludgeon, Brawl, and Quake each guarded him. Starscream stood with his arms crossed, grinning at me, as if he hadn’t killed my mentor; the eight Demon Generals sat in a semi-circle behind me.

Megatron smiled. “We are pleased to have you back, young Rubble.”

“Yes, yes we are! You survived an encounter with those Autocrats!” Starscream said, delighted. “That must have been absolutely terrifying, was it not?”

“Yes, Lord Starscream,” I said.

Megatron and Starscream exchanged glances. “Why Rubble, did you notice the little tremor that was in your voice has vanished?”

“No, Lord Megatron.”

“No doubt because of your kidnapping and helplessness with the Autobots.”

“Autobots, my Lord?” I said, feigning ignorance about the word.

“Oh, the Autocrats. Pardon me.” He took a sip from an energon goblet. “In the brief period while you were gone, we promoted a new Demon General. I am aware that you usually tremble when you see them up close, but you are handling yourself admirably well.”

I had nerves of steel. Circuits of steel. “Thank you, my lord.”

“His name was Scourge,” Starscream said, damn his spark. “And there was something special about Scourge.”

“What’s that?”

“After the coward Optimus Prime attacked us, Thundercracker, you late mentor, volunteered to undergo the Demon Upgrade. He swore revenge on the ones who kidnapped you, his poor mentee.”

I pondered his words–it’s not that they were lies, but lies poisoned with a bit of truth. I knew that Thundercracker had paid the price for helping me.

I tried to look pained, afraid. “Oh…oh Thundercracker…”

“And it appears that the accursed Optimus Prime–thought long-dead–has reappeared and killed your mentor.”

I clenched my fists–not just feeling angry at Prime, but at double-talking to Starscream. I could feel the Matrix crystals in my body, wanting to align with my fuelstream, turning me into my beast form, leaping upon them and–

“I…I can’t believe it…Thundercracker…my mentor….I saw Scourge fighting Optimus Prime before I escaped back to Cybertron through a portal.”

“Interesting. Before they were destroyed, we saw evidence of a horrid, ferocious beast,” Starscream said. “We’d never seen it before. But it attacked Scourge and wore Decepticon symbols. Care to comment?”

“I saw it too. I hid from it under…well, some rubble,” I said, lying. I could hear some of the Demon Generals behind me snickering–to mock me, as usual.

“Hmm. A treasonous Decepticon on Earth,” Starscream mused, while looking at Megatron. “One who appeared when you were kidnapped and who vanished when you returned.”

“That’s an amazing coincidence,” I said steely. 

Megatron and Starscream smiled at each other again. “Well. Welcome back, Rubble,” Starscream said. “We are happy to reinstate you as a Decepticon leader in good standing.”

“In fact: we are promoting you to Junior Demon General, in honor of your fallen mentor.”

I heard the senior Demon Generals behind me bristle. I heard them with my enhanced hearing: he gets to skip right to the top? This is outrageous!

I smiled. “Thank you, Lords. I promise to uphold and practice the ideals of the Decepticons everyday, even now.”

“Excellent. Excellent! Quake, please escort young Rubble to his tower overlooking his new preferred home: the Dead End.”

Laughter, around me on all sides. I sat and waited. It kept going.

But they didn’t know that I could hear Megatron as he spoke–a quiet radio signal sent to Quake privately. Even without the Matrix flowing through me, I still had enhanced senses, and Megatron had sent a signal to everyone except me, a message for Quake:

Make the Dead End his final resting place.

The Dead End was one of the larger gaping holes in Cybertron’s surface. It was so scarred that you even see it from space. But it’s not just a scar; it’s also a deep ditch, full of what the Decepticons consider refuse, both living and non-living.

Quake was taking me to my “tower”, which was actually a small building at the bottom of the long valley. 

I knew the other Junior Demon Generals and the elegant bases they had. I thought about that to keep myself angry.

Quake walked behind me. Any minute now.

“So, this is it? My new home?” I asked.

“You got it.”

“It’s a real dump.”

“You got it. Megatron’s probably got some plan for you,” Quake said, his voice detached, bored. I stood in front of him.

“Quake.”

“What?”

“Back when Thundercracker was attacked…when Starscream attacked him. I saw what you did.”

“Huh?”

“You kicked him. Over and over, while he was down. It was the last time I saw him–and you were kicking him.”

Quake chuckled. “Haha. Little Rubble. You got a lot bigger problems than that right now, bud. You know the pecking order. Megatron, Starscream. The Tanks. The Demon Generals. The Junior Demons. And you, way down here in this valley.”

I heard his two guns come out. I heard lethal charges loading into them. I mentally slid the Matrix crystals into my fuel. I turned to face him, optics glowing blue.

“Quake. Quaaaake. It was me, ‘pal’. That monster on Earth, Quake.”

“Heh. No way.” He aimed at me, but in the time it took him to raise his weapons, it was too late. I had changed.

“Oh shit–” he started to say, dropping one of his guns and trying to reach his comm, but as he looked down at his wrist I had already grabbed it, crushing it.

“Quake. You did it, didn’t you? You killed Thundercracker. Resurrected him with Thunderwing’s twisted Matrix energy.”

“I’m–oh Primus I’m sorry–”

“One by one, I’m going to fix Cybertron and rip you out like weeds. One by one.” I transformed into my beast mode. “I want you to think about that pecking order.” At that point I couldn’t hear him, and was only aware of the fire rising out of my inner furnaces and my sharp claws.

I don’t want to write down what I did to him. He won’t be coming back. The monster-dragon didn’t want to stop, and I didn’t hold it back.

I’m sorry, Prime. I’ll be doing this my way. And it won’t be pretty, I thought.

Then I saw movement–his guns.

His guns transformed into two humans, staring up at me in terror.

Chapter Text

One of the humans said in a high-pitched voice: “He’s gonna kill us. He’s gonna eat us and kill us, Heater.”

The other one, purple and black Heater, took off his helmet slowly. I saw a tear running down his face. Did he look like Ginrai? All humans looked sort of similar to me.

“I–I’m not going to hurt a human–” I started to say, but then Heater turned and ran away down the long valley of the Dead End.

The purple and orange human watched Heater watched Heater flee, and after a moment, he turned to me and said, “Good. He’s gone. You’d better finish him off.”

All four of my red dragon optics opened wide. “What!?”

“I mean it. Always hated that guy.”

“But he was your–”

“Hey, not my choice, pal. You better kill him quick. What if he gets back to the other Decepticons and tells them what you did?”

“But I–I can’t–he’s just–” I stammered.

“Argh! Fine. Here, lemme make it easier for you.” He leapt and transformed into a pistol and I caught him in my plated beast claws. “Can you see him?”

The gun shook in my hand.

“Shoot! Don’t think! Targetmasters do better when we aim together!”

Heater was a couple hundred kliks away, but I could still see him. I raised the Targetmaster–

–and it fired all by itself. I saw a flash and Heater was face-flat.

Dead.

The Targetmaster transformed out of my hand. “There. Done!”

I transformed back to robot form. “Who are you?”

“Holy moly. So you’re like…Rubble all grown up. Look at you–this is blowing my mind.” He reached up a hand. “Name’s Tiptop.” I didn’t shake his hand.

“You just killed that human. Your partner.”

“Nah, we weren’t partners anymore. Not after you killed Quake here. Our partnership died with him, know what I mean?”

“I just…I shouldn’t have–”

“Shouldn’t what? Shouldn’t kill a human? Why not? Humans are terrible. I should know!”

“What?”

“I mean it. You’re crazy if you think we’re all just some…I dunno, perfect beings. Hell, most of our ancestors probably helped the Decepticons take over back in the day. Just the way it goes.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure the Autobots gave you a sob story about how we were oppressed by the ‘Cons, or the ‘Cons say they just needed energy resources. But all that is bullshit. The first thing humans did when the ‘Cons came is figure out how to use them against other human enemies. That’s Megatron’s genius. That’s Phase Three of Six.”

“It’s not right…what we’ve done.”

“You’d better wake up from that nonsense real fast if you want to have a shot against Megatron.”

“Why would you help me?”

“Look, you were a total wimp before. I was laughing at you right along with everyone else every time you said some dumb shit about Megatron’s history lessons or Starscream’s speeches. But the way you came back from Earth with this new form? That tells me right that there that you’re a guy with crazy secrets. And I want in. I want to be there when whatever you’re gonna do goes down. Whaddya say?”

“I…I guess. I haven’t really thought all this through…”

“Yeah, looks like it. I only have one request.”

“What’s that?”

“You powered up like crazy. Can…you do that to me?”

“I don’t know. I can try to share this…this energy I have. Transform and let me see if this works.”

Tiptop transformed into gun mode again and I caught him. I drew on some of the Matrix energy just as I do when I change from “Rubble” to “Deathsaurus”. I focused it through my arm, and Tiptop shook as energy surged through him.

“AAAAAAAH HOLY SHIT AAAAAAAAH!” he said–and his body began to change–he became taller, more like a rifle or cannon than the pistol he was before. The cannon crackled with energy as he transformed back into his–human?--robot?--form.

He looked at his hands, clenching them. “I–I’m a robot now. I’m…I’ve still got human parts…but I’m a robot!?”

“The Matrix…it must have interacted with the Targetmaster tech you wear.”

“Am I human anymore?”

“You’ll have to tell me.”

“I can see so much…sense so much…shit, this is gonna take some time getting used to! I–wait. Wait, boss! Behind you!”

I spun around. Mangled yet still alive beyond belief was Quake, reaching forward to crawl with one arm barely attached to his body. He was trying to speak but he only produced static.

“Tiptop. Transform.”

He landed on my arm and I fired the cannon without hesitation. This is for you, Thundercracker. 

The cannon’s blast was more powerful than I realized; the recoil knocked me back a step. When the energy wave hit Quake, he didn’t just die. His very metal, his sentio metallico, was vaporized. He evaporated right in front of me.

“Whoa, boss. You didn’t even hesitate a second to kill that guy.”

I stared at the cone-shaped blast the cannon carved out. Even off in the distance, Heater’s body had been atomized.

“Damn. My cannon mode must be some kinda…living-matter-destroyer or something. They’re dead for sure, now.”

I held the Living-Matter-Destroyer and thought of Ginrai.

“...Hey. Boss. Wake up. I gotta tell ya, I’m not the only one who’re sick of Megatron, or who just wanna shake things up. A lot of us hang out under the Dead End…ever hear of the Dinoforce?”

“No. Let’s go meet them.”

Chapter Text

Tiptop and I rode down a hidden elevator to the bottom of the Dead End. We exited and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Down here, there was a fully functional base. There were many corridors and chambers zigzagging underneath the surface. I looked over at Tiptop and could tell he was amused by my response.

“Yeah, I know right? No one ever looks down here anymore.”

“How…this is amazing!” I said walking around. “How did you get all this?”

“We just found it. A bunch of Autobots made this their base a long time ago. Oh, sorry. Pardon my bad language.” I had been saying Autobot so much lately that I didn’t register what he meant for a second. “They raided Shockwave’s energon stores for a long time. A scary bot with time powers was their leader, but eventually she took them somewhere else.”

“You said…’we’. Who’s ‘we’?”

“Oh, you’ll see…they should be here any…minute…now–”

And right on cue, five green Decepticons ran in, bumping into each other trying to get into a horizontal line in front of me and Tiptop.

“Hey, hey! This bot’s all right,” Tiptop said, waving them away.

“I’ll be the judge of that!” The middle bot said. “I’m the one who decides things about newcomers!”

“Yeah! He’s the boss!” a bot to his right said, pointing finger-guns to the middle bot. “I’m Stegosaur Super-Champ Doryu, his second-in-command!”

“Doryu, you idiot! The leader introduces himself first!” the middle bot said. “I’m–”

“That’s right,” a bot said at the edge of the formation, his arms crossed with a grin. “I, Kakuryu, Triceratops Caesar Czar, and second-in-command of the Great Dinoforce, concur!”

“Kakuryu! Doryu! Silence! I’m the leader of–”

The other two bots said, “--Dinoforce! Gairyu and Rairyu, second-in-command and second-in-command!”

The middle bot clenched his teeth and bonked Gai and Rai’s heads together. “I’m Goryu! His Royal Tyranno-Rexcellence of the Dinoforce!”

Doryu jumped in. “Oh boss, don’t forget the rest of our title: Elite Janitorial and Decepticon Garbage Collection Staff: Dinoforce!”

“Shut up! That doesn’t sound as good and you know it!”

Kakuryu spoke over his leader. “See, I thought we should be ‘Destron Special Custodial Dinosquad’ but noooo, no one wanted to listen to me.”

There was a split-second before Goryu yelled at his ‘second-in-command’; I jumped in. “I’m Dea–Rubble.” I held out my palm for greeting. Goryu looked around at his troops, who suddenly seemed timid. He inched forward and quickly hi-fived me and edged back to his comrades. They all huddled together for a moment. 

Then Goryu stepped forward. “We in Dinoforce will now deign to receive you as a tentative ally.”

“Ah. Um…thank you.”

“Wait, aren’t there six of you? Where’s Yoku?” Tiptop asked.

“Yokuryu always gets lost in this base. I’m sure she’ll crash in here in about five minutes,” Kakuryu said, chuckling.

“Why are you all speaking English?” I asked.

“Earth’s cool and only cool Decepticons speak it,” Goryu said to me, nodding. “I’m an expert on Earth culture, which is why I’m in charge of Dinoforce.”

“You read three Wikipedia articles on Earth this morning,” Kakuryu said with a flat voice. 

“Sh-shut up!” Goryu snapped. “I’m good at Earth stuff and leadership. Both of them. I’m not sure which one came first, honestly. It’s a real chicken-and-egg situation, clearly.”

“Chicken-and-egg,” I repeated, confused.

“Yeah. Like when you can’t decide on which meal to eat first, chicken or eggs, so you just get them both at the same time and chow down. Chicken and egg. I solved the dilemma. I hope you were able to follow all that.”

Dinoforce all enthusiastically nodded at their leader, and soon I joined in with a pained expression on my face. “Thanks for explaining it.”

“This Rubble here, he’s like us. Decepticon leadership screwed him over,” Tiptop said. “He’s gonna help us.”

“Him? Help us?” Rairyu said, her snickering growing louder and louder. “Look at him! He’s barely our height! Even I, Brontologist Commandatrix Rairyu could beat you in a battle–” but then her face froze in horror while staring at me.

I had no idea what was happening. I turned around, and saw no one. When I turned back around, all of Dinoforce was staring agape, just over my head.

“R-Rairyu, d-do you s-see that!?” Gairyu asked, her knees knocking as she trembled.

“I can’t believe it!” Rairyu said.

“Who are you!?” Goryu, pointing just over my head. “Who are they!?”

“Who is who?!” I shouted.

“Over your head! There’s…ghosts of…these Autobot dinosaurs! They’re terrifying!” Kakuryu said.

“I don’t get it. I don’t see anything,” Tiptop said. “But I told you. This guy’s the real deal. You should’ve seen what he did to Quake!”

I sensed more Matrix-infused energon flooding through my body. How long would I be able to control it, to go back and forth from this me to that me? I made an effort to suppress the change for just a little while longer. 

Until I got to Starscream and Megatron. I felt the dragon start to calm down–for now.

“Wow, the pictures stopped!” Doryu said.

“Maybe Rubble should be Dinoforce leader!” Kakuryu said with a sly smile.

“What!?” Goryu said.

“No, no. I just want to help…look. Starscream and Megatron…they hurt me. Just like they’re hurting you by making you live down here. They took my friend and made him become a Demon General. So I say we fight back–go after the Demon Generals. But I need your help. It's only a matter of time before Megatron figures out what happened to Quake.”

“We do,” Tiptop said. “You’re cleaners. We need a cleaning crew. When we go after these Demon Generals, we can’t leave anything behind. You understand? Not a single thing.”

“Well, we are the Perfectionist Hyper Scrub Squad,” Doryu mused.

“It’s a deal,” Goryu said. “And you need to know something else about this place. It’s actually a–”

And at that moment, another green bot came crashing into the entrance room where we all stood, her wings bumping into consoles as she ran.

“Ptero-Pterrific Sky-Duchess Yokuryu reporting for duty after getting turned around in– holy Primus what are those Autobot Dino-ghosts over that bot’s head!? ”

Chapter Text

“Quake is dead. We don’t have time for this,” I said to my Dinoforce audience.

They froze, staring at me with dull surprise. Then Doryu said. “Qu…Quake’s dead?”

“That’s what I was tryin’ to tell you bots. We killed him,” Heater said.

“Oh scrap oh scrap oh scrap!” Yokuryu said. “They’re gonna find us!”

“ You’re going to lead them to us!” Kakuryu said, pointing a finger at me.

“We don’t have time for this!” Goryu said, standing in front me, wagging a finger at his colleagues. “As Dinoforce Commander, I’m taking control.” He stood with his hands on his hips for a moment, and then followed up with, “I’m still working on a plan.”

After another silence, he snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah! I forgot! This place! It’s a Titan!”

“This…whole base…is a cybe? Alive?” I asked.

“Well…yes and no,” Gairyu said, her hands pushing buttons all over a console. “Elita-1 and her band used to live here, and before they abandoned it, she left notes, and one of them was that she used to talk with ‘the dragon who became our base’. So naturally, the dragon must be a Titan, right? It’s low on energy.” The console Gairyu was typing on said in a steely voice: “Your inputs are invalid and actually complete gibberish. Please consult the manual at your earliest convenience.”

“Look, Dinoforce is right to be freaked out. When Megatron figures out you killed one of his Tanks, who knows how he’s going to come at you. It frankly scares the scrap outta me. We gotta figure all this out together.”

“This guy’s crazy powerful though!” Rairyu said, looking at me. “He can beat Megatron. Can’t he?”

“Humph,” Kakuryu said, looking away.

“So this Titan’s been dormant for a long time,” I mused. “Maybe…I could share some of my Matrix power with it.”

“Wait you have Matrix power!?” Yokuryu squawked. 

“I don’t know if this will work,” I said, walking to the console where Gairyu stood; she scurried away and peeked over Kakuryu’s shoulder. I reached a palm towards the console, opening sensors in my fingertips–

–and I felt the electric contact, surging into the Titan!

For a moment, I flinched. What if I gave all my energy to the Titan? Would I no longer be able to transform into “Deathsaurus”?

Wasn’t I already him?

I tried to pull my hand away, but I felt the Matrix energy within me growing. I felt like I was trying to hold back a dam. “Goryu–Heater–I need–I–”

And suddenly I was able to pull away. My hand sizzled. I could see Dinoforce all exchanging looks and cringing.

Heater muttered, “Are…are you okay? What just happened?”

I myself wasn’t sure! Was this creation? No…it was more like…awakening. Just as I had been awakened by Optimus…by Ginrai.

The overhead lights surged brightly. Deactivated monitors switched on; machines booted up.

“H…Hello?” I said, getting to my feet. “Is…anyone there? I could see your mind, briefly, when I reactivated you…”

“HI,” came a booming voice from all around us. Goryu jumped when he heard the voice. “WHAT ARE YOU?”

“I–I’m…Deathsaurus,” I said, feeling the voice vibrate through me. 

“DAMN YOU WOKE ME UP. WHERE’S ELITA?”

“Um…she’s gone…”

“DAMN. THIS SUCKS.”

“...Everyone, I’d like to introduce you all to Destronger, the Titan,” I said. 

“HI I GUESS,” she said. “WAIT A MINUTE. I KNOW THESE LITTLE TWERPS. THEY’VE BEEN CONSTANTLY BANGING ON MY KEYBOARDS. I HATE THESE GUYS. I WANT THEM OUT.”

Dinoforce huddled all in a circle.

“YOU LITTLE JERKS. YOU THINK I CAN’T TELL YOU LEFT GRAFFITI ON ME. HATE IT HERE, PRIMUS. GET OUT.”

“I know you’re upset, Destronger,” I said to her quietly. “But I need your help and their help.”

“I WAS TRYPTICON’S TWIN SISTER. I’M STRONGER THAN HIM. BUT TRYPTICON IS DUMBER. SO MEGATRON COULD CONTROL HIM BETTER.”

“Um, I see.”

“SO I GOT REPLACED. BURIED ME AND MADE ME INTO A SLUM. THIS PLACE IS AWFUL. CAN I JUST LEAVE. METROTITAN GOT TO GO INTO SPACE. I WOULD NEVER SEE ANYONE EVER AGAIN. THAT IS WHAT I WANT. EVERYONE OUT.”

“...Before we do that–how about we get you some revenge on Megatron?” Heater pleaded.

“REVENGE.”

“Yeah. We already took out Quake. Don’t you want to get revenge?”

“OK. THAT’S A GOOD IDEA. YOU CONVINCED ME.”

“Hold on a second. You’re Trypticon’s sister? That makes you a dinosaur bot!” Goryu said with a trembling smile.

“WHATEVER, OK.”

“Well, I’m Goryu, leader of Dinoforce! So technically you’re under my command!”

“NO I’M NOT SHUT UP. STOP SAYING STUPID SCRAP. STOP USING MY CONSOLES TO LOOK UP HOW TO BE COOL.”

Goryu froze as everyone turned to face him.

“Can you fly, Destronger?” I asked.

“YEAH. BUT ONCE WE’RE IN THE SKY, EVERYONE’LL SEE US. YOU REALLY WANT THAT?”

I thought about it for a while.

“We’re really doing this?” Heater said.

“Yeah. We’re taking on Megatron. Leaving the Decepticons behind. We’ll make our own faction.”

Destronger began to shift. Everyone else stumbled, but I didn’t.

“Call us–the Rubsigns.”

And I heard Destronger say, “WOW. RUBSIGNS. SO CLEVER. BECAUSE YOU’RE RUBBLE. COUNT ME OUT,” but I didn’t care.

Chapter Text

I heard the Matrix speaking to me, telling me what I had do. I still believed that I could make it work with the Autobots. For a time, I continued having secret meetings with them. 

Triton helped end that delusion in me.

"My name's Dion," the blue and yellow bot said. "Gears already told me about you, Rubble. But looks like you've gone and gotten yourself a posse."

"Yeah," I said, looking up at him as Dinoforce cringed behind me. There was something familiar about Dion--not the voice, but his optics. I couldn't place it. "Gears told me to meet Swerve."

"You're looking at him," Dion said, making sweeping motions with his arms. "This old bar is Swerve. We keep him on low-power. Energon's scarce these days for us."

"On the plus side: we don't have to listen to him much," a short green bot said next to Dion--who chuckled.

"There's only a few Autobot cells active. We aren't sure how many. You've met Elita's team. Well, this is mine--we're the One-Two-Three. This bot here is Alpha Trion."

"Yes. Yes, But I was once Alpha-Q. Something wonderful happened: I was once known as Alpha-Q until Optimus...saved me...helped me rebuild myself into Trion. Five becomes three so easily, so easily..."

"He sure did, Alpha," Dion said. "He's One. And I'm Two, Dion, the Dia-kron. And this little gremlin here is Three. His name is Triton."

Triton took my hand eagerly. "Pleased to meet you. So eager to learn more about you," he said with a warm smile.

I hurried to Kolkular at Megatron's summons. Once again, I was dragged into the sky by Seekers. But I wasn't afraid this time.

I walked in front of His Holy Presence.

"Quake is dead, Rubble," Megatron said to me calmly.

"Yes."

"He was escorting you to your base and then he died."

"That's right."

He regarded me with focused optics. "And somehow Refraktor Interrogation suggests you are innocent."

"Of course I am, my Lord." Even as I spoke, I remembered ripping Quake apart. I remembered not knowing how to stop.

I eyed Megatron's fusion cannon.

"You've had an interesting month, Rubble. First abducted by--what was it, a human-robot hybrid calling itself Optimus Prime? Taken to Earth. Lost your mentor. Yet you remain so calm. So composed. I've never seen you so composed."

The Matrix energy inside me was barely being held back. I wanted to change again--the dragon wanted to kill him, to stop all this quiet talking and make him feel what he made Thundercracker feel.

But. But.

"Thank you, my Lord, for your confidence and trust in my strength."

"Ah. Trust is for creatures terrified of loss, Rubble. You should be thankful Thundercracker's weakness did not infect you further."

And that's when I knew I was going to lose it! I'm going to kill him! Right now! Everyone else be damned!

Then the world froze.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, steady and warm.

"Do not speak. Do not turn around. Elita is here. No camera can see me. By the time you recognize these words I will be gone. Stay your hand. Your time will come. But not here. If you would seek our aid, find us at Swerve's. Elita-1 has spoken!"

And then the world sped up--she'd done it to me again. Does time distortion give her infinite patience?

"Yes, Lord Megatron," I said. "I believe you, about trust being useless." I met his optics.

"Thank you for teaching me that lesson."

Chapter Text

"Quake is dead," Megatron said. "One of the Holy Tanks, my Tankorean Guard, has been killed. What have you to say for yourself, Rubble?"

Suppressing Deathsaurus within him, Rubble stood calmly in Megatron's presence. The other two Tanks, Bludgeon and Brawl, stood at attention. "I can say nothing, Lord Megatron. Quake escorted me to the Dead End, and then he left. I would not deign to deceive you."

At the base of his fuel pump, Rubble felt energy threatening to unspool, as Megatron rose and approached him.

He locked optics with Rubble. "Starscream, show Rubble our guest."

Starscream entered the throne room, tossing Triton to the ground. Triton stood up and looked back and forth between Megatron and Rubble.

"This Autobot gremlin vouches for you!" Starscream said, with a smirk.

"He...does?" Rubble said. Starscream scanned every nanoklik of Rubble's face, and then whispered something to Megatron.

"Very well, Rubble. Very well. Execute this scum, then," Megatron said with a smile.

"I...will hold him for interrogation--"

"That is NOT an option. Do you not have the bravery to do this?"

The change was almost upon Rubble. He packed his anger into a little ball and said, "No. I do not."

Megatron knelt next to Rubble and whispered, "I know that you are the one who somehow bested Quake. It would cost me nothing to obliterate you now. But destruction isn't enough. Conquest, Rubble. Conquest is much sweeter. In due time. BE GONE."

And Megatron fired at Triton, who screamed, "But I serv--" before vanishing in a flash. The energy released melted through the floor and shook the room.

Rubble watched the spy die. What if I had trusted him, he wondered There was no middle ground between Autobot and Decepticon--and that was the problem.

He was dismissed, and he returned home--for the last time.

Chapter Text

Rubble remembers the Transformers' greatest battle on Earth.

King Grimlock tells the story to him through the Matrix: Autobots lost long before Decepticons kill them.

Once me, Grimlock believe in genetic difference between Autobot and Decepticon.

But that not scary part. What kept me, Grimlock sharpening sword? Idea that we all very similar. Too similar. Everyone scared. Everyone weak. Everyone know they right. Everyone know others evil.

Extinction happen when everybody right.

Infighting with Autobots began--peace-lovers against warriors. Decepticons only have latter. Too scared of Megatron to deviate. Some Autobots want "Megatron" of their own. Prime resist. And we all dead now.

You Decepticon for so long, little Dinobot, so sure about that, now you Autobot. So sure of that too. What is your "sure" worth? Nothing. To me, Grimlock, there is only "cut", and only "bite".

If Decepticons say Autobot symbol is evil, then you must become evil, little Deathsaurus.

Rubble sat, for the last time, in a Decepticon mess hall with other Junior Demon Generals.

He sat with his back towards everyone else, spinning an energon cube around in his hand.

"WHA--WHAT IN THE PIT ARE YOU DOING, RUBBLE?" an angry voice said behind him.

"Something wrong?" Rubble said, balancing the tip of the cube on his finger.

"Take-t-take that thing OFF!"

"Oh, you mean this?" Attached to Rubble's back was a freshly polished Autobot symbol.

"Why? WHY would you put on such a hateful symbol?!"

Rubble looked over his shoulder, his optics shining unusually bright.

"Synapse, is it? You were an Autobot once, long ago?. Then after they were all massacred, you changed symbols too. So you get it, don't you? How meaningless all this is."

Roughstuff and Lokos started texting their communicators.

"Go ahead and tell everyone. This is it. A long time coming. Tell the Tankorean Guard. Tell them I killed Quake."

Matrix-infused energon began coursing through Rubble's body. He heard a voice that he assumed was his new form breaking through, but now it said: You've silenced us for too long, Little Dinobot. I have wisdom for you, the wisdom of every Prime before you. This time, we'll destroy the Decepticons. Revenge of the Autobots, Rubble...no, not Rubble. I should say...

Rubble's form grew, split the chair he sat in, crushed the energon cube in his hand.

"Tell Megatron that Deathsaurus is coming for him."

Chapter Text

Fear: the first weapon, Rubble. The first and the last weapon.

I heard the Matrix talking to me as I stood, finally.

My head scraped the ceiling. I looked into all of their wide optics, and the Matrix energy inside me shook. I felt the optics of all those Autobots who died, urging me forward.

Every Prime before me, shouting, howling.

Brawl, Megatron's loyal Tank, ran into the mess hall and froze.

"Braaaawlllll," a voice inside me said--my voice?

Turn deception against them, Rubble. Avenge the billions of dead Autobots in my name.

"You killed them, Brawl. All the Dinobots. And I'm the last one."

My body suddenly jumped to the right. I felt the flashing edge of sharp steel graze me--behind me.

Bludgeon. The other Tank. "Good. You're both here."

"What blasphemy is this?" Bludgeon said. "What are--who are you?!"

"I'm the zombie Prime. The murdered colony worlds."

The headless Guardian. The sacrificed Metroplex.

"My eyes are burning. I'm spewing fire from my mouth as I die. I'm shot through the heart," I said.

"Oh no...a Decepticon Prime..." Bludgeon said. "Brawl. Prepare yourself. We are granted a warrior's death."

Within the Matrix:

Zeta Prime: Yes! I've been waiting for so, so long. Kill them, Rubble. Kill them all, who bowed our heads low, who smashed the name 'Prime' into flaking rust!

Nova Prime: The time of their purging is at hand. Let them taste the darkness they fed us. Let them drink the black oil of oblivion, Rubble.

Codexa Infinita: I hold the records of Autobot deaths. Over 23 billion. There must be a rebalancing, Rubble.

Rodimus Major: DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! THERE'S ANOTHER WAY!

Goldbug Swarm-tamer: The wisdom of our colonies serves the new Queen of the Autobots.

Optimus Prime: I tried to walk the line between Megatron and Grimlock. I failed. I failed to see there was no line.

Grimlock: IGNORE WEAKLINGS. They hate their own weakness. Dinobots bring only one thing: Extinction. You will go farther than all of us.

Chapter Text

Shortly after birth, each one of us quickly realizes three things. How you respond to them will shape your life.

The first insight is that metal can rust, be impure, become corrupted.

The next is that all of Cybertron is made of this metal.

The final, most important insight, is that you yourself are made of this metal.

--Deathsaurus, owner of the Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon, during the "Decepticon Hall of Heroes" lectures

"Put down your sword, Bludgeon. I will not fight you--because you already work for me," Deathsaurus said.

"Is this a joke?" Bludgeon spat, tensing and preparing for a strike. Brawl looked back and forth from Bludgeon to Deathsaurus; with no one to aim at, he was useless.

"You work for me because Megatron will yield. The Matrix has foretold it."

"You're insane--how can you be Rubble?!"

Matrix energy shone brightly behind his chest, as if it were straining to escape. "Rubble was meant to be ground into dirt, destroyed--it's in his name. That is my purpose, Bludgeon--erasure. Extinction."

He touched the Decepticon badge on his chest, which faded to black. "All that remains of Rubble is his sign--the Rubsign. It will be your sign too...right, Brawl?"

Brawl was pointing a gun at Bludgeon.

"Brawl!"

"J-just do what he says--!"

"I swore--fealty to Megatron--!"

"And I am the Emperor of Death itself. Choose death, Bludgeon, and become unconquerable like me. The Decepticons are mine. Cybertron is mine. And this hall we find ourselves in--"

The hall began to shake.

"--is mine. Destronger, transform!"

The large building slowly transformed as Brawl and Bludgeon escaped.

Destronger, sister of Trypticon, towered above them as Deathsaurus flew next to her head.

"Go, Tankorean Guard! Tell Megatron! GO PREPARE KOLKULAR FOR MY ARRIVAL!"

Chapter Text

The best thing, the most satisfying thing about my work, is that the Decepticons never did see it coming.

The Matrix told me of the legend of the One Who Would Rise From the Ranks. It was talking about me. It was talking TO me.

I am what they all wanted--the Chosen One, the Ultimate Warrior. And so it falls to me to put things right, beyond Autobot and Decepticon at last.

None of them could see the shape of our kind.
Control.
Disguise.
Rebellion.
The tyrant divides us and the Arisen comes to make things right.

But this cycle binds us, and separates us. Shall we not become One? Let the chains of our fate be broken at last!

The work will take time.
But time is the universal acid. In deep, deep time they will all forget the names 'Autobot' and 'Decepticon'.

Those labels must become memories of memories. My final labor will be to meet what takes their place, what wishes to oppose me.

Do they fear four million years of war? I will give them forty million years!

--Deathsaurus, Dark Nova Invictus, speaking from New Earth

Megatron sat within Castle Kolkular as the claws of a large tyrannosaur split a wall open. 
The audience was complete: Starscream, Shockwave, Soundwave, the Tankorean Guard.
The Demon Generals: Overlord, Crumbling Ulchtar, Drift, Esmeral, Antagony.

They trembled. Megatron only stood and attached his fusion cannon.
The wall shattered. Ahead of the roar of Destronger, Deathsaurus flew inside.

Hundreds of lasers and cannons were trained upon him.

"Decepticons! The time of your liberation is at hand!" Deathsaurus said, pointing a sword to the sky. "Quake was my first sacrifice, and Megatron the next!"

"Rubble. Underneath all this charade and pomp is little Rubble," Megatron said with a smile.

"Rubble is dead. You killed him. I ate him," Deathsaurus said. "He nourishes me."
"You are a child."
"You are a gravestone."

"I do not parlay with children--"
"Megatron! I come with a gift! You have forgotten the billions of humans you killed. The millions of Autobots. I remember them all. Codexa within me knows each one. You will hear their voices."

Deathsaurus's optics pulsed brightly as he spoke through the Matrix--in Optimus Prime's voice: "You have lost the right to freedom."

Megatron flinched: the voice of the old enemy, something he would never say! His legs shook.
"Yes. Fear is the gift. Look at you, uncertain of victory for the first time in eons. Will you win against the tooth and Matrix-flame of the Ultimate Dinobot, Megatron? WILL YOU WIN?"

With a battle cry, Megatron fired his fusion cannon at Deathsaurus. He covered his body with wings as the blast crackled and seethed around, becoming a dark aura of energy around him. "All shall fall...all shall fall," Deathsaurus said, chanting.

The Rubsign on his chest darkened further into deepest black. "I have seen my death, Megatron. Come, join me, and witness yours."

Chapter Text

I had to teach the humans, Autobots, and Decepticons a lesson: truth is a useful fiction, but fiction it remains. You are a fool to believe the universe turns on mere dials of "true" and "false".

Total destruction is my right, my purpose as the Last Dinobot. But destruction isn't enough. Concepts themselves must become my prey.

Truth is a static concept that fails to incorporate the necessary paradoxes and self-contradictions of Deep Time.

Only a fool looks at a forest and sees only molecules. You cannot look at history and reduce it so easily to "true" and "false". Those who do are the fascists I purge.

And what is Justice but the myopic lapdog of "truth"?

...I laid every Decepticon low. I stripped them of their transformation cogs. I made them the servants of the revived humanity. Would you call this justice?

I renamed Cybertron into "New Earth". Justice!

The Autobots could not see either. They plot and strategize, hoping for rebalance. But I know their Matrix. I saw where their foolish misunderstandings will lead.

Sadly, I had to break them too.

All factions must be obliterated. This I have foreseen. Only thus may the center hold.

--Deathsaurus, speech from the Planet-Destroying-Fortress

Deathsaurus lowered himself to the ground. "I don't even need my Dinoforce, Megatron. All that remains for you is to yield."

"'Yield'? Do you think me capable of such blasphemy, Rubble? An Autobot dressed in costume is still a coward!"

"I was not asking permission, Megatron!"

"Do you think I would cede rule of Cybertron to an Autobot weakling?"

"Ahh! But now you are imagining it. Now it is a thing possible. A moment ago, it was unthinkable."

"Have you forgotten that I am the Emperor of Destruction? I alone!"

"You're stalling now, but very well. If you are the Emperor of Destruction, then I am Unicron reborn--I hunger for the revenge of the Primes, hunger to restore the humans, a Unicron that has devoured the Matrix!"

"Nonsense! Eloquent hatred from an Autobot, still mourning the loss of his mentor!"

"I do not hate you, any more than acid hates metal. The Matrix has shown me how our life is created. But I also see its opposite--the death of living metal! You will come to know an ocean of acid, Megatron!"

Deathsaurus produced a bow, and the dark energy surrounding him became an arrow--instantly piercing Megatron's shoulder, knocking him against his throne. No other Decepticon dared move.

Megatron's body jerked. His right arm shattered. A crimson transmetal red wing unfurled. Megatron screamed,  coruscating with reddish energy. Deathsaurus knew the sound well: a shout of pain, rage, and fear.

"The pretender yields. The dragon emerges," Deathsaurus said grimly, walking into the red storm.

Chapter Text

Cybertron is gone. Only New Earth remains.

Like me, it has been changed forever. It has an atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. I have tried to introduce water, so poisonous to us, but so essential for the little gods, the humans. Water vapor all over a metal planet.

It tends to rust.

This was the only way.

Prime and Megatron fought against extinction as best they could, Megatron via conquest, Prime through resistance. But they were each other's fuel.

They gave rise to me, ruler of a planet of rust.

I required the Decepticons to downsize, removed outlier abilities, sometimes even mandatory T-Cog extraction, so that they will not threaten the humans again.

True, some Autobots still are in hiding. They are free to do so. But they know their Primes serve me. They gave rise to me.

I am the period at the end of all their sentences.

And I will embrace them when they destroy their symbols, choose the ancient black void-symbol, my rubsign.

The humans repopulated, in time. They walk the surface freely. I confess a desire to understand them, especially the children. They adore me on New Earth--except for one little boy...Jan.

Will the Transformers forgive me for my final labor, unknown to them all?

--Deathsaurus, musings from the Eagle-Tiger Throne, after the Hall of Heroes was melted down

I have taken a spouse--a wife.

Many ex-Decepticons, fearful of course, asked me why I do not use our native word 'Conjunx'. I growled at whoever it was, and the little Micromasters ran away, but I will tell you, reader.

I intend to replace Cybertronix with Terrix, over many thousands of years. Terrix will be a blend of popular human dialects.

My wife, a Demon General, holds mostly a symbolic status.

It will take time for everything to become meaningless symbols.

Even the desires for extinction and rebellion must become digital, symbolic.

And symbolically, each and every human being: these are our children.

New Earth continues to rust, and there are layers beneath, the carapace of Old Cybertron.

Entire dynasties passed by down below. The ghost of Cybertron yearns to transform back to its older forms.

The Matrix still speaks to me.

The line of Primes goes deep into the past, further than even Optimus Prime would dare look. Wisdom and warnings I have yet to understand.

The voices of the Matrix mostly bicker with each other:

--Build an Eternal Autobot Empire, Deathsaurus!

--Colonize new worlds in the name of Nova Prime!

Only Rodimus Prime defies them all.

And Optimus Prime, his spark and spirit, remains quiet and sad, helpless. What isn't he saying? What am I not hearing that I once did ages ago when I was still enslaved by Decepticon ideology, when Ginrai rescued me?

I must learn soon, before I become a shade in darkness, like all of them.

--Deathsaurus' correspondence with Gears, who had been dead for 250 years

Chapter Text

I hid in plain sight, more than I seemed.
I fight to destroy Megatron, and I call on all of you to rise up and join me! 
Will you save beloved Cybertron?

--Deathsaurus' rallying cry during the Sack of Kolkulkar, collected in "Wrath of the Matrix", 1st Edition

Don't underestimate us! You'll never see us coming!
We wage war to crush the evil forces of Megatron!
Cybertron is in great peril--all of you, will you save her?

--85th Edition

Cybertron is in great danger!
But we are more than meets the eye! 
I call on you, every beast that creeps, crawls, and flies,
Exterminate the Fallen Meta-tron!
Will you save Holy Cybertron?

--328th Edition

Chapter Text

Megatron stood trembling, red and golden wings outstretched. Panels of armor fell off of him, partially melted under the heat he emitted. Only the transmetal dragon remained. A spherical aura of red and purple surged around him.

"I thought this...would be sealed away, forever..." Megatron said in a rare quiet voice.

Deathsaurus drew his weapon, the tyranno-saber carefully forged for carving the titanium flesh of a warlord. He gazed at Megatron, a red reflection of himself.

"What does it feel like, Deathsaurus, to look at the one who will give you an excruciating death?"

"You know as well as I do, Megatron--it's like looking into a mirror."

Deathsaurus detached his chest armor, the Tiger's Breast--and finally let the unsealed Matrix Flame ignite, drenching himself in blue and white energy.

They clashed, sword against dragon's mouth; a sharp wing cut a torso here; a cleft arm quickly regenerated fresh metal.

Deathsaurus had thought about this day since he first met Ginrai. He heard the voices of innumerable Autobot leaders before crying out, giving him advice, wanting revenge.

Cutting Megatron's midsection! Sentinel Prime wanted that.
A two-fisted hammer strike! That was from Queen Solus Prime.

It had to be me who did this thing, Deathsaurus thought. No Decepticon could carry out true justice. No Autobot could create a stable society in the long-term. It has to be Law of the Dinobot.

Further and further back into the Matrix: long-dead proto-Transformers beneath the surface, clamoring for release; Deathsaurus gave substance to their desperation.

A punch from Optimus Prime, thrown so long ago, cracking Megatron in the face, shattering his jaw.
"You fought every Autobot today, Megatron. And now we pass judgement."

Deathsaurus transformed into his alt mode, a monster none of them had ever seen, blue Matrix-flame escaping its nostrils and mouth.

Chapter Text

...learn this lesson well, Liokaiser.

Power is a rusting cobra.

Grasp too tightly and it crumbles.

Be too lenient you'll be bitten.

It is natural that you would rebel against me.

With my Matrix I breathed distrust and variance into you.

But as I have brought you low, I restore you. Who else could do something like this?

Who am I? The one who endures: Deathsaurus, Kaonic Heir of Megatron!

Who am I? The one who leads: Deathsaurus, 108th Prime!

Emperor of Destruction and the Creation Matrix.

The Holocene is over.

You are the Lion God of this Neo-Mesozoic Age!

--Deathsaurus, the Execution / Resurrection of Liokaiser

A hand rested on Deathsaurus's wing. Everything--the panicking Decepticons, the crumbling fortress--froze.

He remembered this sensation: Bumblebee appearing before him with Mirage and--and--

Elita.

"It's time to stop," she said quietly. "Megatron is defeated. You've freed Cybertron at last."

"I can still...move?" Deathsaurus asked, his voice different--was it Rubble's?

"I'm permitting you to move." Elita's optics shone with a bright blue that matched his own. "You did what we couldn't do. But you must yield. This has been planned. This is a delicate time."

Deathsaurus sighed.  "Step aside, Elita. I have my own plans."

"Rubble..."

"Rubble was a storm cloud--and I am the deluge." He transformed back into robot form and began walking towards her.

She closed her optics and looked away from him, whispering: "Toki-yo-tomare."

And Deathsaurus too froze. She rested a hand on his shoulder. "Try to remember the kind bot you were, Rubble. Listen to the wisdom of the Primes within. The Autobot Utopia is finally at hand..."

Deathsaurus spasmed, and Elita jumped back. "Impossible."

Deathsaurus's body trembled, and his body slowly kept walking forward, as if he were pulling a heavy stone behind him.

"This stagnation is what I fight, Elita," he said, his voice down-pitched due to the Time Stop. "Can you stop the rain from falling? No! Then why do you think you can stop me?"

He began walking faster. "Do I not share the memories of the old leader, Alpha Trion? Of course I know the flaw in your ability."

He stood over her. "Like ancient Gigatron, I am a hand reaching over the city. The Omega Hand! The Guiding Hand!"

"Listen to her, Rubble. Stop," a voice said behind him. He turned to see Ginrai and Bumblebee.

The ultimate test had arrived. I must be strong! he said to himself.

Chapter Text

I have restored humanity, but I confess I did so for selfish reasons.

Yes, I liberated them from the Decepticons, and they praised me for their Rebirth. But this was largely a secondary concern.

Humans are little gods. Humans are a kind of flesh technology that simulates tribal conflicts.

Even when all of their needs are met, they band into groups and discover novel ways of creating war.

I cherish their lessons.

The Matrix only tells me about the past, but through studying humans, I peer into the future. By watching them and adjusting the amount of fear they experience, I can anticipate the kinds of war they will generate.

How else could I have created a stable Cybertron, if not from studying the folly of humanity over the centuries?

When my transwarp drive is completed, I will be able to siphon the myths of humanity's distant past into the Matrix.

War is the most important and complicated activity any civilization can choose. To keep Cybertron peaceful, I will become their Caesars, their Pharaohs, their King and Queen and Royal Family to understand what the humans can teach me about war.

War is change, and we are a species of change.

--Deathsaurus, the Badgeless King: "Rebirth of the Origins of Species"

Cybertron in the year 475 AD (After Deathsaurus) is a wild world.

From orbit, the planet appears in the King's colors: blue, white, and red. It is covered in an Earth-like atmosphere. Humans can breathe freely; indeed, more humans live there than on Old Earth.

Rails, the God-Snake, protects Cybertron from attack, giving it a silver ring. The God-Snake is imbued with so much Creation Matrix energy that It*** continually consumes Its own tail and regenerates it.

Over the centuries, Deathsaurus has become able to connect to larger and larger frames, and has even reached the very core of Cybertron. Each day he merges with the planet and truly BECOMES the planet, shifting the crust, the mantle...homes and shelter destroyed, life from day to day fully chaotic for the Transformers who live there...

Unless you are human.

The Matrix can create life--even human life. We didn't realize it could do that...or if the humans who are created are identical to "naturally-born humans". They live in a special paradise country, the Terrarium named after their homeworld, that Deathsaurus visits as their god.

Unless you have special permission from Deathsaurus, your transformation cog will be extracted--even from birth.

"No disguises means no deception and lies," Deathsaurus says. So far, no one is strong enough to successfully challenge him.

He holds challenges daily.

Wild dinobots roam the surface. Most surviving Transformers have had to adapt different bestial alt-modes to cope with the new climate--and danger.

Besides the Demon Generals, led by the Royal Consort Esmeral, a soldier has emerged who can survive the Metalwilds and protect the Terrarium.

He calls himself "Dinobot" plainly, and though loyal, I wonder if Deathsaurus has taken notice...

--Bumblebee (bee-form drone-unit #3784: Hive report), Optimber 1, 475 AD

***"It" is probably an inaccurate term of Its self-reference, but no one besides Deathsaurus knows how to even communicate with a being of that magnitude.

Chapter Text

Dinobot took a moment before the kill.

He hid in the noise of the Metalwilds, a jungle Cybertron whose crust erupted each day, fresh wounds spurting out new monstrous horrors and even the ultimate Dinobot Himself, Deathsaurus. Cryovolcanoes spewed methane into the dark and blue air.

He hid just inside a crumpled metal cave. He knew the predator was just on the other side, sniffing, hungry for robot blood.

He closed his eyes, settling into the eye of the storm for a few sweet seconds. Ready now.
He held the tulwar, the twisting curved blade and opened his eyes.

He spun into the open to face the enemy--a purple tyrannosaur, who roared and began to charge.
Dinobot noted the angle between his left foot and the tyrannosaur's left foot. The eye of the storm had not left him. He waited until the ramping dinosaur stood just in front of him.

When the enemy's claw is just about to sink into your neck, the enemy is most vulnerable. He lived his life on the edge of that wisdom, a micron away from death.

He brought the tulwar down, taking the smallest step to his left, slicing the dinosaur from the neck through the torso.

"I must be cruel to be kind," he said quietly to himself.
The robot dinosaur head began to speak even though it had been separated from its body. "W-well done...the b-beast got the best of m-me..."

"Such is all our fate, Galavar. Rest now. Rain has worn the marble down, eh? I was fortunate with my attack."

"You're a bad liar..." he said. Together, as if on cue, they both whispered, "yesss..."

Dinobot held him until the end.
In his grief, he looked up at the dark sky, saw the gleaming God-Snake as a thin claw-like arc wrapping around the world, and wondered a question only a scant few knew the answer to: "When did it all go so wrong?"

Chapter Text

"It's not too late, Deathsaurus," Ginrai said.

Still in Elita's Time Stop, with the Decepticons frozen in horror, Deathsaurus crouched in front of Ginrai. He wore a Powermaster suit and removed his helmet.

The young man that Deathsaurus had met was gone. A different man stared up at him--older, balding with grey hair.
"He died," Ginrai said, anticipating the question. "But Optimus Prime's spirit is too strong to yield. Didn't he free you?"

"He did!" Deathsaurus said, standing tall. "He freed me--and he lives within me, in the Matrix. Why stand in my way?"

Ginrai shook his head. "This isn't how it's going to go."

"Oh, but it IS! Did you think I didn't know about your plans for me? That I didn't know about Prowl scheming quietly behind you? But you never asked yourself if your plans had folded themselves into mine--and the Matrix Itself tells me what I'm doing is right."

"What will you do with the Decepticons?"

"They will not yield to reason. They must be butchered by the Law of Grimlock. And only then will this sick cycle of Autobot vs. Decepticon be put to rest. There are only losers in that conflict; winning must become impossible. There is only glory for losers."

"You know this isn't right, Rubble. We need justice, not destruction! You're young yet--the Matrix takes time to get used to. You need a guide!"

Deathsaurus looked down at his hand, glowing with Matrix energy. "Rubble...he was a little nothing, wasn't he? Rubble lost, and chose me. And the lost need no guide--we need to make our own path! I see in the Matrix where you were afraid to go, 'Optimus'. Afraid to use the Matrix as it was intended: a wisdom-weapon to overthrow our oppressors!"

"We will oppose you every step of the way."
"As you must. You know where this path leads. Can the pebble oppose a river?" Deathsaurus asked.
"Can rubble oppose it?" Ginrai replied.

The Autobots vanished, and time resumed: a new era beginning to unwind. Overhead, the Titan Destronger attacked the fleeing Decepticons. He returned his attention to the fallen Megatron.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you. Death would be honorable..."

Chapter Text

Each day, Deathsaurus journeys to the center of Cybertron.

Each day, he incorporates himself into Vector Sigma, the Holy Operating System of the Matrix.

Over two centuries, the very walls and corridors of the planetary core have been reshaped and distorted--into a giant obelisk-face of Deathsaurus Himself.

When he joins his consciousness to the planet, the Eyes open. The Mouth speaks. The Voice is deafening. It says:

  YESTERDAY IS DEAD.

    START ANEW.

      SURVIVE TODAY.

        LIVE IN THE MOMENT.

From the core, Deathsaurus controls the ecology and environment of the surface. The human settlement, the Terrarium, is kept pristine and perfect, like a meadow on Old Earth.

The rest of the planet is covered in mechanical wilderness, the New Mesozoic. Dozens, hundreds of new dinobot alt-forms have emerged and roam freely.

Dinobots, who retain their ability to transform, prey upon former Decepticons, who do not. Downsized, unable to disguise themselves, and under attack by alien machines: the ex-Decepticons who survive will learn the empathy of the claw and tooth. Somewhere, an allosaur-bot eats Micromasters.

The extinction of Decepticon mentality will take millions of years. Only 475 years have passed.

The dinobots are infused with a Hate Plague derivative virus, to prevent them from joining together. It only activates when they transform. And here is Deathsaurus's flaw. This is how we can beat him.

If a bot tells you they have no known weaknesses, never believe them.

--Lio, of the Bluebolt Society

SNOWSTALKER: I don't care! I don't!! What's the point of all this if we can't be together as we really are??

AIRAZOR: ...you're right. But we're jeopardizing the whole Bluebolt Society if the Demon Generals detect us. Not to mention what Lio will do...

SNOWSTALKER: Are you my lady?

AIRAZOR: ...Yes, I am. And you are mine.

SNOWSTALKER: Okay then. Stand back. Tigatron: optimize. (whirring sounds) This is me...

AIRAZOR: Airazor...optimize. (wings flapping, metal whirring) Tigatron...

(name update) TIGATRON: Am I beautiful?

AIRAZOR: I already knew that. (two minutes pass) I don't want to let you go.

TIGATRON: We will meet again. I swear in Bluebolt's name that Paradise will spread across this world.

[illegal transformation cogs detected; data and coordinates uploaded to server at STAR-DESTROYING-FORTRESS-X. CC: Leozack, Esmeral, BCC: Deathsaurus]

Chapter Text

The gift I give to you is that I never rest. I cannot sleep.

The moment I rest, the ghosts who dwell within the Matrix will emerge, restless because I do not carry out their will. They feel defrauded. I keep their nightmares at bay.

And when you never sleep, your nightmares leak into your waking life.

No one would know the agony of the King.

Within me, the ancient Autobots conspire to tear me apart.

Without: the Demon Generals, who believe they can speak about me in privacy.

The dinobots and beasts, who believe I can't see their pack behavior. They're plotting against me as well.

Liokaiser, and Lyzack their leader of my Matrixforce, each of them made in my vengeful image.

I have the grimmest decision: the choice of my method of extinction.

But this was my choice.

The Matrix must never be unleashed.

It must be devoured, digested, a source of dark nourishment, lest the cycle of endless factional war continue.

I bring the eternal darkest hour.

Cybertron, my New Earth, is a seething pot of imminent and immanent chaos. This is my gift to you all.

But in my waking nightmares, I still see him, sometimes. Quake, aiming a gun at me in an alley so long ago.

When I was something so small, so insignificant.

Perhaps Quake should have killed me back then, when I was Rubble. I once thought I survived, but it's more that survival happened to me. I was a tool of the Decepticons and later the Autobots. I have always been a means to an end.

This applies to us all. Only I see it without delusion.

The weak wish to be powerful, but the truly powerful know that such power restricts your life. This is why I must prevent the weak from attaining my power: they know not what they do.

--Midnight Conversations With Holy Eris-Queen Esmeral

Dinobot sat underneath the crescent moon, grinding out imperfections in his sword.

Abruptly, a small compartment in his back popped open, and a rat scampered out.

Dinobot growled. "Even in the stench of this swamp, your stench stands alone, rodent."

Rattrap pointed his nose accusingly at Dinobot. "Ey. I was cooped up in your back, Choppah-Face. Air's fresher out here." He transformed, looked up at his partner. "So? You did the deed?"

Dinobot quietly growled.

"Look. Galavar was already gone. Ya put'em outta his misery."

"Can I not be alone with my sorrow, vermin?!"

"Hey. Easy."

"Galavar taught me everything. Earth history. Dreams of power. I would have followed him anywhere."

"Yeah, well. Anyone who starts callin' himself 'Megatron' is a few screws loose, know what I'm sayin'?"

Dinobot gritted his teeth at Rattrap, but could say nothing at first. "We survived another day, against the Beast Hate Plague."

"Yeah..." Rattrap scratched his head, though he had no hair nor an itch. "About that. You okay? Still in control?"

"I do not require your ministrations, cheese-eater!"

"Heh heh heh, not now. But that virus that made Galavar lose it...it's in you too. It's in all of us. And I got the patch notes to keep it at bay."

"Would that I could be rid of it--and you!!" Dinobot snarled. "But still. Survival. There is no higher calling than to survive and live in the moment."

Rattrap transformed again and perched on Dinobot's shoulder, sniffing the air. "Sounds like you been drinkin' the Deathsaurus Kool-Aid. I mean, what kinda world does this to us, makes us lose our minds if we fight, but die if we try to work together?"

"We prove our existence each day! We justify our place upon the stage! Pure balance in this nature."

Rattrap spat. "I dunno buddy. That ain't balance. That's rot. I'm a rat; trust me, I know."

As he spoke, he chittered into Dinobot's ear quietly in Teltran, an old Autobot language: We're being watched. Two cats. Just behind us.

Chapter Text

There is a weakness common to every single human being who has ever lived.

Humans are biologically speaking quite limited. Their flesh is weak; their immune systems immature, their life spans short and tied to Earth. But this is not their weakness.

Their weakness is mind.

Because they are so limited physically, they have created a "mind-ghost" which projects a strange sort of "primate augmented reality" in front of them at all times.

The mind-ghost possesses them. It sends symbols into the universe which replaces things, and these symbols become their reality. All of their science, politics, religion...based on the mind-ghost.

Houses become "homes". The universe becomes a "cosmos".

The mind-ghost tells the human, "Yes, you are weak. But the world makes sense. It's organized. It's moral. It can be grasped." It is very similar to birds who can sort screws by color, or chimpanzees turning dials for food.

I have tried to remove the mind-ghost from them, to free them. This is extremely distressing to them, even when done so lovingly.

All hominids have this problem. I see it in zoos and in houses.

The primate mind-ghost believes everything can be "understood". For humans, understanding is like a monkey grabbing fruit.

Show them things not bound by reason and they become anxious, angry, afraid--sometimes insane. Is it any surprise they yearn to be us?

This is why I have had to keep them confined to one area. Humans will erase things and replace them with how their minds project them. They cannot help it. They know not what they do.

--King Deathsaurus: The God's Handbook (required reading for Lyzack, Esmeral, and Crumbling Ulchtar)

Have I told you about Rubble's Paradox?

Hundreds of years ago, 'Rubble' was the name I once called myself. Few today remember it. The Ex-Cons that do would not dare speak it for fear of incurring my wrath. Fools!

Rubble's Paradox is an old one.

On one hand, change is inevitable. You grow from young to old. We have specialized organs that allow us to change forms. We never stay the same.

On the other hand, you can only be who you are. Changing that is impossible. You can only realize who you truly were all along, so only false beliefs can be changed. Truth is static. You are both a robot and a truck. Everyone is both good and evil.

Change is impossible.

How do you resolve the paradox? Time. Contradictions blend together over large periods of time. What remains of that struggle is "truth".

I can no longer revert back to Rubble. Doing so is like trying to unbreathe a breath.

My memories of him--a weak, childlike creature--must be from false beliefs about myself. I was never him.

--Deathsaurus, "The Hidden Throne"

Chapter Text

From the "Matrix as Living Word":

I was born "Hot Rod" 238 Hadean years ago as the Autobots were losing the war. The Prime Program gave me an emergency upgrade to counter the Decepticons. I was the strongest Prime yet I was not strong enough...

I came online as Orion Pax 4,682 Hadean years ago. I was built to analyze historical data. I immediately forecasted war with the Decepticons. I inherited the Prime Program from Splendid Convoy, who named me "Optimus"...

I was built as Aurica Xaaronix 5,691 Hadean years ago. I created the Final Golden Age of Cybertron, and I myself was golden. The Prime Program accepted me, and I accepted it. I became Yellow Splendid Convoy...

7,977 Hadean years ago, I was only given a label at my forging: B-127. When the Dead Universe came to Cybertron, the previous Prime failed us, and the Holy Program chose me. I was given an alien form to combat the dark hordes of D-Void, first "Bumblebee", then "Goldfire Swarm-Tamer". I abdicated my Primehood to Aurica...

I descended from royalty 9,324 Hadean years ago: Nova Major, Lord of the S.T.A.R.S., King of Iacon and Regent of All Civilized Beings. I destroyed the other Battlestars to become the ultimate Prime, Nova Prime, succeeding the naive Star Convoy. I summoned the D-Void to us, but was overwhelmed, consumed...

***

Lio Convoy paced back and forth in a segment of the Bark-17, a forest of giant, hollow trees. He glared at Tigatron and Airazor. There was only the hum of Null Rays, shielding their detection from the Monster himself, and the impatient stomping steps of the great lion. The den was lighted by cold computer screens and warm wooden undertones.

"What have you two done?!" he roared.

Tigatron took Airazor's hand, and she said defiantly, "I love her!"

The lion's head on Lio's shoulder now frowned. "I don't care about that! Why in the name of Sweet Solus did you transform outside of our base, Airazor!?"

"Tigatron's a loner...she's never been here...I didn't know if she would even--" Airazor said meekly.

"That's right! I kept Snowst--uh, Tigatron out on permanent recon! Because it keeps us safe if we're all separate! Why am I yelling!"

Airazor smiled a little. "Because you didn't want me to be hurt?"

"You're not a hatchling anymore! You're too old to be this reckless!"

Tigatron's green face glared back at Lio's, fangs bared. "I don't work FOR you, Big Cat. I work for myself. I transform where I wanna transform!"

"AGH!" He threw up his hands. "What if the Monster detected you? What if Lyzack or Goryu found you?!"

"So what?! I don't care!! I'll beat them all!!"

Lio felt drained. "Little Cat--"
"I'm TIGATRON NOW!"

Stinkbomb, who had been sitting at a console, turned his chair halfway around to look at the skirmish.

"Tigatron." Lio put his hands on their shoulders. "It's none of my business. But I'm happy for you both. Very prime indeed."
Tigatron's fangs retracted slightly, and her gaze softened. Airazor was almost giddy.

She still seeks my approval, he thought. They both do. And I must break their hearts again, very soon.

Tigatron and Airazor embraced as Lio looked up into the ceiling of the spaceship-now-forest. He wondered: Ravage, Razorclaw, Nightbird. Primal, Steeljaw: did his ancestors struggle like he did?

Chapter Text

I was born Apex Rotantor. But I did not become sentient until about 600 years ago, when Ginrai died.

Back then, I was known as Roller.

Somehow I survived his death. I was one-third of the trinity that was Optimus.

I must never tell this to anyone else in our crew, as they would see me as a god, and not their leader. But you're special. You'll understand someday.

After Optimus died, I lay half-deactivated for hundreds of years. I awoke to find myself in a zoo on terraformed, human-occupied Cybertron. For years all I knew was a friendly white lion who treated me kindly, not knowing I was alive, often napping on my rubber tires.

The Monster's Creation Matrix energy inadvertently awakened me, the Prime in me. I was something different. I scanned the white lion, and tried to remember my name.

Rol...Lir...Raio...I left the Monster's zoo, confused.

Through faint echoes from the Matrix, I knew what the Monster had done, how he tortured the defeated, how he kept Cybertron wild and unstable. I knew that if I stayed in beast form, he could not sense me.

For years I wandered the terraformed wilderness until I "heard" other beasts speak to me--and I realized I could speak.

I joined their bizarre convoy. "Convoy" was who we called the leader of our pack. Soon it was my name: Lio Convoy.

--bedtime story, to a little hatchling

Esmeral carefully walked into the Holy Plasma Energy Chamber. In front of her, ten times her height, was the Grand Mal. Deathsaurus' face gazed ahead over her, its mouth slack with blue humming energy spilling out of it. The whole chamber was like a blue sun. Only outlines could be seen. Only his voice could be heard. She felt her metal skin prickling. She kept her optics closed.

"My Lord," she said.

"Why have you come?" came the booming voice. "It is not time to record the scriptures."

"Our spies detected the presence of transforming animals. They are unknown to us."

"So it finally begins."

"Lord?"

"The ex-Autobots and Decepticons have found a way to avoid the Matrix Flame, thinking they can hide from me. Let me see for myself...yes...ah, yes. Those two! Juvenile infatuation!"

"They have love for each other," Esmeral said, turning away from him, her eyes still closed.

"I hear the sadness in your voice. You know that love between us is impossible. I have none to give. But what I have for you is beyond such a mere thing. We build the stage for life itself on this great world!"

The face became silent, and beneath it, at its chin, Deathsaurus detached from the Plasma Energy Chamber, exhausted, weak.

"I think you're lying to yourself," she said coldly.

"We are simply beyond love, as a child outgrows toy blocks. I have seen into our distant past. I have seen into the humans'. Did you know that love evolved as a way to make manipulation easier? Why do you think I do not excise it from my children? Do you not see that I have discovered our hidden enemies because they succumb to it? Grow up!"

"I remember when you were Rubble. This is--all just an act. This isn't--this is just you playing god!"

"Playing? Did you not hear me? You come before a god to discuss--toy blocks? BEGONE!"

She fled the Chamber. She thought of the young rebel couple.

She thought of Deathsaurus's weakness.

Chapter Text

I was born 20 minutes ago. I am born from the Matrix, fully-formed. My father who created me is also my mother who bore me.

I am Leozack-Lyzack.
Like my father before me, Deathsaurus Grimlock II Prime, and Mother-of-All, the Matrix, I carry the holy energy.
Like Optimus Prime, my grandfather, I am many components at once.

He claims many titles: Destron Emperor, Autobot Red Geist, Ultimate Dinobot.
The Matrix is my inheritance.

My first memory was witnessing an execution.

Megatron the Fallen lay near-death. The stench of Autobot centrism had fled at last.

Thunderwing the False Pretender rose against my father. He too contained Matrix energy, corrupted, enthralled, sickened and poisoned. Thunderwing cast off his Cloak of the Keeper and began his futile struggle.

He could do nothing. The Matrix wanted to escape. She wanted to be passed on at last.
She wanted to be found.

My brothers and sisters, the Matrixforce, silently watched the purging of the great evil.

With Megatron's own spiked flail, freshly ripped from his arm, Deathsaurus crushed the Pretender. I watched my father absorb the green, sick Matrix energy from Thunderwing into himself.

What would that do to him? At the same time the question came to me, I wondered, as a 30-minute old, so much more wise than I was 10 minutes ago:
Why do I not lead? Am I not my father's daughter? I heard the voices of angry Autobots within--and furious, obsessed Thunderwing.
When will my time come?

--first data-trax of the Matrixforce: Leozack-Lyzack the Lost-Light, Ironbison, Hellbat, Jaguar, GreyHawk, Drillhorn

Chapter Text

Dinobot steeled himself for battle under the light of the waning Moonbase-1. The rodent whispering into his ear, though foul, was correct.

There were two predators slowly stalking behind him.
He shut his red eyes, gritted his serrated teeth. He prepared his tail-tulwar: one chance, two kills, one slash.

He thought of the ancient battle poem, which according to records was written by Shakespeare in the 1980s: "I dare to believe, that I can survive. The power is there at my command."

He could hear soft breathing now. Odors of long-dead prey. Wet, matted fur. He turned, his tail-blade spinning, swinging upwards.

Cheetor was struck on the temple, went flying towards a tree.
The other cat, a jaguar, was upon him. As Dinobot fell, Rattrap bit one of the paws, causing the jaguar to yelp.

Rattrap downloaded the diagnostic data. His rodent eyes glowed bright red: Her name is Jaguar. Matrixforce Umbra Commander. Second Daughter of the Monster Himself.

A stinkin' Decepticon by any other name would smell just as bad, Rattrap thought, twitching his whiskers. Even with Matrix energy runnin' through her circuits.

The cheetah transformed and rebounded off of the tree, hurling towards Dinobot, who was seconds away from regaining his balance. "I knew I smelled a rat!" he said, brandishing arm blades.

"You can taste one too!" Dinobot said, grabbing Rattrap--"Hey what gives!?!?"--and tossing him at Cheetor's face, smacking him against the mouth. Cheetor grimaced, wiped his face, and made spitting sounds.

Dinobot recovered his tulwar and pointed the edge at Cheetor. "I have no ball of yarn for you, felines." He ignored Rattrap hopping up and down, cursing in English.

"Hey. Chill," Cheetor said. "We're not here to fight! He wants to meet you."
Rattrap shut up and exchanged glances with Dinobot.

"No joke. Deathsaurus wants to meet you--and make you an offer to join us."

Chapter Text

I have seen further back into the Matrix than any Autobot before me.

The others were afraid, too foolish, too prideful to do what I do--to heal Cybertron.

I offer a remedy: remember the past.

The 107th Prime, Rodimus: too immature.

The 106th Prime, Optimus: too...optimistic.

The 105th Prime, Splendid: too dazzled by her Golden Age.

The 103rd Prime, Nova: too greedy and vainglorious.

Autobot failures go back for thousands, millions of years. Why do we keep repeating them? What sort of madness is that?

The Autobots cannot rule. The Decepticons cannot yield. They are war-sick. They are more partners than enemies in their conflicts.

When I was Rubble, I learned the Decepticon ways. The Autobots needed me to rise above them, and steer them to the correct path. How ironic! I was being groomed to be a Decepticon leader, and then an Autobot leader. But those were THEIR plans.

And Deathsaurus ate their plans!

The 57th Prime: Termagax the Ultimate! She invented Nucleon.

The 58th Prime: Zeta the Tyrant. He used it to suppress rebellions.

Further back!

The 17th Prime: Pious Maximus, who made transforming illegal for 1000 years to conserve energon!

The 14th Prime: the Nameless Prime who gathered the Matrix in the first place, who was a demon--a proto-Transformer from the underground: the first Demon Emperor.

Optimus knew some of this. He kept the Matrix hidden and only relied upon it as a last resort. How wise of him.

The Matrix should have never been created in the first place!

--Lectures to Esmeral

Our father Deathsaurus has three swords pointed at him:

The last Decepticons who were allowed to keep their frames after the Straxus-Jhiaxus Conspiracy, the Demon Generals:

Overlord, who challenges Deathsaurus each day and each day loses,

Drift, the false Autobot who betrayed Rodimus,

Antagony, who stole the Swarm from Bumblebee,

Crumbling Ulchtar, the Seeker with the invincible Spark, driven mad by infinite life,

Esmeral, his Queen.

My father permits them to live as ceremonial nothings for his Court. When I ask him why, he laughs as says:

"Humiliation and revenge are fuel and spark." I don't understand.

***

The rebels: Transformers who have somehow evolved to transform again even after my father removed T-cogs. They are probably former Decepticons and Autobots joining together, taking beast forms to avoid his Oracle eyes. When we destroyed their warrior-goddess Bluebolt, and brought down the great Forest-ship "Botanica Ark-17", they went into hiding.

***

I am ashamed to admit it, but some of my own brothers and sisters, especially Hellbat. When my father is so foolish that he threatens this great work, I too join my siblings and face him as Liokaiser.

But he always destroys us and brings us back to life.

Deathsaurus says that he believes Cybertron--New Earth--is now Paradise, in perfect harmony between life and death: on any given day you may die by wild Dinobot attack or survive. No factions, no formation of tribes--just the pure experience of life and the threat of death at all times. Logic and chaos must grip each other's throats.

But I see Esmeral weep in hidden moments. I think Deathsaurus is waiting for something to eject him from Paradise.

--Lyzack/Leozack's Histories of the Final Prime

Chapter Text

Lio Convoy was typing a letter on a datapad when Tigatron entered his quarters. Lio quickly hid the document.

"Sir!" Tigatron said, her voice wavering just a little bit.
Lio made the ancient hand-sign, two palms pressing together: till all are one. She did the same.

"I just wanted. Ahem. AHEM. I just wanted to say. That." She stood there, her mouth starting to say things that never came out. Lio faced her, not letting himself smile at her on the back foot like this.

"I humbly request forgiveness for my impertinence earlier. And for...transforming outside our safe zone. It was foolish and irresponsible of me. Sir."

"Are you done?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know the myth of Optimus Prime?"
She rolled her eyes. "Which one?"

"Once Optimus Prime died and came back in human form. But he was still Optimus. What does that mean to you?"
She sighed. "I don't know. Sir."

"It means change is essential to survival. But does one's essence ever really change?"

"This feels like stupid philosophy, sir. With all due respect. I don't believe in that essence stuff--everything is what we say it is. It's all made up."

"And there's my point: the Monster has ruled over my life for so long that I sometimes forget why we're fighting. You and Airazor forced the issue. My fears...they stopped me from taking the right actions. So I apologize as well."

She nodded and her face dropped, a dam holding back a flood of feelings.
"The mission is about to start. I have complete faith in you--and I know you'll take care of Airazor, Little Cat."

"With my life, sir!" And she left.

Moments later, Break appeared in his doorway. "Lio. When are you going to tell her the TRUTH?"
Lio said nothing. The penguin bot squawked. "Lio!!"

But all Lio thought was: her visit made finishing the letter so much more difficult.

Chapter Text

Jan Minakaze, age 12, sat on Deathsaurus's throne. His legs dangled over the front, kicking it lightly with his heels. He wore a ceremonial white-and-grey jumpsuit for the Court visit today. 

A Dinobot, somehow able to resist the Hate Plague, had been invited to be in His presence.

To Jan's left: Drift, Antagony, Ulchtar. They glared up at him from their lower vantage point.
To Jan's right: Leozack and the Matrixforce, refusing to look up at the human sitting above them.

"I wonder when Queen Ezzie is going to return," Jan wondered, scratching his chin.

"Ezzie!? She is Queen Esmeral of the Demon Generals and His Royal Consort! Respect her!" Antagony said, seething.

Jan laughed at her. "Aww, don't be mad, 'Auntie Antagony'." 

Drift the False Autobot stared up at him, hand on the hilt of her Great Sword.

"C'mon Drift," Jan said. "You know what Deathsaurus would do if he found out you threatened me. If any of you hurt me. He told me that humans will always be higher than Decepticons."

No one replied for a moment. 

Lyzack said to the other side of the Darkmount throne: "That was pathetic! The Demon Generals were useless hundreds of years ago, and you're STILL useless!"

Antagony's mandibles clicked and clacked. "Deathsaurus did not forbid us to destroy YOU, usurpers!"

Lyzack crossed her arms. "You're good at theft and that's it. You may control the Swarm, but why would the Matrix-born care about that? Besides, you don't know about my power, do you...?"

"Oooooh, you all sure are cranky!" Jan said, chuckling. "You sound like you need a snack. Hellbat, will you go get everyone a snack till Dad gets here?"

Hellbat fumed, pouring ion-rich energon into goblets. How long would this farce go on? He knew Deathsaurus was nearby, watching all this with amusement? Why?

Why did he permit the incompetent Dinoforce to remain in his ranks?

And why, oh WHY did he adopt this foolish human as his son?!

Chapter Text

Some have called me a tyrant, but this is not quite true. I am much more than that.

I do not simply impose my will and oppress enemies. I am an "inner tyrant": I seek to break the bonds of internalized oppression.

And what is the source of that oppression, you ask? 
The symbol.

In studying humans and Transformers alike, I see we have all fallen prey to the hallucination of symbols. The more we care about symbols, the further detached we have become from physical reality.

My world of wild Dinobots will put an end to that! There is no time to inherit mind-viruses when you are running for your life!

Do you see now why I can be neither Autobot nor Decepticon? The Rubsign is emptiness itself.

One day, someone will stop running. They will see beyond my fearsome appearance and wonder, "Why is my mere survival not enough? Why must I create these thought-chains that restrict our full potential? Why do we invent the ego only to become its slave?"

And then they will smash all symbols, all media, alongside me. They will shred these pages, little seductive symbols all on their own.

I once watched an ex-Decepticon, giddy with enlightenment/terror, remove his own head, fully free of the sinister designs of the mind. The ultimate freedom!

--Deathsaurus, "Unspeakable Words", dictated to Esmeral

Cheetor and Jaguar walked behind Dinobot, leading him up the stairs to Destronger Castle, the new capital of what was once Cybertron. Wild Dinobots--allosaurs, dromaeosaurs, keratoceratops--avoided attacking them due to the rubsigns gifted to them by Deathsaurus. 

In rat form, Rattrap perched on Dinobot's left shoulder and whistled. "Phewww. Big ol' place ya got here. Must be nice living your little comfy life up here, eh?"

"Deathsaurus only wanted Dinobot! You're a wanted fugitive!" Jaguar said.

"The vermin is part of the deal, feline," Dinobot rasped. "Still. Though his breath would gag the noseless, he is correct." Rattrap stood on his hind legs and crossed his front paws.

"Remember the rules," Cheetor said. "Do not look Deathsaurus in the eye. Address him as Emperor, or Ultimate Dinobot."

"Well, well, well," Rattrap sang. "Wellity-wellity-wellity. Look at Mr. 'First Resistor' Cheetor here. The rule follower! Ya know, I remember when--"

"Shut up, Rattrap," Cheetor growled.

"--I remember when a little kitty cat would raise hell for his captain but would always do the right thing in the end. Huh, what do you think happened to him?"

Dinobot glanced over his shoulder and cast a narrow red eye at them both. Was Rattrap plotting an escape route? he wondered.

"I was a stupid kid, then! Now I know better!"

"Way I see it, when Primal died--and wasn't he killed by your pal the Ultimate Dinobot?--that just brought out who you really were. Ain't that funny? I never would've had you pegged as a bootlicker."

"I'm making changes from the inside!" Cheetor said. Jaguar looked at him questioningly.

"True change is impossible," Dinobot said. "Give up your petty hopes."

"You two just want to burn everything down!" Cheetor said. 

"Yeah, well, you smooshed out your fire," Rattrap said, whiskers pointing accusingly. "Your sister Tigatron knew better!"

Further bitter words were swallowed. Rattrap did not share his pity for a child who had to grow up too soon.

Chapter Text

How do you stop two foes from killing each other?

I tried everything the Matrix told me. Over hundreds of years, I tried. I tried even when I knew it wouldn't work. The weak part of me--I need to extract it. There is no room for weakness among the Dinobots.

I tried negotiations. I brought Autobot and Decepticon to bargain. They fought. Ginrai and Overlord died, hundreds of years ago.

I tried doing nothing--they just fought each other for 150 years--the "Machine Wars". I brought an end to that personally.

I thought that maybe the root of our warlike nature was transforming. Perhaps our minds are divided. Maybe the mental split caused the conflict. I had all transformation cogs removed--but they just kept fighting.

I tried to make them all experience synthezoid holomatter "human" bodies. Perhaps primate tribal empathy is stronger than ours. But they just kept fighting, though this is where my new "humans" came from--not a total loss.

I tried the unspeakable--reprogramming their minds. But I may as well have killed them.

I tried education, but they only found intelligent ways to destroy each other. The Matrix cannot give me an answer. I cannot rely on such a crutch any longer.

I even tried to remove the Matrix from myself--decant the Creation Matrix energy into my children, the Liokaiser--but they TOO fought little wars among themselves.  

The only solution is the annihilation of all factions. Will this work? Will I finally achieve what Optimus Prime and Megatron could not?

--Deathsaurus, dictation to Esmeral, "The Dinobot King Lectures", c. 325 AD (After Deathsaurus), just before the Age of Stable Chaos

The throne room was spacious, walls colored bright white and grey, lined with Grecian columns from Old Earth ("Alexander the Great is my ancestor as much as Sentinel Prime is", Deathsaurus would say). The throne sat atop large stairs at one end of the room. The Decepticon court sat at its right, the Liokaiser sat to its left.

Deathsaurus sat in the middle, at the highest point of the world. Jan Minakaze sat on his shoulder. Hovering over his head: the Creation Matrix, emitting a greenish glow.

Dinobot stood at the foot of the stairs looking up at the king. Rattrap skittered around his ankles, endlessly fidgeting, muttering "oh man, oh man, oh man...".

Cheetor spoke: "You have to kneel."

Dinobot did not take his gaze off of Deathsaurus. "I'm afraid that's impossible. You see, my knees have a malfunction. I have never learned to kneel."

Lyzack gasped and looked to her father. Esmeral the Queen held Deathsaurus's hand limply, did not change her expression.

Deathsaurus smiled. "It's all right this time, Cheetor. We will repair Dinobot's defects in time."

"But Emperor--" Cheetor started. Deathsaurus's eyes narrowed slightly, and Cheetor backed away quietly.
(Cheetor was once so rebellious. But the Matrix subdued him. It mesmerizes everyone, Deathsaurus thought sadly.)

Deathsaurus spoke in a bored tone. "You killed Galavar, the tyrannosaur. You maintain your faculties despite my Hate Plague virus. How did you do this?"

"Your question means it's more valuable to keep it a secret."

Drift, slayer of Rodimus Prime, thought: how is this Dinobot still alive? Deathsaurus has killed for much less!

"I'll tell you, 'King', if you answer a question: why have you done this? Why is the world this way?"

"All other solutions lead to Autobot/Decepticon bifurcation. Then chaos. The cycle is inescapable--but only I can manage it, and control it. My peace is metastable, like a pin balanced on its tip."

Rattrap suddenly got calm. He ignored the blather, sensing familiar smells: old friends, nearby: a falcon and a tiger. They were right on time.

Chapter Text

Botanica could not talk. She no longer had vocal systems.

She was a small forest. 
Hidden beneath the rotting wood of her trunks was her cybiotic mode: fuel thrusters, thousands of gyroscopes, Titan engines that would never take to deep space again.

She looks in on Lio Convoy in his quarters. He's pacing, waiting on reports from Airazor and Tigatron's mission. 

Botanica read Lio's letter to Airazor on secret cameras in her ceilings. Tigatron will never forgive him.

Botanica's wooden floors creaked as Stampy and Break walked above. She knew every insect crawling around her inner surfaces. She knew weather patterns by variations of airflow. 

She knew Rattrap was gone.
When her captain, Nyctis Prima, the "Convobat" returned to Cybertron, she learned that Rodimus Prime had died. The Matrix had reached out to her, chosen to be the next Prime. She faced Thunderwing, who had stolen it from Rodimus Prime.

She lost.
Botanica was shot down.
She forgot her last words, but she remembered being a comet before she hit the ground.

Only Rattrap speaks to her like a person. Rattrap had loved her before she grew in size, prepared herself for thousands of years for the lonely strain of preparing for long-term deep space travel.

But he was always there.
She can never transform again. She is now 43 loosely bundled trees here on New Earth, near a zoo, in a city populated by neo-humans who love their King Deathsaurus.

Her sensors detect Lio trying to radio Airazor. No response. It's an important message: "I'm sorry."
She has a lot to say but can never speak. She has sensors and readouts and monitors and alarms but no voice.

Her roots drill down into the ground. She can sense the tension of Cybertron through its underground circuitry: tech-tonic plates shifting, acid oceans sloshing, the tension at Deathsaurus's castle.

Only Rattrap knows how to repair her. It will take 850 years for her voice to fully heal. But the deep roots tell her she will be alone by then.

Fools fret and worry about chaos, but they ignore its lessons. It is the energon of a true Dinobot.

The previous Primes often worried about simple matters: "Will Decepticons attack? Is there enough energon? Will the Prime protect us?" These are the same fears that short-lived tribal humans had. They could not see. They could not change.

The real questions are: Do my actions cause stability in the future? How sure am I? Optimus asked these questions and became consumed by endless angst.

Chaos is not violent and frightening--it is cold and mathematical.

Through the Matrix, I have studied all of the routes to chaos on Cybertron. Every bifurcation: transcritical, pitchfork, heteroclinic, resonance--all the major catastrophes. I know which ones will fail.

That is why I permit my enemies to exist: I know that from history, from math, they must all fail and are of no concern to me.

Chaos teaches us that we are not the sum of our parts: we are much, much less.
A little bit of "good" here absorbs a little bit of "bad" there, and most beings become simple, average mental blobs. Those who try to become more extreme and escape this mediocrity--well, they too fall under predictable bounds.

This is how I know the line of so-called "Primals" and "Convoys" will fail. Which one will it be this time? Which beast thinks they can overwhelm a war world of Dinobots?

When everyone must fend for survival, no factions can form. In this rare, pure state, life is stable, but only temporarily. There is one further transformation I must undergo to ensure stability for my Neo-Mesozoic--Old Mad Galvatron tried it once, but I can achieve it:

Grand Deathsaurus.

Chapter Text

"I have summoned you here, Dinobot, to become my heir," Deathsaurus said.

Every optic and eye spun towards Dinobot like accusing cameras. Dinobot reflexively reached for his tail-blade, so unaccustomed to this amount of attention without violence immediately following.

"Father!" Lyzack said.

Esmeral only slightly squeezed his hand, her face pointed forward still but her optic darting down to watch Deathsaurus's face. She saw him suppressing a grin. He was enjoying this.

"Father, you gave me the biggest portion of the Matrix! I thought--I thought I was your fav--" Lyzack started, cutting the words off quickly.

"My daughter, my son," Deathsaurus said, keeping his gaze towards Dinobot, "you see that you cannot even rule yourself. How disappointing, that my children were not enough! You are not ready for the burdens of leadership."

"Do even the Demon Generals have no say?" Drift said, fuming.

"The Decepticons have NOTHING!" Deathsaurus boomed, standing at last. Drift backed away. Jan bounced on his shoulder. "Make no mistake! You serve solely as a radioactive symbol, a frightening mask that we must avoid. Consider my flail spinning towards your heads at all times!"

"Enough of this circus," Dinobot said. "If I refuse?"

The Matrix floating over Deathsaurus's head turned dark, and he stood slowly. "You will not. I created the Dinobots! And even though, somehow, you began creating yourselves, I know the parameters of your decisions. You will not exceed them. You are the angel of my paradise, maintainer of the Law of Grimlock that I have established across the planet."

He walked towards Dinobot. "And I must go carry out greater, grander acts."
Jan said, "Maybe we shouldn't let him live?"

Rattrap sensed something right then, something horrible. The way Jan's arm moved, a small glint off his eyes. The smell, quite inhuman, familiar from hundreds of years of olfactory databases that Autobot ancestors passed down.

Rattrap knew!
Jan's eyes--Rattrap knew! Airazor and Tigatron nearby--Deathsaurus was expecting them!
In that horrifying moment, with unimaginable speed, Deathsaurus smiled and held the Living-Matter-Destroying Cannon--firing at Dinobot and Rattrap at pointblank range.

Chapter Text

Humanity must be protected at any cost. They are exempt from the Law of Grimlock.

I have studied their short history. Though they have done some terrible things to each other, they pale compared to the truly, truly awful things that my kind has done to them.

Humans are morally incapable of committing the unceasing horrors of the machine.

In a way, the humans summoned me with the siren song of their species, the robot god to revive them, to give them the object of worship that is essential to their kind.

Their love for me gives them a single faction that can never be split: humans united in Dinobot worship. The only gods worth believing in are the one who live in this world, guarding Paradise with energo-swords of the angels.

I thought that there was no way to avoid enemies. But the Matrix tells me the wisdom of those before me--and how they all failed. Thus I must remain brave, to do what the Primes could not.

Early in my Ascension, the "Goddess" Bluebolt stood against me. She too had a portion of the Matrix, blue like the Matrix itself--she was a bird emerging from the dead Thunderwing.

I had already foreseen her path: it would lead to further division and factions, to endless tribalism and righteous violence. 

How could the Matrix serve two masters? I had to destroy her.

I know she has followers. I know they scurry beneath me, like termites and Scraplets to rust the metal under our feet. I know they are coming.

LET THEM COME!
With 99% certainty, they will fail.
99.99%.
99.9999%.

--Deathsaurus, "Secret Whispers to Esmeral"

Dinobot was bathed in the light of the Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon. Rattrap jumped off of his shoulder, transforming into robot form, aiming at Jan Minakaze, quietly smiling on Deathsaurus's shoulder.

Cheetor, in cat form, caught him in mid-air in his teeth. His words were muffled: "What are you DOING?!"
"Not him again! Not--" Rattrap said, before Deathsaurus grabbed him, squeezing him until he dropped his weapon.

"I knew about you. Dinobot was only the secondary prize! You filth--you would've killed a human! Where are the rest of you? Tell me!"

"Here!" a voice said from the ceiling--a brown falcon darting towards him. At the same time: Tigatron appeared, Mirage-decloaking, aiming a gun at Deathsaurus's head.

A white blur came at her from the left; it may have been a flash. There was a sound of metal scraping, and Tigatron's gun was sliced in two. Tigatron jumped back to avoid the following vertical cut, the tiger head on her chest being slashed.

"Drift Primekiller," Tigatron hissed. "Who have you betrayed today?"
"I won't let you beasts keep us from this Cyberutopia," he said, preparing to draw his Great Sword.

Dinobot stood shakily. The Monster was right there in front of him, and the curved tulwar in his hand quivered. He felt his sentio metallico decaying. 

Lyzack landed in front of him. "You've no chance. I've fought this battle ten million times already in simulations. And that's when you were at your best." She unsheathed a sword, with blue Matrix crystal lining the edge. "You don't deserve to lead us!"

"Was THIS in your simulations?" Dinobot said, transforming into raptor form--and saw nothing but blinding red.

Rattrap heard this, knew he could no longer help his friend with suppressing the Hate Plague, knowing he ruined Lio's plans. As he was being squeezed by Deathsaurus, he armed the two large Wrecker bombs in his wrists.

HE must never come back, Rattrap thought. Goodbye, Botanica--I love you.
Two great flashes, and the Court detonated.

Chapter Text

Right after you are born, your Spark creates a bit of programming that lets it interact with the world. Humans call this the 'Self'. 

But the Self is the first deception all living machines believe in.

The Decepticon Empire put chains on the Self and promised that only they could liberate it. And long before them, the Autobots thought Sparks were full of irrational, frightening potential that must be controlled, perhaps eliminated.

How do I know this? I know because I am the oldest being in the universe. I have the collective age of hundreds of Primes through the Matrix, and only I can see where it all went wrong.

Belief in this 'Self' fiction! All of the fictions built on top of it--every tragedy, every love and romance, every friendship and bitter hatred--all smoke rising over a smothered fire.

Autobots and Decepticons gave you a 'Self' to fight for. You didn't even realize it had happened to you.

Am I so radical for removing them all, then?
My Dinobots live in a pure, Selfless state--pure instinct alone.
No leaders to look up to and disappoint you--no mentors to lose.

No tyrants but the ones we create inside. 
The ultimate harmony of listening to your actual voice instead of the pretender shell forced around you.

I know you criticize me for introducing Vehicons to the humans. But they are Selfless Sparks who teach humans they shouldn't fear machines--it's the least my race can do after what we have done to their species.

It's a pity, my dear Esmeral. You refuse to see the bars of your own prison. You cannot Ascend and Transcend as I have. Have you become comfortable in your cell? Come join me!

--Deathsaurus, "Extinction of Species, Extinction of Self"

I will tell you the future of Cybertron, today.

Forty million years from now, I will no longer be what you could call a "being". Grand Deathsaurus will have the entire sphere of Cybertron as its body, and there will be no more "me" to speak of. I will be a dimly sentient rock like the Colony Worlds of ancient times.

It has to be this way. I tried to transfer the Matrix-consciousness to a combiner body (Liokaiser), to a Titan body (Destronger), but they were too small.

This will be the final sacrifice I make for the Transformers: the extinction of my self, only after every other self has been liberated.

By then humans will have evolved considerably. You would not recognize them--much more "inhumanoid" than you would think.

The Ultralithic Era will begin.

Cybertron will have rusted back down to its rocky interior. Many organic species will grow on my surface: Torkuli, human-Voin, A'ovan, and the distant descendants of the Transformers, the Slizardoi and Beastformers, unaware that they descend from robotic beings.

You will not recognize robots either. They will have evolved into optical light computers and eventually into silica-based life: the Rock Lords.

I shall place these guardians across my landscapes: Boulder. Granite. Magmar. Solitaire. They are adapted to live for billions of years, until the end of the universe. 

And by then, they will know me, the planet they live on, as Rubble the Rock-Lord.
And it shall be so, for billions of years.

--Deathsaurus to Esmeral, "Visions of the End of the Universe"

Chapter Text

A quarter of Castle Destronger had been obliterated, exposed to the forever twilight air of Cybertron.

Deathsaurus stood bracingly, his wings covering his body. His cuts and wounds were being rapidly healed by Creation Matrix. He opened his wings carefully, spoke in a whisper: "Jan? Jan, are you okay?"

Jan Minakaze was completely unharmed. "Wow, yeah...what happened...?"
Deathsaurus said nothing, felt relief bring him down from that forgotten feeling: anxiety.

Esmeral, covered in dust and fallen girders, rose slowly. "I too live. My Lord."

Deathsaurus then turned and surveyed the damage. Leozack and the rest of Liokaiser: scattered and destroyed across the shattered throne. No matter, he thought. They can be revived with the Matrix. The Demon Generals: well, maybe _they_ should stay dead, this time. Only Crumbling Ulchtar was alive, broken into pieces on the ground and laughing to himself deliriously.

"That was no suicide mission," Esmeral said, standing in front of Deathsaurus now. "Something changed in their tactics. You saw Rattrap's face. What happened?"

"I don't know. The beasts are insane."
"You don't know? You didn't see this coming? I thought--"

"You thought incorrectly! I can't see every future! I can't--all that matters is that we live, and the humans are safe."

"Will you not seek peace with the beasts? We could have avoided this slaughter..."
"If I do such a thing, that will legitimize them as a faction. Is that any different from Autobot vs. Decepticon? Do you think of me as a Decepticon?"

"You were, once."
"Before I learned to see the truth." Jan gently patted the side of his head as Deathsaurus continued searching. "Dinobot and Cheetor are missing."

"Should we pursue? My Lord?"
"...No. Look." He walked over to two bodies laying in the corner: Tigatron and Airazor.

He became silent for a while, then began to laugh, and kept laughing.
Esmeral shuddered at the sound. "What...is it, Lord?"

Chapter Text

The Matrix-flame does not burn. It heals...rebuilds...redesigns.

Like a naive Functionist, I wondered about the "point" of my alt mode. It is no disguise. It is a blend of all of my ancestral Dinobots: Swoop's wings, Sludge's neck, etc. Of course, I am more than merely their sum!

But I eventually discovered my ability. You know of "outliers": my ability is _beyond_ the beyond, the aphelion of the darkest star.

In my...dragon form, I breathe the Flame of Life, blue and miraculous. 
I cleansed the world of Megatron first. The Matrix-flame softens the metallic skin, reactivates the malleable sentio metallico. 
You sleep, and you melt. You become undifferentiated living metal, divine clay of the First One that I can reshape.
Even your spark reignites, freed from metal coils of the body. You are rebooted, reloaded. You can leave your old life behind and become the greatness you were meant to be, just as I once did.

The Creation Matrix within me is a holy system--a program that writes other programs. But it is far more than that. 
It creates futures. Those before me who have possessed it know its visions, how they change you.

But you can change them too. The Autobots were too short-sighted to see this, that they could remake our world--even merge with it.

I melted Megatron down into a weaker form, but did not extinguish his spark. As punishment, he was forced to support the archway to my throne room--he has been an "Archforce" for so long that some would never believe what he once was.

Sometimes I even dared to use the Creation Matrix on myself. The infinitely recursive loop that happened was the final liberation of my mind.

It is true: some Decepticons resisted their Reforgings. But change is inevitable for all of us. We are never the same being twice.

--Deathsaurus's "Lectures to Esmeral", upon her refusal to become reforged

Chapter Text

Dinobot awoke painfully. He lay stretched out on a--wooden plank? Repair bay? The temperature was warm, too warm. The scents of the outside air were sealed away--he was inside. He sat up quickly, heavier than he should have been, crashing to the floor.

He looked up and saw Lio Convoy staring down at him, and snarled. "You."

"Welcome, Dinobot," Lio said, his voice tired. 

"Why am I here, feline?"

"Cheetor brought you." Lio reached a hand down to him. "He chose to bring you here instead of his own sister. Deathsaurus considers him a fugitive now. Remember that."

Dinobot waved his hand away, and was surprised that his hand left a small cut on Lio's hand. He looked at his "hand"--more of a collection of sharp claws. "What have you done to me, Maximal?"

Lio couldn't help but chuckle at the old name. "Your master hurt you critically when he shot you. I had to...patch you together."

"GRRRWLLLLL! I have no master! Why do I have a monocle?"

"Tell me what happened to Airazor and Tigatron."
"Go ask Cheetor."
"I want to hear your version, despite everything you've done."

"Just like you 'Convoys'--fighting from your armchairs. The last to know anything. Yes! Get angry!"
"What. Happened. To. Airazor?"
"Go ask her yourself!"

Lio assumed a Razorclaw stance, lion's claws covering his fists. 
Dinobot smiled a rictus grin. "Yes, good! The gall of you Maximals! Talk is useless!" He faced Lio squarely. "Ever since I defeated Optimus Primal and cast him off that bridge, I knew you were all weak!"

Cheetor burst into the room at these words, screaming. Break and Stampy stumbled in, unable to restrain him.

With a green crackle of energy flowing through each hand, Lio pushed Cheetor and Dinobot aside, slamming them against walls. "Everyone--stop!" he said sadly, almost as though embarrassed. Lio's metal skin momentarily turned darker.

"Heh. Hahahaha! Anglomois energy," Dinobot said. "Your bargaining posture is a little less dubious now!"

Chapter Text

Deathsaurus cradled Jan Minakaze as he landed atop a roof in the Terrarium. 

He had designed the settlement to appear like a human village, before the Decepticons came to Earth. He had only a vague idea of what such a village would look like, relying only on memories from Optimus and Rodimus.

Scramble City was a jumble of houses and buildings under the night sky. Even though these humans were partially synthetic and energon-powered, he lost interest in trying to understand them, content with their docile adoration.

"Do I really have to go back?" Jan whined.
"It's not safe right now. You know that."

"But I want to see what you're going to do next!"
Deathsaurus laughed. "I know. You're so brave. Much more than I am...I just want peace."

Jan looked deep into Deathsaurus's optics. "Peace is all I've ever wanted too. All over the planet."

They both gazed into the dark horizon. Dark reflections swam over the distant wilderness.

"I'm going to miss all this," Jan said with a sigh.
"Miss this? What do you mean?" Deathsaurus said, watching a meteor streak across the sky.

The flash of the meteor streaked across Jan's eyes, which shone. He stood up now.
"I've been waiting so, so long for this." He turned his head up towards Deathsaurus with a grin.

The flash of the meteor had not left his eyes--they were burning, like candles.
"Jan!?" Deathsaurus said, reaching for him. "What's wrong?!"

"450 years. Waiting for this. Building up the humans, building myself up--just for this."

Deathsaurus's eyes grew wide. For the first time in hundreds of years, he felt the oil run cold, warm static spreading over his body from head to foot--the deepest fear clawing its way out of him. "No. Please."

Jan slammed his together in an 'X' shape so hard that the arms cracked, shouting: "PRETENDER!" 
Jan's body--no, Deathsaurus thought, not Jan, never Jan--grew into a robot as tall as Deathsaurus, a robot he'd never seen but the eyes, the eyes were the same.

"MEGATRON!" he screamed.

Chapter Text

I cannot be surprised: the Matrix shows me what has been, and there is truly nothing new under the stars.

Most beings are limited by their singular, brief life. One self, projecting weakness and worry to its whole universe, and then those worries and weaknesses manifest as living things, terrors that they call into being, and then recoil from.

In essence, they create a faction within. They go to war with themselves. These inner battles forge their sparks.

Listen to the anguished voices of the Primes and leaders before me:

"I'm changing too quickly. I needed more time. Something's wrong. I didn't see this coming."

This cannot be my voice because I have no doubts. I do not need to invent tribal "love" bonds. You have the choice to escape such self-imposed misery, but you won't do it. Listen!

"The Dinobots can only bring about extinction."

Do you see? Grimlock says that only the Ultimate Dinobot can bring about extinction of the self, annihilate Megatron, and solve the problems that eluded the Autobots and Decepticons for millennia. LISTEN!

"Beware of quasi-truth: more powerful than lies, more believable than truth. And every hero is a quasi-truth."

The Matrix has shown these to me. Why won't you listen? Why won't you heed the call of the oracle I carry within? My mirror-spark, you have reformatted yourself into my likeness. But will you accept that true change can never be suppressed and truly join me, Deathsaurus Who Forges Life?

--Deathsaurus's "Entreaties to a Despairing Esmeral"

"Where, oh where did it all go wrong, 'Deathsaurus'?" Megatron jeered. "Did you really think I would simply hand over my world to you?"

Deathsaurus stood there, shaking his head, muttering, "How did I not see this? Why didn't the Matrix tell me?"

"Like all Autobots and their spawn, you rely too much on visions and ignore the cannon pointed directly at you!" Megatron sneered, his green-and-white tank body glowing from the heat of his burning Pretender shell. "How long have you ruled? 500 years? You fool, Rubble! I ruled for millennia!"

Megatron opened his arms wide. "This has all been a cute tantrum. Once, I allowed Starscream to rule for a thousand years, just to watch him buckle under his own incompetence. Oh, I had such mediocre expectations for you, Rubble, and you've met them all perfectly."

Deathsaurus looked up, his optics flashing red. "How?"

Megatron smiled. "When I saw how Ginrai had preserved Optimus Prime's spark, I made plans. My Sky-Spies, Spacewarp and Skywarp, slowly and daily teleported parts of my body into a synthetic Pretender shell. For hundreds of years you thought that I was 'Archforce' while I planned. Oh, the lesson I have in store for you, young one!"

Deathsaurus stood tall now. "I swore...to everyone, to EVERYONE, that the Decepticons would not return!" Bright blue Matrix energy surged around him. "I killed you once, and I'm much stronger now. I won't leave anything behind this time!"

"No doubt you wouldn't!" Megatron said, laughing. "But you have one more thing to learn: I am not the only Pretender!"

Deathsaurus realized the truth just before Megatron said it. "Each and every synthetic human down there, thousands of them, EACH of them contains a Decepticon inside, and NONE of them know it. And only I can activate them."

Deathsaurus's mouth gaped, as though he'd been punched.

"Yes! The humans you love--are our Decepticon army in disguise, reborn! And together, we can leave this embarrassing philosophy of yours behind us!"

Chapter Text

"Disguise is deception, and deception disguise," Megatron said in an unusually sympathetic voice. "You had no teacher, no good teacher certainly. "You can't simply wish away life's ability to hide itself! Deception is our right!"

Deathsaurus could barely hear him. "What have you done..."

Megatron laughed. "Behold the Ultimate Dinobot! Whimpering after fleshlings! Will you not marvel at Scorponok's ambition: implantation of Decepticon circuitry into synthetic tissue?"

The cleaning fluid under Deathsaurus's optics malfunctioned, dripping blue liquid down his face.

"I have done you a favor. When Ulchtar, the first of rank Starscream, grew too ambitious, I took away his mind. When Straxus grew obsessed with his synthetic children, I took away his daughter. And when I saw your love for these humans...well." Megatron glared at him. "Are...those tears, Rubble? Tears?"

Deathsaurus said nothing, his face hidden by the crest on his forehead.

"You will abolish this foolish court. You will reinstate me as leader. And your precious humans will live. Now, let us return to--"

Megatron turned back to face him--and he was in his monstrous dragon form again, saying, "You killed Jan...!"

"You fool! Do you think Jan was ever real? He was a disguise--just as your existence in this form disguises your weakness!"

Deathsaurus leapt atop Megatron, pinning him to the ground, fire burning behind his eyes. 

"The humans, Rubble--"

"RUBBLE IS DEAD! I ATE HIM! AND NOW--" Deathsaurus plunged his sharp beak into Megatron's chest. He couldn't hear Megatron's scream as teeth lined with Matrix crystal gripped the life-glowing spark, bit down hard and ate what tasted like lightning.

Deathsaurus's skin flickered red and black, like a red ghost.
He looked into the city--did the humans ever truly adore him? Was it all a disguise?
He flew over a city street--humans, all looking up at him, waving. Was it all an act?
He landed and transformed, screaming, powering up--and saying goodbye.

Chapter Text

Lio Convoy's fists painfully crackled with Anglomois energy.
"...On Earth, when we...when Optimus Prime died, we had to make do with another kind of energon. Earth energon, energy coming from Earth itself. Geothermal, radiation from war...all mixed together into 'Anglomois'. I learned to control it, nourished by Earth's soil..."

"Whoa, Big Cat..." Cheetor said, yellow eyes wide.

Look at him, Dinobot thought, stroking his dented jaw. Worked for Deathsaurus, and now suddenly back to the side of "good". And Lio Convoy accepts him back without recompense! Fools!

"I'm afraid to use it this much, this far from Earth..." Lio said. Heinrad patted his leg, looking up at him with worry.

"But--are you gonna get Tigatron and Airazor back? You have to!" Cheetor pleaded. "Who else will lead us?!"

Dinobot's jaw clicked into place. "YOU should lead, Lio."

Lio merely stared. "Dinobot?"

"Do you not descend from the line of Primes? Can you not save the holy Matrix from its profane possession by the Monster? You could change this world!"

"He's right, Big Cat! You can do it! You're the rightful ruler of Cybertron!" Cheetor said.

"Yes...the rightful heir," Dinobot said. "Cybertron must be ruled, must it not?"

Lio looked at his crackling hands. 

Just then, their base shook as if it were gripped by a Titan. Lio screamed out: "Stampy! Damage report!"

"Ahhh Commander Lio, we've been--it's the Monster! He's rampaging in Scramble City!"

"He's attacking defenseless humans!?" Lio said. He clenched his fists. "I will do it. I will take back control of Cybertron! Let's get out there." The other Maximals, including Cheetor once again, cheered him on. He turned and reached out for Dinobot's hand again. "You too. Let bygones be bygones."

Dinobot accepted his hand this time, but kept his smile to himself, considering his own agenda.

Chapter Text

What must I do? How long will the ghost of Megatron hide among us?

What will they make me do, to draw out the poison bubbling in the blood of the planet--of the humans?

I am Nominus Prime. My reign began 12,245 Hadean years ago. I suppressed the Demons beneath the surface--

Quiet!
The future of Cybertron lives on a knife's edge. 
The world needs the clear vision of the Matrix. The Decepticons must stay dead. There can be no future where they exist. If even one human hides a Decepticon spark within...

I am Prima Aleitheia, 134,047 Hadean years old, the Prime of Truth who sees through all lies. The Liege Maximo attacks us on all sides. The wisdom of the Matrix, forged by Solus, blessed by Primus, has failed. The center cannot hold--

QUIET!
I am beset on all sides. 
I tried to make them all see, but they cannot understand.
They live on deceit! Anyone could be in disguise--how can I be sure? The humans must be saved! How can we pay for our crimes against them? 

What have I done to the humans?!

I am Solus Sparkforger.
I am Nexus Aegiax.
No. I am Deathsaurus! 

I've seen the future! It's already become history.
I've seen Tigerbreast and Eaglebreast at my side, destroying enemies of the Matrix.
I've seen Deathsaurus standing victorious, casting pretenders into the rusty dust at the end of all of our lives.

Listen! The voices shout so loudly--for justice, for liberation. Listen! Be quiet! LISTEN!

I must become Cybertron itself. I must become the light that casts all shadows away. How else can I uproot all disguise?
Holy Volcanicus, guide me! Why won't the Matrix tell me the truth?

--Deathsaurus's words to Esmeral, moments before merging with Vector Sigma

Chapter Text

"He's coming for us," Dinoforce Commander Goryu said.

The Dinoforce tossed pebbles back and forth to each other near the shore of Dinobot Island, enclosed in a transparent barrier. Across the Lesser Methane Sea, you could just make out the broken spires of Castle Destronger.

"You say that everyday," Kakuryu said, bumping his head on a fern. "Deathsaurus is just done with us."

"No way! We were his Elite Guard! We're in charge of all the dinobots on this planet!" Goryu protested. "Remember the One Million Days of Peace Party?"

Doryu snored in stegosaurus mode. 

"That was like a hundred years ago, stupid," Kakuryu said. Gairyu had rolled onto his back in ankylosaur form, limbs flailing. Kakuryu rolled him back onto his belly. "There's nothing else to do, except hang out on this island."

"No! There's gotta be more for us to do!" Goryu said, hitting his own palm and wincing. "Why would Deathsaurus forget about us? We're useful!"

A large blue and white dragon flew overhead from across the sea. 
"See??? I told you!" Goryu exclaimed.
The enclosure opened. Escaping air shook the trees and bushes. The dragon landed and transformed into a form that looked like Deathsaurus's, but not quite.

"Q-queen Esmeral!" Goryu stammered, bowing his head. He kicked Doryu, who woke up, and tried to bow in stegosaur form.

"Elite Dinoforce," Esmeral said flatly. 
"How may we serve you, O Cretaceous Queen?"
Esmeral replied while looking back at Castle Destronger. "Do you miss Rubble?"

"Er...uh...well yes," Goryu said, and the other Dinoforce members nervously nodded.

"I see," she said, facing him. "Would you like to help me get him back?"
They huddled together for a long moment.
"The Dinoforce solemnly acknowledges that we don't know what's going on but that we will aid you because we don't have anything else to do," Kakuryu said.

"Idiot!" Goryu said. "You didn't say it right."

"Come with me, back to the castle," Esmeral said, transforming again. "And fly low to the horizon."

Chapter Text

Lio Convoy, Dinobot, and Cheetor ran through the destruction of the Terrarium. There were still humans gathering, fleeing, screaming. Lio wanted to stop and help them; Dinobot ran past them towards the figure standing in the central square--Deathsaurus.

"At last, the 'Convoy' appears," Deathsaurus said, his wings spread wide. "I've seen this moment a hundred times. I have to stop you here to save us all."

"What have you done to the humans!?" Lio roared.

"You don't understand--you don't know what I know. Nor do you deserve to know."

"Fine! Then you must be stopped--" and then both Lio and Deathsaurus spoke in unison--
"NO MATTER THE COST!"

"I see victory and only victory--which means what I'm about to do to you will kill you. Farewell, Maximal..." Deathsaurus flexed his arm. "Till all are done."

His Matrix activation code was spoken. Waves of blue-green Matrix energy radiated from his mind at the speed of light into Lio's circuitry, a hyperware command written in the holy code of Vector Sigma Itself:
////VECTOR SIGMA PROTOCOL ACTIVATE
////DE-CREATION MATRIX: SET SPARK-PULSE-RATE = 0, BRAIN-MODULE-SHUTDOWN = TRUE.
////...
////...ERROR! CANNOT OVERRIDE. 
////...LIO-CONVOY FROM NYX FROM BLUEBOLT FROM STEELJAW FROM OPTIMUS-PRIMAL FROM STEELJAW/RAVAGE BEAST ALLIANCE FROM GINRAI FROM ROLLER/COMBAT-DECK/OPTIMUS-PRIME--

"What!?" Deathsaurus spat.

"You must not know me. Matrix can't destroy Matrix!"

But by then, Lio had already entered Deathsaurus's mind through the mutual uplink: he saw the Five Faces of Destruction, the first five Dinobots who created the Law of Grimlock, he saw the endless oppression of the Decepticon Empire when the very word 'Autobot' had become a slur, and a young Decepticon, barely a child, the Autobots' last hope--

"Rubble?" Lio whispered unconsciously.

Deathsaurus jumped away as if attacked. "No! NO! This isn't--you can't be part of HIM! Why didn't I see--"
He flew away as Eaglebreast and Tigerbreast detached from him--and combined.

"Airazor!" Lio said.
"Tigatron!" Cheetor screamed.
"Both wrong," the figure said, pointing to her chest. "Tigerhawk."

Chapter Text

Cybertron is fallen.

No matter what I do, Cybertron has already become Grand Gilthor, a hideous fusion of Optimus Prime's and Megatron's ambitions.
And none of us can ever truly escape.

The savior cannot arrive.
The center cannot hold.
We are all furious tales and idiot sounds,
And I am their ruler.

We made these symbols, red and purple, and they are more real than our lives.
A society of spectacle, drooling idiots, 

Set on the road to rusty death from the moment of birth.

So I will not give them a new hope.
Instead a new moon,
Empty nothings, to make it all hurt so much less.

The Matrix shows me Optimus with slumped shoulders and angst, hunched over, crestfallen.
Rodimus, with the infinite burden to bear.
They were trying to tell me.

I could only see what the Matrix showed me, but it hid the ultimate truth:
Memories are a cage.

My final vision: Cybertron must be restarted.
Goodbye.

--Esmeral's log of the transition to Grand Deathsaurus

The last confessions of Optimus Prime, from within the Matrix, ignored by Deathsaurus:

We tried everything to repulse the Decepticons:
We tried diplomacy, and we failed.
We tried ceasefires, and we failed.
We tried assassinations, and we failed.

In the end, we tried Grimlock.

Once unleashed, the Dinobots could not be stopped. It was a prayer for extinction, and the Gods of Extinction heard our plea.
I could not allow Megatron to spread across the cosmos as he had spread to Earth. Extinction was the only way.

I could not ask the humans to forgive my failures, to bear the cause of sacrifice.
I chose for them.

I could not stop Grimlock or Megatron in the end, when I lost my first body.

The only thing that could stop the Dinobots was another Dinobot.

Originally they were seven: Grimlock, Slug, Snarl, Sludge, Swoop, Slash, and Slice.
And Slice betrayed them.

She changed her name and her form--to Drift, and her plans were long and slow, like continental drift.

When she betrayed Rodimus, the remaining Autobots hid, and through Ginrai, I swore to never raise the Dinobots again.

I failed in my vow, Rubble.
And I failed you.

Chapter Text

Lio Convoy sensed the surging energies within Tigerhawk, exponentially increasing as clouds began to swirl over her head.

"Cheetor, Dinobot," Lio shouted over the summoning storm, "we have to act now. In about one minute, she'll have accessed the forbidden data within the Matrix--not just 'Strength', 'Skill', and 'Intelligence', but 'Underbase' and 'Overbase', the Multiforce-Titan, even the secret computer 'Vector Omega' which can see the future..."

"What!?" Cheetor gasped. "What do we do!?"

"Who's faster than the fastest?" Lio pointed to her in the sky. "Right at her midsection. That's where she's Powerlinxed together." 

"I CAN STEP SIDEWAYS IN TIME!" Tigerhawk screamed. "I CAN ADD A FLAW TO YOUR SPARK AND CHOOSE THE EXACT MOMENT YOU DIE! IN FACT--"

"Now, Cheetor!"
Cheetor jumped onto Lio's arms, who hurled him like a fastball at Tigerhawk. 
Even Cheetor's optics were fast beyond measure. As he was mid-flight, he telescopically scanned for hundreds of millions of regions on Tigerhawk--until he found it, an almost-invisible seam, microns thick.

Arm blades jutted from his shoulders, and he cut her perfectly across the waist.
He landed as Tigatron and Airazor separated and fell to the ground, confused about their new shapes.
"Big Cat!! Did you see that--"

But Lio's body had turned grey, crumpled into a fetal position. Over and over, he whispered, "Hungry...so, so hungry..."

"What's going on?!" He turned around to search for help. "Dinobot--?"
But Dinobot was nowhere to be found.

Lio Convoy clutched his chest. "Dinobot...perfect attack. Spark chamber, breached...using up all my energon to keep spark from detaching...need to heal, need the cool soil of Earth...so hungry..."

"Big Cat!!" Cheetor said, kneeling over him. "I'll get him--I'll kill Dinobot for this!"

"N-no," Lio said weakly. "Nothing changes that way...we have to change...we..."

"Father, what can we do?!" Airazor said, rushing to his side.
"I've done enough...up to you...stop him...saw what he's planning to do...stop..."

Tigatron stood back. "This is all YOUR fault, Lio!" she said through gritted teeth. "Did the Matrix tell you this was going to happen? You knew it all along, didn't you?!"

"Had to...reawaken her...my little hatchling, my blue phoenix, Bluebolt..."

"Shut up!" Tigatron screamed. "This isn't fair Big Cat!! You can't sacrifice us like that!"

"We build our children and send them to war. We play chess and become pawns," he said, his optics glowing blue.

"I won't let anyone's sacrifice be in vain," Airazor said, looking at her blue metallic skin, lightly humming with Matrix energy. "We can draw out the poison in the Monster."

"NO!" Tigatron said. "He dies--tonight. It's been night for five hundred years! For every animal and human, we have to absolutely destroy him!"

Lio tried to tell them about what he had seen in Deathsaurus's mind, the visions of a furious Rubble, but could no longer speak. He was in a state between life and death--a Schrodinger's lion.

"I'll stay with him!" Cheetor said. "Please...save Cybertron! You're the chosen ones!"

Airazor looked at her hands. "Yes...yes. I hear the voices. The rightful heirs...come, Tigatron."
They recombined into Tigerhawk, and with the gale force of a hurricane propelling them, darted towards Deathsaurus's castle.

Chapter Text

Deathsaurus pressed his hands against the ancient controls of the plasma energy chamber at the core of Cybertron. He issued one-way instructions: final upload. Overwrite Cybertron's operating systems, and replace them with his own.

Grand Deathsaurus Version Infinity.

He pressed his palms to conduits. Blue energy surged into the chamber, and the room rumbled.

Esmeral entered, no longer blinded by the vast energies.
"My Queen," he said without turning around.

"What have you done to the humans?"
"I did what must be done."
"Where is Jan Minakaze?"
"I DID WHAT MUST BE DONE."

He could not see her sad optics. "Please...we can still stop all this."
The energy surged a little more slowly, and his shoulders slumped.
"I know you want to protect us," she said over the loud crackling energy, "But this? You can still beat someone to death with a shield! Our--our family is stronger than that!"

"It's too late, Esmeral. Not even I can stop what's coming. I can TASTE the future, it's so close. I warned you about love and other delusions before. The new Cybertron, about to be born...that is our child! No more division, no more limited perspectives..."

"You won't turn back?"
He began to mutter prayers, and she heard them, and knew the answer.
"Goodbye," he said.
"Goodbye," she said.

For hundreds of years, she watched--only she knew he was vulnerable just as the Matrix was depleted, before it began to replenish itself. She made a small hand signal.

The chamber exploded.
Behind it, a supercharged bot, twice Deathsaurus's height, full of all the energy deposited by him, grabbed him and slammed him into the ground, crushing a wing and sending the Matrix clattering away. He said:

"COME BACK, RUBBLE! KING DINOKING COMMANDS!"

Chapter Text

The Matrix-charged Dinoking slammed Deathsaurus back and forth like a ragdoll. The force of his blows was so great that Deathsaurus's body almost couldn't heal fast enough to compensate.

He felt pain--that was an understatement. It was a pain so great that it felt distant and haunting, greater than his circuits could register, that would take years to fully experience.

Dinoking tried to pull him apart, shouting "WHERE IS RUBBLE? IS RUBBLE IN HERE?!"
Deathsaurus was supine on the ground, frozen in agony, but saw Esmeral standing nearby, unable to watch.

"Traitor," he said--or thought he said.
The voices of the Matrix within him were in an uproar: rage, fear, frustration, cruelty, urging him to fight back. He could sense Optimus Prime within him trying to calm them all, but they could not be silenced:

"I am Nova Prime! This will not stand--"
"We deserve this! We deserve this," Codexa-Archon said.

He was so close--Grand Deathsaurus just a second away--his consciousness almost uploaded.
What was all this for, he thought. Ginrai, Jan, Megatron, Gears--Thundercracker?
Thundercracker!

Somehow he stood, emitting a spherical surge of Matrix energy at Dinoking, flinging the combiner against the wall of the Plasma Energy Chamber.

"Traitors," Deathsaurus said. "Traitors! I told you the future is clear--the king of the Dinobots, the Ultimate Dinobot...the Matrix-God! I am all these things! The future is almost saved!"

"NO RUBBLE?" Dinoking said, trying to sit up.
"Rubble is dead!" Deathsaurus said.

"K. GOODBYE, THEN." And he looked up.
Deathsaurus felt something sharp cut him along his back--the sharp edge of a transmetal tulwar.

Dinobot.
Deathsaurus fell to one knee as the Matrix fell from its halo over his head.

Dinobot picked up the Matrix, held it overhead.
His body shook as he tried to pull it apart. Green energy surged in his optics.
With all the energy of his spark crystal, he fired optic beams at it.
The Matrix shattered.

The voices within were silent.

Chapter Text

No longer being healed by the Matrix, Deathsaurus collapsed under his own weight. He saw Dinobot standing above him, and Esmeral in the distance, her wings hugging her body. 

But his future-sight, now a tunnel vision, gave him one last image:
The great walls of Iacon, golden and perfect, sealed off from him forever, Optimus walking away looking back sadly over his shoulder, the shield wall of Iacon guarded by Grimlock and a burning sword.

"Shall I end it for you?" Grimlock said without malice.

I thought there would be more time, Deathsaurus thought. I cannot bear the weight of billions of years vanishing into zero.

"He's near death," Esmeral said. "His terror is almost over."
"BUT I THOUGHT RUBBLE WAS INSIDE!" Dinoking exclaimed. "YOU PROMISED, QUEEN ESMERAL!"
"You were deceived."
"BUT NOW HE'S DEAD!!"
"Deathsaurus is dead. But..."

Esmeral took out a Decepticon badge and placed it over her chest. "...Queen Deathsaurus lives."

Dinobot held his sword at the ready. "And may her reign be brief!"

Deathsaurus cough-laughed, stumbling to his feet. Useless wings fell off, along with his left arm.  Esmeral, Dinobot, and Dinoking stepped back in shock.
"Told you. Told you all! You brought empire back into the world. Faction, division...you couldn't let go of your identities. A whole world of fools...and I am their king!"

"Why won't you just die?" Dinobot asked.
"You did what I could not," Deathsaurus sputtered. "Free from history. Free from the Matrix. But now comes the line of Deathsauri. I was a fool!"

His vision became hazy. He could still see pinprick-sparks of the future: the King of Dinobots, the Ultimate Dinobot, the Matrix-God...

The Matrix was showing him the future.
He realized he was not a part of it.

He heard a sonic boom, felt the shockwave strike him, and the voice of an angry goddess--Bluebolt? No--

Tigerhawk.

He heard her shriek, and the last thing he felt was lightning and storm winds and a wrathful atmosphere crash upon him.

Chapter Text

Deathsaurus had a strange dream.
He woke up, free from the weight he carried and was Rubble again.
The throne room was empty, and he lay on the ground, looking up at the night sky.

Out of the corner of his optics, he saw someone: a short red and blue bot. He tried to turn his head to see the bot, but he could never quite catch sight of him, only seeing his rusty shoulders and deflated tires.

But he could never forget that voice. It sounded like grinding metal and plastic, as he did all those years ago. 
It belonged to Gears.

"Hehehehe! What a terrible mess you've made, brat!"
"Gears...did you see? I tried..."

"Pfft! All you did was create more factions! New lines of history!"
"I failed the humans...failed to stop the Decepticons..."

"Yep. You royally screwed up. In a hurry, too! But who doesn't, you know?"
"You...sound familiar. Crumbling Ulchtar...is that you?"

"Hehehe you think I'm Ulchtar? Your mind really is about to go, eh?"
"What do I do now? I can't feel anything...am I dying?"

"'Fraid so. You got about...oh, 40 seconds left."
"I see now, everything I missed. It's so obvious. I wish I--"

"What did you realize?" Gears asked.
Deathsaurus intended to say many things, but his vocal circuits entered final stasis, and he mumbled gibberish sounds.

Gears laughed. "So you've accepted it. After all this time! With 10 seconds to go! I'm proud of you! Savor the end like a true Dinobot. Savor that rare truth that is beyond words and actions."

In the final one-thousandth of a second of his life, he saw Cybertron's north and south poles, wildly orbiting each other in a metal dance, and he understood what he could never find the words to say.

It was enough. It was gone, and forgotten.

Chapter Text

Tigerhawk stood over Deathsaurus's body, and spun around to face Esmeral and Dinobot. "Just two more to go!"

Esmeral held up her palms calmly. "Let's not be hasty." Dinobot grinned at them both.

"You!" Tigerhawk shouted. "You killed our--our Lio Convoy!"

Dinobot sneered. "And it awakened the beast within. You should be thanking me! Careful now! With the Monster dead, who do you think the Dinobots out there will follow? Surely not you! Do you really want to go up against all of us?"

"It's only a matter of time before the Matrixforce recovers. Do either of you want to face Liokaiser, unhinged now that their father has died?" Esmeral pleaded. "My husband is dead. His ambitions are buried. Let there be a cease-fire between all of us."

"No!" Tigerhawk countered. "The Maximals--we've been oppressed enough! The Matrix energy through Bluebolt--through me--gives me the right to rule Cybertron!"

"So a stalemate, eh?" Dinobot mused. "Wait...do you hear that?"

Crumbling Ulchtar lay on the ground near Deathsaurus's body, half-dead himself as always, mumbling something to the dead body and chuckling unevenly.

"Ignore him," Esmeral said. "Cybertron is free today. Tomorrow we can argue and carve up the world. But today, let there be respect."

"We are the daughters of the Matrix!" Tigerhawk said. "Bluebolt is the queen chosen by the Matrix to lead Cybertron to peace!"
"Liokaiser would disagree," Esmeral spat back.

"Hold your scorn in reserve for another day," Dinobot said. "For now, the throne remains empty. But I agree with Esmeral--let there be peace today!"

Decepticon, Dinobot, and reluctant Maximal swore to seek peace in that moment, placing their palms and claws over the body of badgeless Deathsaurus--an event later known as year zero of the Pax Cybertronia.

Chapter Text

Grand Deathsaurus was stopped at the onset--but a small sliver of his consciousness was uploaded into Cybertron. Hundreds of levels beneath normal robot consciousness, Cybertron was aware.

Hundreds of factions radiated from that moment of peace. 
The new planetary capital was founded around Tigerhawk's peace--Tyger Pax.

But Tigerhawk had no peace, and swore that the Monster could never return. The planet sensed all the extreme decisions she was forced to make.

It had once scanned a lost letter from Lio Convoy to Airazor, and reshaped its terrain so that she would happen across it one day, only acting out of a dim awareness that it should help the beings on its surface.

The name Cybertron was eventually forgotten. The rock-lords on its surface called the world "Rubble". 
It could not remember the significance of that name.

It knew that Lio Convoy was buried deep in its circuit soil.
Nourished by it, by the dark amber beneath the decaying Botanica.

Eventually he found his way to the surface.
Eventually Bluebolt rushed to meet him.

It was aware of their joyful reunion. It could not form new memories or record history, only existing in the "now" for billions of years.

And eventually, even that now-ness became extinct.
And so after billions of years, he finally changed.