Skylynx:

“ Primus.”
Roadbuster uttered the word, feeling nothing else needed to be said. Scattorshot and the Technobots gathered at the monitor, as did other Autobots across Skylynx’s hallways and corridors as he displayed an image of the planet they sought; Gobotron. Prime couldn’t speak. The planet looked incomplete, a single worn sphere in its center, two partially built half-spheres connected to it on opposite sides.
“Looks like an apple core.” Jazz whispered, unable to take his eyes off the sight. As they neared, the anomaly became more apparent. A golden ring of alien design encircled the center sphere, connected by two intersecting spikes. The metal was studded with various silver bulbs that flashed an erratic red and yellow pattern as they siphoned off energy and fed it directly to Unicron. And then there were the horns. A pair of demonic, golden curves jutted from the upper half of the planet, a mocking replica of Unicron’s pincers.
“He’s here,” Skylynx croaked, unable to gather his usual educated vocabulary, “He’s really here…in there.”
Elita-1 was speechless, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the monstrosity. This was the GoBots’ world, twisted and corrupted by the demonic beast that took it over. Nothing could ever justify what they had done… but for a moment, Elita wondered what they would have done had this been Cybertron’s fate. She looked up at Prime, who was silent a moment, then tapped a button beneath the monitor. “All Autobots to the hangar.”

******************
Guardian:

“He played me!” Leader-1 stood up, eyes sweeping across the room of Guardians. He felt like he’d been gone for hours, but only a moment had passed. “He played me like the fool I am!” He stared at them, there were more in the bridge now, most of the Guardians clogged the normally expansive area, waiting.
“Guardians!” leader-1’s voice carried across the room, Guardian took the liberty of channeling his audio to Sentry, who broadcast it to the Guardians aboard himself.
“I know we have been through a lot, but now is the time to reclaim what we’ve lost! This war has been a horror, but a necessary one! We needed it.” He raised the matrix above his head for all to see. He closed his eyes, searching for a hint of Unicron, thinking the most outrageous thoughts that would doubtlessly warrant his attention. And he could feel him, a burning green lining across his thoughts, but he could not come in, would not chance entering Leader-1’s mind in fear of the matrix’s power. He could feel the sinister taint crawling across the protective veil cast by the Autobot’s symbol of leadership, an aura of wisdom cast naturally by the artifact, it was a wide area of effect, shutting Unicron out of the Guardians minds.
“It’s time you knew the truth, all of you!”
Guardian and Sentry touched down on the surface of Gobotropolis.

****************
Skylynx:

Optimus Prime stood before the Autobots, they stared at him with rapt attention.
“Skylynx has informed me that the Command Centers have landed, and soon, so will we.” He took a deep breath. “This is it Autobots, this is the moment that decides our future. The plan is simple; find Leader-1.” He punched a fist into his hand, “We hit them hard and fast, root Leader-1 out. He has the matrix, the only means we have of putting an end to this conflict once and for all. Do not make the mistake of underestimating him; if you locate him, you call me. Do not engage. Is that understood?”
“Yes commander!”
Prime pointed to the Dinobots. “Grimlock is alive, but currently in the hands of the Renegades. That doesn’t bode well-for them. Dinobots, find him, and flatten anything in your path. You’re search will also double as our first wave of attack.”
Slag stood with the hint of a smile, taking the lead towards a door slowly opening. Gobotron’s alien landscape rolled beneath them. He stomped forward, followed by the rest of the Dinobots, and leapt free.
“Skylynx, prepare to land, Autobots, prepare to roll out!”
_________________________

Slag landed with a loud thud on Gobotron’s metal ground and began to run. He heard Sludge and Snarl land as he charged the nearest structure, a long metal spire stretching into the sky, smashed through it and took only a moment to watch it fall before charging a ball of flame in his throat. He roared, unleashing a wave of fire across the land, melting large veins of metal into bubbling pools. Swoop soared overhead, launching missiles into the nearby buildings.
“Grimlock!” Slag roared, “Where you be?! You missing all the fun!”
_______________________

Optimus Prime leapt from Skylynx the second he landed, the rest of the Autobots followed. They stood before him a moment, looking about the strange city and saw GoBots in the sky, racing across the ground, leaping from building to building. There was an automated look to their actions, a hint of a patterned movement between groups.
“What are they doing?” Jazz was having a hard time taking it all in, expectin to be fired upon the moment they arrived. The GoBots, it seemed, hadn’t even noticed they arrived. They simply kept doing what they were doing as if they were on auto-pilot.

****************
Space:

Galvatron screamed, enraged as the alien planet of Gobotron loomed closer. He wrapped his hands around Blane’s throat and tried to crush it, heedless of Blane’s own glowing hands wrapped around his neck. They ripped through the air like a comet, a glaring light that caught the attention of various GoBots still performing their tasks upon the surface of Gobotroplois.
“What is that?” Tork rolled to a stop, his gauges going wild as he tried to lock onto the levels of energy being given off by the oncoming object. It soared overhead, the wind of its passing pulling strips of melting metal from nearby buildings.

They struck the ground with a staggering earthquake and sent cracks racing away from the point of impact. The ground flashed red, then yellow with heat and began to sink, the nearby cooler areas cracking, then crumbling inward. Nearby buildings bean to shift on their now uneven foundations, tilting to the side, then collapsing across the gaping hole in the planet’s center, crashing into others that shared their fate, melting into an abstract scab across the hole. Galvatron and Blane fell into the darkness, both still bellowing at the top of their audio at one another as they unleashed blast after blast of raw energy. The fiery inferno below awaited.

****************
Gobotropolis:

Leader-1 landed beside Turbo and SmallFoot, receiving excited communication from various GoBots faster than he expected.
“Leader-1! You’re back!
“What’s happened, are we any closer to-”
“Leader-1, do we continue as we were?”
“Attention all Guardians,” Leader-1 prayed for this to come together, it had to. “ Proceed to the nearest spire and charge your internal energy supplies. The Autobots have followed us. If your area comes under attack, pull back and retreat. Do not return fire.”
“But Leader-1!”
“I repeat, do not engage! That’s an order!” He looked towards Turbo, SmallFoot and Scooter.
“You three get going.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, just go.”
“Leader-1!” Turbo held back, his brow knitted, “We ain’t leavin’ ya to fight Prime again!”
“You’ve trusted me so far, and now you know why this is happening. Please, I need you by the spires more than I need you here.”
Turbo took a step back, still hesitant. SmallFoot stayed beside him. Leader-1 tried to smile, “Hey, I haven’t brought us this far to have it all got to pot now.” He patted SmallFoot’s arm and nodded towards the spire. “I know what I’m doing, now go.”
They took a few steps away, watching Leader-1 a moment before turning and heading towards a nearby spire. Leader-1 looked towards the horizon line. He could hear the roars of the massive dinobots, could see one spire after another tremble and begin to fall into the land. It was an acceptable loss, there were too many for them to do any significant damage. And after what he had done to their city, weren’t they entitled to some destruction of their own? Then he heard it, the unmistakable rumble of an engine. Thick and powerful, a guttural snarl beneath the sound. Prime. Leader-1 stood alone, waiting for him to approach.

****************
???????????????:

Unicron’s roar sent chills through Zeemon despite their now equal size. The various cells of energy glowed behind Zeemon, he braced himself and received Unicron’s full impact, screaming as pain ripped across every inch of his body. Unicron clasped his clawed hand around Zeemon’s throat and hoisted him off his feet, swinging him overhead and crashing into an invisible ground that shattered upon impact. Zeemon saw Unicron turn back to the cells and struggled to his feet, lunging at Unicron from behind and dropping an elbow on his shoulder. Unicron stumbled forward a step, reached back, and clutched a hand over Zeemon’s head.
“Foolish GoBot. All this power, and you still have no idea what to do with it.” He slung him over his shoulder and smashed him into more glass-like material. Zeemon saw cracks reach across his visor, and felt something wet dripping from his body. He raised a hand to his head, it came back covered in red liquid. It dripped and spattered against the black ground in puddles. Then became a trickle, pooling into a large puddle as Unicron grabbed him by his head once more and lifted him, his claw digging into his metal with a creak. Zeemon flailed, feeling himself growing weaker, realizing that this battle was not just physical, it was about willpower. He grimaced, reaching his hands across Unicron’s and grasping firmly. A blaring white light lit behind Zeemon’s visor, and he unleashed a wide beam of quantumite energy that slammed into Unicron’s shoulder and threatened to tear through. Unicron growled and threw Zeemon free, white smoke curling from the wound. Zeemon rolled into a crouch, ready to show Unicron the will of someone who chose not to use his vast power to enslave and torture, when he notice the smoke coming from Unicron’s wound suddenly stop moving. It was as if it was frozen in time, then rewound, crawling backwards and into Unicron’s wound-which then healed with a brief crackle of white energy. Unicron laughed.
“You try to defeat power, with power. Such a ignorance. ”
Zeemon felt sick. Unicron was absorbing the quantumite. What chance did he have if he couldn’t use energy against him? Unicron laughed, advancing.

****************
Core of Gobotropolis:

Galvatron and Blane exploded through the roof of Unicron’s chambers, slammed into the ground with a bright orange explosion, and continued their battle as if there had been no pause. Neither took notice of the monstrous form of Unicron resting upon his throne, the web of cables dripping from the ceiling and fixed into his back and arms. He appeared lifeless, lost in his own head as he dealt with Zeemon within his own psyche.

Blane grabbed Galvatron’s arm and smashed him into the wall, receiving an elbow in his midsection in response. Galvatron roared and fired his cannon, it barely missed Blane and tore through the opposite wall, leaving a ridges, glowing hole behind. Blane’s eyes were blaring yellow slits, he clenched his fists and ran at the Decepticon as Galvatron did the same. In the darkness, there came a sudden flash of crimson and emerald metal.
“ENOUGH! ”
A titanic clawed hand slammed into the ground between Galvatron and Blane, separating the two of them. It was only the momentary surprise that kept them from continuing their fight. They looked up and beheld Unicron’s new body, it large expanses of red metal clashed with his smooth, faceless black mask. But it was clear as he stood, raising himself to his full, mountainous height, that he was staring directly at the both of them. A curtain of green light filled the rift he had created between Galvatron and Blane to keep them apart.
Blane crossed his arms, “Heh, love the look, head man.” He pointed to Galvatron, “Now, if you’d just lemme get back t’business…”
“Unicron! Galvatron bellowed, his anger radiating, “You dare try to replace me with this… pitiful excuse of a machine!”
Unicron stared down at Galvatron.
“You speak this way to me, when you know I could destroy you with but a thought? ”
Galvatron’s voice was thick, composed, nothing like the raving lunatic he had become during his fight with Blane. He almost smiled to himself, the reacquisition of his true self had merged all the aspects of his personality. The true warrior within was now one with the cunning strategist he had once been. It was a welcome change, one he aimed to keep.
“That's right Unicron, you could destroy me... but you don't want to.”
Unicron said nothing, ignoring the wild look he was receiving from Blane. Galvatron continued.
“I know you only enslaved these... GoBots, because you had no choice. Why else would you send them to Cybertron instead of being content with their pitiful little world?”
Blane’s uttered a gutteral snarl, “I know you ain’t buying this, Headman!”
Unicron remained silent, there was so much going on, the entire planet was giving him a terrible headache with their contant static, and now the matrix was here, making it harder to function. Zeemon continued to be a nuisance, trying to draw him away from the one place in his mind he actually wanted to be.
"Unicron,” Blane shouted, “’the hell man?! Just point y’finger and make him go ‘boom’!!"
“Silence!" he looked from Blane towards Galvatron. "Are you suggesting an… alternative?”
“Yes. You and I have always had the same goals-power. I offer you my servitude once more, and the Decepticons. But I will not be second to this upstart.” He pointed to Blane, who snarled at him. Galvatron hoped Unicron was in the position he imagined. If he truly had settled for using Blane and the Renegades because he had no choice, then he would be quick to discard him in favor of the one he had personally chosen in the past. He, of course, had no intentions of serving Unicron, but if he could get him to wipe out both Blane and the Renegades in one fell swoop, all the better. And he could sense Unicron’s desire, a longing for something familiar. This alien world, this, Gobotron, was a strange, unfamiliar place. He was accustomed to devouring worlds, not residing within them. This planet’s people were similar to the Transformer, but they were not the same. And despite the dark god being of such incalculable power, even he longed for the familiar if it was available. Galvatron could sense it, and it would be Unicron’s downfall if he could find a way to exploit it.
“I do not suffer treachery twice Galvatron. If you truly wish to rule as my servant, if you want my favor- earn it. Kill Blane in combat. ”
Blane’s eyes went wide. "Are you shloggin me?!" his teeth gnashed together, he thrust a finger at Unicron "FRACK YOU, you ungrateful dump-plug! I kicked Cyberton’s trashplate for you!”
“BLANE!" Unicron's voice thundered in the underground cavern, "Kill Galvatron, and you prove your worth to me- you will never have to again. "
Blane turned to Galvatron, fists tightly clenched radiating power. He began to pace back and forth like a caged lion. Galvatron did the same.
"I already put yer face in th’ ground twice, this time I snuff you out."
"The Decepticon you fought on Earth and Cybertron was a pitiful shadow of what stands before you now. Now you face Galvatron, the Emperor of Destruction!"
Blane’s eyes locked on Galvatron. He laced his fingers together, cracking the gears in the joints as he rolled his glowing hands around, then snapped his head to the left and right, eliciting a loud pop from each side. He glowered at Galvatron, who stood, eyes ablaze, waiting.
The curtain vanished and Galvatron and Blane took off towards each other, striking simultaneously. The explosion of power flashed off Unicron, who watched with rapt interest.

****************
Gobotropolis:

“What’s the deal Prime?!” Jazz took aim at a trio of GoBots standing beside one of the numerous spikes of metal reaching from Gobotropolis landscape. They drew back, but didn’t run until Jazz made his way towards them, shifting into their alternate modes and retreating. “They’re just scattering!”
Roadbuster transformed into robot mode and tried to grasp at a small yellow and black Guardian. He missed, the short bot spun into a small compact racing cycle and sped away. “Slaggit!” He growled, punching the ground in frustration. “They couldn’t throw hands fast enough on Earth, what’s the problem?!”
________________

Prime rolled forward, making his way across the Gobotronian stretch of metal road leading towards Guardian and Sentry. They stood in their transport forms, but much to Prime’s surprise, were not moving to engage. Then he saw him; Leader-1 stood alone, the matrix in his right hand.
Optimus practically lunged out of his truck form, his robot mode slammed into the ground and he tore towards Leader-1. He could see the matrix in his hand, it fueled his anger. He raised his cannon and heard Leader-1 shout
“WAIT!”
Was he kidding? Prime fired a blast aimed at the Guardian’s chest, his anger doubling when Leader-1 whipped his hand out and countered the blast with a burst of energy from his fingers. The explosion blew debris in every direction.
“WAIT!” it came again, PLEASE!” The smoke blew away from Leader-1 and Prime continued forward, his feet pounding the ground with hard thuds. He aimed to fire again and Leader-1 shot the weapon from his hand. “We have to talk, you have to listen!”
Prime’s fury erupted, “LISTEN?! TO YOU?!” He leapt at Leader-1, his right hand flared with energy and became a flash of light that stretched and remolded itself into a large, cruel-looking axe. He swung it at Leader-1 as he completed his descent, an explosion of energy followed.
Prime was momentarily blinded. Vision returned, but the buzzing sounds of power still surrounded him. He saw Leader-1 directly in front of him, his back smashed against the wall of a building, his hand outstretched and shaking. Optimus tried to move, but couldn’t. He realized his upper body and arm were trapped, partially pushed through a thick force field thrown up by Leader-1. The strain on him looked unbearable, the GoBot’s teeth clenched and he tried to pull himself forward. A continuous burst of ragged energy poured from the axe’s connection point, it dug deep into the force field, cracks ran along the concentrated energy.
“The time for talk ended a long time ago Leader-1!” he pushed forward, intent on getting his hands on the Guardian. But he was vulnerable, if Leader-1 wanted to, he could close the force field and cut him in two. He still had a hand free, if he decided to close cover Prime’s face and fire…
“Why aren’t you fighting?!” Prime shouted.
“Because I don’t want to fight you!” Leader-1 shouted back, “I never did!”
“LIES!” Prime almost screamed. His eyes were tight with fury, if he could just get his hands on Leader-1… “You deceived us from the start, you shot me in the back and destroyed Iacon! ”
“I didn’t want to, please-”
“The PITT you didn’t! You blindsided us!”
“Yes! We attacked your city, did as much damage as we could because I needed you to think we were insane, I needed you to feel betrayed and angry enough to not be satisfied with just staving off an attack. I needed you mad enough to come after us!”
Prime stared at him, incredulous “We offered to HELP you!”
“And do you know what would have happened if I accepted?” he waved his hand slightly towards the Guardians. “He would have destroyed them ALL! Driven them insane and tore them apart from the inside out! Every. Last. One of them!” He saw the flicker of confusion on Prime’s face.
“He was in my mind, in my head, monitoring everything I did.” He scowled, “watching me like a bug in a jar!” he nodded towards the city, “A tiny piece of him is in all of us, I could feel it, and it makes me sick! But it’s all he needs to tear us apart. Before I left, I pulled every Guardian aside and gave them a specific task, something small, hoping all the constant activity would keep Unicron occupied enough to give me time to act. I told them to clear their minds, recite simple math and algorithms if they became restless. Give him nothing, I told them. If he had nothing else to use against us, that left less to worry about. I hoped it would create a mental static that would keep Unicron from discovering what I was planning. I was lucky, I think it did.” He indicated the various metal spires, “These spires, along with his ring, were acting as power siphons, but I had everyone work together without knowing it. No one knew what anyone else was doing. But together, they’ve reversed their functions and altered the spires to only accept our energy, not his. If worse came to worse, that would be our last stand-again.”
“What was the point of going to Earth? Why not just run to Gobotron if you knew we’d follow?!”
“BECAUSE WE NEEDED THIS!!” He shook the matrix angrily, “And we needed YOU!” Do you really think Unicron would have allowed it or you to get NEAR Gobotron together unless he thought there was no threat connected to either?! I had to make him think I disarmed you, that I was going to let you come here so we could finish you off!” he looked insulted by his own words. “But that was never going to happen, we’re Guardians dammit, we don’t DO that!”
Prime stared unbelieving at Leader-1, “It makes no sense, it doesn’t-” he paused, his voice trailing off. He felt sick all over again. It made perfect sense. Feign obedience, strike back when the time was right. He thought back to their first encounter on Cybertron, Leader-1’s words after Prime swore to do everything in their power to help. The moment before Leader-1 shot him in the back…
“Too bad it won’t be enough”
It wouldn’t have been enough. They couldn’t simply join forces and launch an attack against Unicron, the tiny seeds of himself tainting the GoBots would have been used to destroy them. If they had, Unicron would have known, and prepared accordingly. Prime’s thoughts jumped to their first battle on Iacon.
“It’s about giving him what he wants”
Prime’s head began to hurt. “Giving Unicron what he wants…”
“What Unicron wanted to see, us attacking you.” Leader-1 whispered, “It had to be done to keep him from suspecting something.”
Prime’s mind raced to their battle on Earth, the exchange seemed so nonsensical then.
“I told you before, you’re the choice I made.”
“What does that mean?! ”
Prime’s thoughts swirled the words around in his head. Everything was so contradictory, but at this point, what did Leader-1 have to lie about?.
“And the Renegades?”
“Wildcards, all of them. I sent Blane after Galvatron because I knew the Renegades and Decepticons would fight each other to a stalemate. I know neither side has any qualms about taking a life, I wanted to keep the Renegades away from your Autobots, and my Guardians away from the Decepticons.” He took deep, shuddering breath, “I heard about the crew on your cargo ship, I cannot tell you how sorry I am that-”
“Don’t you dare talk about them!” Prime growled, his eyes blazing.
“I did want to work with you and the Autobots,” Leader-1 looked haggard, maintaining the force field was draining him, “But Unicron couldn’t know.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that because you’re telling me now?!” Prime’s anger surged again. It was a good story, too good. What was really the truth anymore? How could he know whether or not Leader-1 was being sincere, or if this was just another attempt to buy time for Unicron. “For all I know this is just another tactic to keep me from stopping you.”
“Then KILL me!” Leader-1 dropped his field without warning, and Prime raced forward and smashed his fist into the side of Leader-1’s head, driving him into the wall and sending a thick crack into the structure. His fingers clenched around Leader-1’s neck, and he pulled him forward the slightest bit, his free hand curled and ready to fly again. He expected the fight to be on, prepared himself for the inevitable retaliatory strike, but none came. Leader-1’s arms hung at his sides.
“For what I’ve done…” he managed, “I deserve to die a terrible death, but at least now you’re here, on Gobotron…” he raised the matrix towards Prime with a shaking hand, “This is yours. Take it! I never wanted it, but once we got you to follow us from Cybertron to Earth, I needed to make sure that you’d follow us here. Especially you.” His eyes locked with Prime’s, “I needed YOU on Gobotron, you’re the only one who can use this.”
Prime still couldn’t bring himself to let go of the Guardian’s throat, the impulse to beat him into oblivion was still fresh in his mind.
"You made some rotten decisions Leader-1. There's always another way."
"I’ve been searching for the perfect answer since Unicron first appeared. What would you have done?”
Optimus felt taken aback by the bluntness of the question. He couldn’t speak.

**************
The Core of Gobotropolis:

Blane swung a vicious right hand and felt it smash against Galvatron’s chest, the concussive blast sent Gavatron through the air. He transformed into his cannon as he fell, landing with a loud clang, his generator already charged. A brilliant flash of energy exploded from his cannon. Blane raced forward and shifted into his motorcycle form and spun into a loud skid, tilting himself on an angle that almost placed him horizontal as the blast thundered overhead. He screeched towards Galvatron, who transformed and leapt, colliding with the cycle. He clamped his hands onto the front wheel and bellowed as he hauled Blane off his wheels and into the air, firing a blast with his cannon that struck Blane in mid-shift. He hit the wall and tore along the side, leaving a jagged scar behind when he hit the ground. Galvatron was on him in less than a second, fists raised and slamming down on Blane’s skull. He bashed him again, preparing to do so once more when Blane’s legs swiveled up, his waist spun like a chopper, legs spinning in a blur that crashed against Galavtron’s helmet. He was knocked onto his back and stood in time to see Blane spin into a standing position, fists curled and crackling with yellow light. They roared at each other, and lunged again.

****************
?????????????:

Zeemon screamed in pain, Unicron’s right claw was buried in his back, energy surged from the terrible wound across Zeemon’s body and up Unicron’s arm. He screamed again and could barely hear himself over Unicron’s laughter. How could he have been so stupid? He’d led Unicron here, let himself be manipulated by this beast into showing him the key to his own power. He was weakening, and felt Unicron tapping into his own will, slowly learning Zeemon’s secrets, learning how to alter his new body to siphon off energy from any source, no matter how little there was to be had. He wrenched his clawed hand in Zeemon’s wound, draining him of the most precious source of power known to the GoBots, quantumite. Unicron seemed euphoric, the strange energy tasted like alien ambrosia, sweet and succulent, made even more delectable when coupled with Zeemon’s agony. Unicron relished the moment, awaiting the last drop to be pulled from Zeemon, then he would drain the rest of his reserves and-
Unicron halted, sensing something else that was alien-yet familiar to him.

The matrix was here, and so was the one called Optimus Prime. Why hadn’t Leader-1 destroyed the menace? He had allowed Leader-1 his freedom to fight this battle as he saw fit, knowing the Guardian would do what was expected of him. His self pity and doubt was easy to detect, it would not allow him to do anything foolish enough to jeopardize his people, not when he knew the smallest pearls of Unicron’s own essence resided within each of them. He could use those to drive them all insane, all it would take was one push to drive them all over the edge. So why was he not destroying Optimus Prime?! He tried to focus on Leader-1, then quickly retreated from the GoBot’s mind as if suffering an unexpected burn. The matrix. The wretched matrix was shielding his thoughts. Unicron’s anger grew, and he became aware of that infernal mental static being projected by every Guarian on Gobotron, made worse by the unintelligible stream of babble coming from the Renegades.
He was still in Zeemon’s mind, the Guardian refused to stop fighting him, even though he was clearl defeated. Unicron raised his foot and prepared to stomp the nuisance flat-and saw he was gone. Where could he have-
“UNICRON!!” Zeemon burst from the ground beneath his feet and latched onto his leg. Unicron glared down at what was now nothing more than a pest, and swung his arm down at him. Zeemon pulled, dragging Unicron beneath the blackness.
“NO!” Unicron bellowed, his hands glowing and grasping at the ground, leaving thick grooves behind as Zeemon yanked again. He was trying to pull him away from the energy cells, he would not be denied that which he had rightfully claimed! He would not-
he heard Optimus Prime, then felt the matrix actively withdraw its protective wall around Leader-1, granting him a moment of clear audio as the two leaders shared a heated exchange.

****************
Gobotropolis:

Leader-1 stared at Prime, a grim look on his face.
“Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht. ”
Optimus glared at him until the words he thought were simple gibberish reversed themselves in his head. Leader-1 saw understanding on Prime’s face.
“The enemy of my enemy, is my friend, Prime.” He sighed, “I’m prepared to answer for the choices I’ve made. But now the decision is yours to make Prime. You have the matrix back, and I won’t stop you from killing me and leaving. But right here, right now, I’m asking for your help.”
Prime’s eyes flickered with uncertainty, Leader-1’s stare was locked on him, “ Please, work with me, help me to save Gobotron and my people.”
Prime continued to glare at Leader-1 a moment, then his grip on the Guardian’s throat lessened the slightest bit. Leader-1 could see the conflict within the Autobot.

“TRAITOR!!!! ” Unicron’s voice roared all around them.
The ground beneath Prime and Leader-1 thundered and cracked as a halo of blood red light erupted around them. The ground within the circle tore into a wide maw and collapsed, sending them both tumbling through a landslide of metal and rocks deep into the hellmouth of Gobotropolis.
___________________

Optimus and Leader-1 fell into the glaring crimson chasm, crashing against a thin ceiling of rock and cables before colliding with the floor. Unicron’s throne room stretched out before them. It shook with the sound of explosions, and Leader-1 shielded his eyes with a hand, catching a glimpse of Blane locked in combat with Galvatron. The two tyrants were unleashing energies he didn’t think either were capable of, their shots flew about the room, striking the walls and punching into the ceiling. He looked down and saw Optimus Prime lay still, taking the worst of the fall.
Leader-1 felt a chill race up his spine and snapped his head upward, his fuel pump almost stopped, horror gripped him. He took in the titanic, dark figure sitting atop a warped throne, green tendrils of energy coursing across his body. Leader-1 gasped.
"Zeemon?!"
It-Unicron-Zeemon stood, towering over both robot commanders in his shadow. Harsh red lights flocked about the room from various sources, casting uneven shadows that danced jerkily. He loomed over them, his face a deep black metal. As the abomination stood his full height, the walls seemed to shrink away from him.
"Yes.” Unicron’s unmistakable voice spoke with a controlled anger, “And no.” He said nothing else, only raised a hand, firing a storm of lightening down upon them.

Leader-1 raised both hands and called forth a wide force field, covering himself and Prime.
“You think to betray me! I, who granted you new life!”
“You LIE!” Leader-1 felt his hands begin to burn, knowing full well that Unicron could focus more energy if he wanted to destroy them both right there and then, but that wasn’t his style. Unicron lived to make others suffer.
"You were just the catalyst, WE were the ones who evolved!" You can't control us, not anymore..."
It felt like his body was about to explode, and he welcomed it, anything would be better than being under that monster's influence any longer. He screamed again, not caring if he blew his own audio, “NOT ANYMORE!!!”
His knuckles began to spark, crackling painfully as he tried to maintain his shield. He saw Prime’s eyes begin to flicker, then saw the hint of a blue glow coming from beneath his torso. The matrix rested in the crook of Prime’s arm, a steady pulse coming from within. It caught Unicron’s attention as well.
“Die, fools.” A column of energy gathered above Optimus and Leader-1, then exploded downward, glaring off Unicron’s body and sending demonic beams of light as far as the surface, where Autobots and Guardians had halted their fighting and gathered at the precipice, tentatively beginning to talk to one another about following their respective commanders.
Unicron stared down at the newly formed tear in the ground before his throne. A new chasm remained, orange and red smoke drifting up. Only a stray hint of blue came from within the bubbling cloud. He laughed.
__________________

Leader-1 and Optimus Prime fell into the mouth of the Gobotropolis’ core, its reddened inferno yawned towards them, a corrupt embodiment of Unicron’s rage. Leader-1 locked eyes with Optimus Prime, the matrix spinning in the air between them. Together, they reached out, Optimus Prime grasping one handle, Leader-1 taking the other.
They pulled.
The matrix clicked once, blue light splayed from its center as the two halves of the artifact parted, spilling energy that tore into the walls of the chasm. A wide sphere of energy blossomed from the matrix, both Optimus Prime and Leader-1 felt their bodies infused with Cybertronain and Gobotronian energy, stitched together and fused into a single ball of light.
They could see Alpha Trion, the ancient scientist’s hand stretched out, gripping the forearm of the Last Engineer, who was doing the same. The energy blew back their features, making it look like they were caught in a windstorm, the power angrily trying to blow them away from one another. The process fought them, but they held on tenaciously, determined to overcome their dissimilarities to give both Gobotron and Cybertron a chance at survival.

Optimus Prime burst from the ball of light in his truck mode, composed of energy, a deafening growl thundered from his engine as he transformed into robot mode, his entire body flashing blue and white. Leader-1 exploded from the opposite side of the light in his jet form, shifting into robot mode, his body mirroring Primes brilliant blue and white energy. They spun past one another and turned back to back, white light splayed as they merged into one another, their forms overlaid, the complicated schematics of their bodies juxtaposed in an impossible network of gears and circuitry.

Jagged lines of energy raced from the composite, then circled back and slammed into the new form. They were not combining as two robots normally would, they were fusing, becoming a new machine born of the two. Blue light danced about the new form slowly becoming defined, white lines of power stretched and grew about the form, adding definition across the developing surfaces. New legs and feet became clear, bulky and dark blue like Prime, wide jet wings flared from the sides, a powerful engine built and inserted into his feet. His upper legs and midsection faded to black, strong and lined with a sectioned belt that racing along its length. His arms raised to the sides, shaking as energy swirled into the massive limbs. His upper arms black, the forearms and hands became a deep blue like his legs, large fins jutted from both, angled back like knives.
The new form leaned forward, then arched backwards, arms pulled back with its incomplete chest exposed as a blast of blue energy shot from the matrix, fixing itself in the center as it realigned circuitry and reconfigured parts of the robots’ anatomy. A protective, clear cover resembling Leader-1’s old chest locked down over the Matrix as two new crimson lined windows slammed shut over it. The new chest locked in place, a red, more angular version of Optimus Prime’s, the matrix clearly visible behind the indestructible glass.
A large, gray and red pair of wings splayed from the form’s back, stretching forth in the shape of a wide ‘V’ as large, dual engines shuttles roared to life. Two rectangular metal spikes shot up on opposite sides of the neck area a second before a new head rose with a bright flash. His neck was thick with black armor, gray metal lined the center. The head also resembled Optimus Prime, an extra band of gray metal wrapped across his mask, his eyes covered with a down-turned, blue visor that flared to life.

A binding flash of power crackled across the form’s hands and forearms, his combination complete. The sphere of energy still encircled him as he slammed his fists together with a thunderous explosion that shook Gobotropolis’ core, reared back and threw his hands wide, then screamed
“LEEEEAAADEEER PRIIIIIMMMMEEE! ”
____________________

Leader-Prime, the combination of Cybertron and Gobotron, the fusion of its commanders, and collective will of the Last Engineer and Alpha Trion, rose from the hellish depths of Gobotropolis. The walls exploding around him, breaking away as he rose, his body massive and thrumming with power. He reached out an open hand,
“MATRIX BLADE! ”
Lightening shot into the chasm and accumulated in his palm, taking the shape of the matrix itself. A handle formed, and from the center stretched a tall, smooth blade. Ancient Cybertronian text was scrawled along its length, it read:

United We Stand.

On the opposite side the same was scribbled in Gobotronian.
Leader-Prime landed, shaking the ground as Unicron beheld the new being before him. He was not much smaller than himself, but he would fall as easily as-

****************
?????????????????:

Zeemon screamed, strapped to Unicron’s chest, his body a wreck he simply could not will back together. Unicron drew upon his knowledge, and now he channeled the energy radiating from Blane and Galvatron into himself, He would worry about the hidden cells of energy later. Right now, the quantumite, combined with the energy being pulled in by his ring would be more than enough to deal with the fool before him. But first…

****************
Gobotropolis:

Turbo backed away from Blaster as he approached, teeth clenched in anger. He wanted to fight dammit!
“What’sa matter, can’t fight someone when their back isn’t turned?!” Blaster unloaded a spray of gunfire and Turbo raised his hands, clapping them together with a flash of energy that collided with the shots. He prepared to shift modes and flee during the distraction, but was suddenly stricken by a mind numbing pain. His world went green, it felt like someone was grinding a blunt saw against his brain. He screamed and fell to his knees, grasping his head I his hands and wishing he could reach in and yank out whatever was causing him this agony. He barely heard SmallFoot scream, a clatter sounded as she fell. Then came more shouts, none of them from the Autobots.

“What the slag?” Inferno backed away from Hans-Cuff, the Guardian had fallen to the ground and looked like he was having a seizure. Inferno cast a confused look up at Defensor, who knelt and reached a tentative hand towards the flailing GoBot. First Aid’s medical files raced across his collective mind as he tried to diagnose the strange behavior. “I don’t understand.” His fingers scanned the small bot, “I don’t detect anything physically wrong with-what the?!”
A thin strand of green energy drifted from the screaming GoBot’s mouth. It arched into the air and wiggled around like a glowing worm, then turned with purpose and lifted into the air.
“By Primus…” Inferno saw Springer looking up, mouth agape. The sky was filled with streaming green lines of light, glistening against the dark a moment before curving their path towards a single point on the planet, merging into a single ribbon of power that snaked down into the same hole Optimus and Leader-1 disappeared into.
_________________

Unicron stood, his mass almost filling the spacious chamber. His throne came alive, the robot forms writhing in agony, wailing in sadness and horror as the network of cables attached to Unicron snapped free, hissing and sparking with energy. He sensed the matrix’s power coursing through this new being before him. He recognized the individual parts of Optimus Prime, saw the various pieces of its body influenced by Leader-1’s design. It infuriated him-and frightened him on a primitive level. Somehow they were both being used by the matrix, something he thought was impossible. He raised his head slightly, sending out a mental command to the miniscule strands of energy, his original energy, that he had seeded within the Guardians and Renegades. He smiled momentarily, hearing the tortured cries of the GoBots as thin, glistening strands of green energy wormed its way from their mouths, their heads and eyes, and sped through their air, drifting into the chasm and crawling across his body. Let them get by on the power they thought they evolved, it would do them no good once he departed this wretched planet. He would make sure it was decimated in the process, leaving nothing but scraps of useless metal behind. He welcomed the strands of his original power back into himself, now he felt complete-and then some. Nothing could hope to stop him, much less defeat him. He now controlled a mastery over both the intricate Cybertronian aspects of his new form, as well as the unpredictable Gobotronian physiology. Unicron laughed and raised his hands, which now thrummed a powerful green hue, and opened them.
___________________

Galvatron landed a right hand against Blane’s forehead, rocking him back. The Renegade lashed out, cracking Galvatron with the back of his fist, turned, and wrapped both hands behind Galvatron’s head. He yanked down and brought up his knee, driving it flush into the Decepticon’s face once, twice, once more, sending Galvatron sprawling to the ground. Galvatron spat a wad of oil to the ground and transformed, a bulb of power growing at the tip of his cannon as he prepared to fire. Blane pointed both fists towards Galvatron, energy grew around them, expanding into a shot he was determined to use to end this fight once and for all. They sneered at one another, and prepared to fire when pain suddenly washed across them both. They screamed in unison, Galvatron transforming back to robot form and fell to his knees, green webs of power rippling across his body. Blane dropped to the ground and howled, eyes wide with rage and anger, trying to stand as he realized this was Unicron’s doing. Through his faltering vision he saw Unicron standing before a strange amalgam of Optimus Prime and Leder-1, a hand stretched out towards himself and Galvatron.
“What… rrr… you… doing?” he sputtered, barely able to form the words.
“B…bet-traying… usss… both!” Galvatron choked through clenched teeth. The two of them screamed, Galvatron’s body becoming enveloped in purple energy, Blane’s body changed into a shimmering red and yellow energy version of itself. They launched into the air against their will and streaked towards Unicron.
Leader-Prime saw Unicron’s forearms had two odd additions. A large, purple cannon connected to his right-Galvatron. Blane’s glowing motorcycle form was attached to his left, reconfigured into a more circular shape, the wheels almost touching and facing towards Unicron’s hand.
“I have all that I need, and more.” He raised his right hand, the purple energy composing Galvatron, reconstituted itself into a much larger cannon. A white circle of power broiled in the mouth of weapon.
“I believe Zeemon called this, Quantumite. A truly unique energy, even to me.”
Unicron lifted his left hand, and Blane’s wheels spun in a blur of motion. Yellow energy crackled and whipped across his form, covering him with a solid sheen. A wide, curved shield spread from his body, lined with a spiked edge. A straight gap ran from a single point in the middle of the shield towards Unicron’s hand. The space filled with white quantumite energy, elongating into a long, serrated blade. It gleamed once, shimmering with energy Unicron now controlled.