Matrices: Part 2
A fanfic by Bill T. Taylor
a.k.a. RedStreak
Hot Rod and Firebolt were positioned on a rounded hill top, both ducking behind a ridge of boulders for cover. Hot Rod was peering out, a telescopic visor over his eyes as he gazed out in the direction of Trypticon. There was a small group of Decepticons at a preliminary camp, busy building what looked like a tripod of sorts.
Firebolt, growing impatient as he could only squint at the Decepticons distantly, asked his Autobot partner, “Well…what do you see Hot Rod?”
“Four Decepticons…Octane, Brawl, Swindle, and I think Six-Shot. They’re building some kind of…stand,” Hot Rod reported, “But I can’t make out what it is exactly. Sensor post, laser turret, I can’t say.” He reached up to his forehead, clicking on his crest, the visor retracting up beneath his brow. Looking to Firebolt, Hot Rod suggested, “We’d better get back with Cerebros and the others. Normally I’d use my com-link, but the Decepticons might trace it at this range….”
The two turned and started back to Fortress Maximus. Hot Rod and Firebolt, however, took barely more than five steps when they heard some rubble shifting close-by. “What was that?” Firebolt asked. He transformed, the Targetmaster landing as a gun in Hot Rod’s hands.
Suddenly, with a swift pounce, Ravage appeared! “Raaar!” He bolted on Hot Rod from the side, catching him completely off guard. Firebolt was knocked from his hands, Ravage holding the Nebulon firmly to the ground.
“RAVAGE!” Hot Rod yelled. He aimed his arm blasters down, but suddenly a hand grabbed him. A boulder that previously had been sitting motionlessly vanished, replaced by Snapdragon in robot mode. The Decepticon Headmaster quickly overpowered Hot Rod.
“Autobot secured,” he growled, glancing over his shoulder.
“Excellent, Blitkarion will be pleased.” Out of thin air Mindwipe, accompanied by Weirdwolf, Triggerhappy, and Slugslinger, appeared. Mindwipe reached to the ground, plucking up a small device, stowing it within his arm. “For once, Vorath, your ‘toys’ came in handy.”
From Mindwipe’s head a voice replied, “Of course they did! And they’re not toys; their invaluable Hive technology!”
“Don’t flatter yourself Vorath!” Monzo, within Weirdwolf’s head, muttered. “You last invention nearly blew me up when I ‘tested’ it for you!”
A booming noise came from above. “Do not insult Vorath’s efforts, Monzo, or I will have your head, Headmaster!” Blitztkarion Prime transformed, landing with a heavy thud on the hill top before his Decepticon troops. Soundwave followed, landing beside his new leader; Ravage immediately leapt to him, folding up and stowing away inside his chest.
Blitzkarion Prime looked upon Hot Rod and Firebolt, the Targetmaster now in humanoid form. “So…the mighty Hot Rod…formerly Rodimus Prime, the Matrix bearer. My, my…how far you’ve fallen,” mocked Blitzkarion.
Hot Rod glared defiantly. Held back by Weirdwolf and Triggerhappy, he yelled out to Blitzkarion “Oh yeah? Who the Pit are you? Just lemme go and I’ll show you just how tough I am!”
Blitzkarion laughed. “Ha! That hardly sounds like the Rodimus Prime who graciously offered me sanctuary among the Autobots three years ago.”
Hot Rod’s blue eyes widened. In a moment of revelation, he recognized the Decepticon. “Blitzwing?”
Blitzkarion Prime smiled. “That was my former name, my Autobot ally, before I inherited this!” Opening his chest, a ruby-red glow emanated out from an alien…yet familiar device. “The long lost Decepticon Matrix of Leadership…now it is a part of me.”
“You’re lying! There’s no such thing!” Hot Rod soundly stated.
“Is it?” Blitzkarion smirked, “Then gaze upon it and tell me it isn’t so.” As Hot Rod glanced down, looking into Blitzwing’s torso, the Decepticon further said, “You were once a Matrix bearer…and surely even now some remnant of it dwells in you. You, of all Autobots…would be able to tell a false Matrix from a true one!”
Hot Rod stared long and hard…and the longer he stared, the more he questioned his judgment. In the back of his mind, even within his spark chamber for that matter, he felt it, just as he felt for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership years before. An aura of the Matrix’s energy clearly radiated from it…and yet something dark and vile and seething with anger laid buried within. Unable to bear it, Hot Rod looked away.
The Decepticon Matrix retracted, Blitzkarion’s chest sealing back up. “Then you can’t deny it.” The Prime Decepticon grinned, deciding to be generous. “Because of your pity for me years ago, old friend,” he said, “I will spare you…for now. In exchange, you will call out to Optimus Prime. You will tell him where we are, and about the rediscovered Decepticon Matrix of Leadership.”
“Why should I?” Hot Rod frowned.
“That’s right! We ain’t doing a damn thing for you Decepti…” Firebolt started to say.
“Silence him!” Blitzkarion demanded. Mindwipe grappled with the Nebulon, and with a steady gaze at him, used his mental powers to render him unconscious. Returning his full attention to Hot Rod, Blitzkarion continued, “I expected as much from the former leader of the Autobots. Therefore…” He glanced over, nodding to Mindwipe, who readily approached. “Mindwipe will have to…convince you to obey.”
Mindwipe transformed, Vorath separating as Mindwipe himself became a giant mechanized bat. Wobbling over with his wings spread, his eyes turned bright red as he stared straight at Hot Rod. “You are under my power, Hot Rod. Give in to me…do as our leader wishes…now!”
Hot Rod gritted his teeth, trying to avert his eyes but his head was forcefully turned in Mindwipe’s direction. The hypnotic powers slowly overcame him. “I…I will…obey,” Hot Rod groaned in a ghostly tone.
“Good…good,” Mindwipe uttered, still gazing square at Hot Rod, “Now, call out to Optimus Prime…tell him he must come here, as Blitzkarion Prime wishes.”
Hot Rod was released. Slowly, Hot Rod reached for his com-link, opening it and activating. Blitzkarion Prime next turned to Soundwave, commanding, “Soundwave, transform and link with Hot Rod’s com-link. Ensure it is transmitted via hyper-link frequencies. Wherever Prime is…I want him to hear it.”
“As you command, Blitzkarion,” Soundwave complied. He shrank down, landing near Hot Rod. A cable snaked its way out, binding with an outlet in Hot Rod’s arm. “Connection achieved. Beginning hyper-link transmission.”
“Excellent, now, Hot Rod,” Blitzkarion said to the Autobot, “contact Optimus Prime for me.”
A long ways from Char, Prime was in chains of energon, forced to kneel before a crystalline throne…from which the Quintesson lord, Lor-Gavvon, gazed down remotely on him. Behind Optimus Prime were Perceptor, Blaster, Hardhead, Brainstorm, and RedStreak, all in robotic form and enchained just like their mighty leader.
“Autobot prisoner,” Lor-Gavvon addressed Optimus Prime, “Your presence and actions in our Imperium are unacceptable. Why were you stalking one of our vessels?”
Prime glanced up. “Quintesson,” he spoke to Lor-Gavvon, “we were seeking you out to answer a very important question. It regards the nature of our past and that of….”
“Enough of this!” Lor-Gavvon waved a tentacle, five guards rushing to Optimus Prime and forcing him up. “Take them to the holding cells. Keep them there until we arrive at the warp gate to Photoneron. Then we shall interrogate them before disposing of the Cybertronian waste.”
All six Autobots were lead away into a long hall deep within the ship. Each Autobot was shoved into a cell, bars of sizzling energy rising up to imprison them. Once all six were secured, the guards left, sealing the halls entrance behind them.
“Some trip this was!” grunted Hardhead.
“It could be worse,” Brainstorm spoke up from his cell, “At least they didn’t detect our Headmaster partners.”
Perceptor got an idea. “Say…Headmasters, can you still disconnect and transform? We might be able to escape this Quintesson trap yet!”
“Not a bad idea, Autobot!” Duros said from Hardhead’s thick cranium. With a click, Hardhead’s head popped off, unfolding and landing on the floor, Duros looking up at his headless partner. He stepped to the bars, extending an arm out. Carefully, he slipped through…exiting the cell and entering the hallway itself.
In just a few minutes Duros was joined by Arcana and Chip. The trio of Headmasters approached Optimus’ cell, looking up at him. “Hang on, Optimus! We’ll get you out of there!” Chip promised.
“No,” Prime said surprisingly, “If we’re released, surely an alarm will alert the Quintessons. However…even their advanced technology requires some power source. Think you three can find it and shut it down?”
Chip held out a fist with a thump-up. “Easily!”
It took the better part of an hour, but the Headmasters found a way. An air duct vent was left open, the threesome standing before a truly huge structure at the heart of the ship. A giant spherical crystal of energon, at least the size of a four-story building, hovered like a mystical crystal ball between six spires, all composed of energon that supported it. A myriad of devices, composted of metal, energon, or some weird hybrid, surrounded them.
“Wow, this is unbelievable,” Chip uttered.
A spark came from Arcana’s shoulder. “We’d better work fast! Our exosuits can not remain exposed to this massive a source of energon for more than a few minutes before becoming permanently damaged. Chip, using High-Q’s scanners, can you locate the controls…or a weakness of some kind?”
“Gotcha,” replied the human. Using his exosuit’s red visor, he scanned the alien energon engine. “Man…this thing’s output is immense! We can’t blast it…or else everything in a few billion miles will get dusted. However…if we kill one of the connected capacitors, it should be enough to short out the ship without killing us all.”
“Good enough for me!” Duros stated. He, Chip, and Arcana targeted one of the smaller sub-components, a rectangular unit little bigger than a house. Concentrating their fire, the Headmasters cracked its casing. The capacitor crackled with energon backup, sending surges into every connected wire and cable.
Back at the holding cells, Lor-Gavvon and an escort of guards arrived to begin interrogations. “We shall start with one of their ‘grunts’ and work our way from there,” said the Quintesson lord, hovering effortlessly on a purple beam, “I doubt we’ll get much useful information, but it should provide at least some amusement.”
The came to Hardhead’s cell. Glancing up, the Quintesson’s eyes widened. “WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS HEAD?” Hardhead still stood there, wrapped in chains and behind bars, but missing his whole head! “I want to find out what happened to him, now!”
Suddenly, the lights above began to flicker. The bars of energy spat out sparks, finally overloading and dying out. In a flash, everything went black. The Quintessons twitched nervously, confident his guards would protect him. There was the sound of heavy metal clanging, muffled noises….
“Guards? GUARDS!” Lor-Gavvon yelled out.
Three sets of blue lights came on. They were Autobot eyes! In a moment, the power came back online, Optimus Prime, Perceptor, and Blaster standing before Lor-Gavvon with frowning faces. In the background, Brainstorm, Hardhead, and RedStreak’s bodies were holding back the lizard-like Quintesson guards. And directly before Lor-Gavvon, Steeljaw growled and Ramhorn stood, his large horn in his face.
“Now, Quintesson,” Prime politely asked, “As I said before, all we want is some information. Then we’ll leave peacefully with no harm done. I earnestly hope you find that agreeable.”
Cerebros and Highbrow both gazed out over the gray, bleak landscape. Beyond the sprawl of Fortess Maximus, there was nothing but dusty plains and rocky hills way off to the horizon. Both were growing concerned.
“Hot Rod and Firebolt should have returned by now,” Highbrow noted, “I hope they haven’t gotten into any trouble.”
“I hope not,” Spike said from Cerebros, “If I know Hot Rod and Decepticons…there will be nothing but trouble.”
Above, Quickswitch swooped down, transforming from flying starfighter to Autobot. “Well, anything?” Highbrow asked frankly.
The six-changer shook his head. “I flew for several solid clicks in all directions, but I couldn’t find Hot Rod anywhere!”
“Damn!” cursed Spike, “It was the Decepticons…no way around it! Great…now what do we do?”
Highbrow looked up at the sky. Behind his eyes, Gort scanned the stratosphere. A missile was flying straight at them at mach three. “I think we duck!” he yelled from inside Highbrow. Highbrow, Cerebros, and Quickswitch jumped, the spot they were previously standing exploding in a fireball.
Gazing up at the sky a second time, Highbrow could plainly see a full dozen jets streaming toward them. “Decepticon attack patrol! No doubt they’ve come to eviscerate us all right down to our subcircuits!”
“Then let’s counterattack!” promptly suggested Spike.
Highbrow transformed, becoming a helicopter as Gort remained on the ground. Quickswitch transformed into a laser pistol, Gort grabbing it and firing skyward. Apeface and Snapdragon greeted them both with firearms. As they swept by Fortress Maximus, Misfire followed, firing fixatedly at Gort. His cockpit-mounted blaster detached, transforming into Targetmaster Aimless directly in front of Gort.
“For Zarak!” cried Aimless, rushing at Gort. The Nebulon side-stepped the Hive Targetmaster, slamming him in the back with an elbow.
“This is not going to be one of my better days!” Gort wearily said.
Onboard the Quintesson ship, Prime managed to coerce some information out of Lor-Gavvon…but it was limited. “Your questions make little sense to me, Autobot,” scowled Lor-Gavvon, “You speak in riddles, not logic!”
“The vision we received spoke of our progenitors holding the answers, Lor-Gavvon,” said Prime, “You are the key to solving this mystery.”
“I am a scientist, not a soothsayer! Your belief in this ‘Matrix’ of yours sickens me and all Quintessons,” Lor-Gavvon hissed.
“You better watch your tongue, Quintesson, or I’ll give ya a quintessential knuckle sandwich!” said Blaster.
“Easy Blaster!” Prime began to say, but suddenly a beep started emanating from his arm. Automatically his com-link flipped up, an image of Hot Rod appearing on the small, built-in screen. “Hot Rod?”
“Optimus Prime,” Hot Rod flatly spoke, “We are on Char. Under attack. New Decepticon leader…more powerful…carrying the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership. We need you here.” The signal then died abruptly, not another word being transmitted.
Prime blinked. “Decepticon Matrix of Leadership?”
“That did not sound at all like Hot Rod,” Perceptor stated, standing beside Optimus Prime.
“No way indeed! Hot Rod had personality…that…was a zombie-bot!” Glancing at Quintesson Lor-Gavvon, Blaster coarsely said, “Probably a trick of our Quintesson hosts I bet!”
“No,” Prime disagreed, “The com-link frequency is Autobot and bears Hot Rod’s signature…it’s genuine. But you’re both right…something is amiss, but what really bothers me is the mentioning of a ‘Decepticon Matrix.’”
“It can’t be true,” Perceptor stated, “There’s no mention of such a thing in recorded Cybertronian history.”
Prime turned toward their hovering captive. “Not Cybertronian history…at least.” Optimus Prime approached Lor-Gavvon, this time with an earnest look in his face. “Tell us, Lor-Gavvon; in all your records regarding Cybertron and our race…was there ever such a thing as a Decepticon Matrix of Leadership?”
There was silence. Lor-Gavvon turned about face, gazing away from the Autobots. He then muttered something softly. “There…may have been.”
Perceptor and Blaster’s optics widened. Prime just looked on, wanting to hear more. Lor-Gavvon elaborated further. “During your Great Revolution some eleven million years ago, not long after A-3’s initial victory over us…the first great leader, the first ‘Prime’ of your race…challenged the full fury of our empire alone…using only a single device that lay within him.”
“The Matrix?” Prime spoke.
“Yes,” Lor-Gavvon answered, “But you have no idea the scale of the battle that we waged. After that battle, the first Prime died…and thus began the long lineage of new Primes being born by passing the Matrix.”
“We honor that tradition to this day, Quintesson,” Prime reminded, “But how did a second Matrix come into being?”
Lor-Gavvon smirked, letting out a small giggle of wicked delight. “Heh…like all races your history is riddled with gaps and white lies to ‘hide’ moments too dark to comprehend….”
In summary, he told an old legend…or rather a ‘rumor’ Quintesson ears heard. Still in the early days of Cybertron, just before the first Golden Age began, a Prime came to be that was noble, yet a warrior beyond all warriors. When he passed, his deep knowledge and his secret lust for battle was planted into the Matrix…causing the next Prime to inherit the same dark lust. The new Prime became an even greater warrior, lusting for battle to the point of madness. Fearing he would turn the Matrix’s total power against his own people and world, the bravest transformer that numbered among his own warriors fought him, eventually killing and taking the Matrix by force.
“By some ‘magic’ we had no knowledge of,” Lor-Gavvon said, “The Matrix of Leadership was split in two: one that you Autobots inherited…and another that held the dark Prime’s lust, anger, and ill will.”
“And with it,” Optimus in turn added, “an equal portion of the Matrix’s power.” Looking to Lor-Gavvon, he asked one final question. “What became of it?”
Lor-Gavvon raised his tentacles up and yelled “How should I know? We only found the rumors of its existence…not the device itself! Probably hidden on some remote planetoid away from Cybertron, if it’s real at all!”
“Oh it’s real alright,” Prime firmly said, “We all felt its awakening before, and now I understand what Alpha Trion’s visions mean…and we must ensure this new Matrix never joins with that of the Autobots.”
“What do you mean exactly?” Perceptor asked.
Prime looked to him with sharp, fixed eyes. “If the Matrix of the Decepticons is joined with the shell of the Autobot Matrix…all hope will be destroyed as we know it!”
Cerebros sat in Fortress Maximus’ command tower. “Transform to Fortress configuration!” Cerebros commanded, dialing in the proper codes. Outside the city walls retracted, armor plating rising up as towers folded, replaced by whole batteries of lasers, missiles, and cannons. As the horde of Decepticons came in full, Fortress Maximus responded in kind with equal firepower.
“Yes…yes,” Blitzkarion Prime smiled at the fireworks, standing just a mile away with Scourge at his side, “A truly worthy battle…yes.”
“Why are we standing out here, we should be fighting!” Scourge said.
Blitzkarion’s chest once more opened, him pulling out the Decepticon Matrix. His fingers gripped its black handles, rising it up into the air above his head. “You will see, Scourge,” he said. His eyes turned bright red, his grip on the Matrix tightening. “Now…darken their brightest hour!” he uttered, the red core of the Matrix pulsing.
The Decepticon Matrix released a flash of dark light. It opened, its ruby heart shining like a red sun. Purple lightning seemed to crackle from it, spiraling around the Matrix casing and Blitzkarion’s arms. A bubble of energy enveloped Blitzkarion Prime and Scourge, expanding out to envelope the whole battlefield. Fortress Maximus’ weapons jammed, the same dark lightning running through his circuits. In his command tower, Cerebros fell, gagging. Brainstorm fell from the sky in vehicle form with Highbrow, Quickswitch roaring in panther form, thudding unconscious.
Scourge blinked. Glancing at Blitzkarion’s source of power, the Decepticon said in amazement, “By the Matrix! We…you…defeated the Autobots!”
Stowing the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership back inside himself, Blitzkarion stated rigidly, “That is but a fraction of its true potential. We must restore it, and we require the Autobots’ Matrix to do that.”
“But…it’s just an empty shell now! What good could it possible serve?” Scourge questioned.
Blitkzarion’s eyes glowed bright again. “It is the will of the Matrix…I know it.”
Light-years away, Skylynx was zooming in for a date with destiny. Onboard him, they were now joined by High-Q from Nebulos. Before Prime himself and his fellow Nebulons he addressed the situation. “I still don’t understand this matter of two Matrices, but I understand you require a strategy to rescue your, presumably, endangered comrades?” High-Q spoke through his exosuit.
“Exactly,” Optimus Prime replied, “I’ve told you all we known of the situation, anything more is an educated guess.”
“Hmmm,” High-Q thought, Duros, Arcana, and Chip gathering around him. Looking to Prime, he said, “The Matrix of Leadership…it is what they seek, no? Perhaps we can make use of that fact…but it will not be easy.”
On Char, Blitzkarion looked skyward. “They’re here. Activate the distress beacon,” he ordered his troops. Streaking across the bleak stratosphere, Skylynx’s silver outline was vividly visible for miles around. He descended toward the far side of the mountains, where Fortress Maximus lay.
Swooping over the quiet expanse of the city-bot, Skylynx reported, “Fortress Maximus alright, but no sign of our comrades! However, I am picking up a distress beacon from within him,” the vigilant shuttle said.
Chip looked up to Prime, saying, “You do realize this is likely a trap?”
“Indeed, and that’s exactly what I’m hoping for,” bluntly stated Optimus Prime.
Minutes later, the whole of Prime’s squadron rolled out behind him, RedStreak and Brainstorm riding atop his massive new trailer behind its upper turrets. The entered directly into Fortress Maximus, driving deep inside his central halls. Near the now deactivated control center were Cerebros and Hot Rod, enchained to the wall and unconscious. The Autobots transformed, Prime detaching form his trailer and moving to Hot Rod’s side. The younger Autobot awoke. “IT’S A TRAP!” he yelled out.
At the peak of the neighboring mountains, Blitzkarion Prime stood with the diminuitive pair, Rumble and Frenzy. “Now,” he commanded. The two Cassetticons put their arm-pile-drivers to the ground, pounding away with their combined force. The mountainside began to split, whole sheets of rubble and rocks tumbling down. At Fortress Maximus, Skylynx glanced up, gasping as he bolted into the air, the rockslide burying half of Fortress Maximus beneath him.
“Excellent; now Prime and the Autobot Matrix are exactly where I want them,” Blitzkarion smiled, “Send for the Constructicons. We’ll excavate a small tunnel and then dispatch a…heh, ‘exploratory’ expedition to search out Prime and any survivors.”
“That won’t be necessary!” Skylynx boomed. He zoomed up, landing on his wide paws as his wings spread wide. Rumble and Frenzy, in addition to Scourge, Six-Shot, and the Decepticon Targetmasters, drew their weapons on the griffon-like Autobot. Then, Skylynx opened his side ramp…the figure of Optimus Prime himself stepping out.
“Hold your fire,” Blitzkarion Prime ordered. Reluctantly his soldiers complied, the Autobot Prime approaching him slowly. “I warn you, Optimus Prime…we have several of your soliders and Nebulon friends captive. Give me the Autobot Matrix of Leadership…and in exchange you shall all be freed.”
Optimus Prime hesitated for a minute, totally silent. Slowly, he opened his chest, his spark chamber opening, revealing the silver and gold shell of the Matrix stowed within. He stretched out his arms, openly offering the Autobot Matrix as Blitzkarion looked from afar.
“You offer it to me…freely,” Blitzkarion smiled, “How generous. I expected some grand struggle of sorts between you and me, but you see the futility of it; me with a fully charged and all-powerful Matrix and you…the empty shell of a dead Matrix.” The Autobot Prime stood there, still holding out the Matrix, but defiantly silent. Blitzkarion huffed, stepping forward to meet him. “Very well, Prime! I do not need your bravado speeches! I’ll just take what is mine!”
Reaching to it…Blitzkarion Prime’s hand slipped through. His eyes widened, and the Autobot Prime flickered. “WHAT?” Blitzkarion blared. The hologram quickly became blurred, vanishing entirely from sight.
A plasma bolt spat out from Skylynx’s mouth – Blitzkarion and his forces knocked aside momentarily. “NOW OPTIMUS!” he yelled. The half-buried Fortress Maximus arose. His giant shadow stretched to the mountain-tops. Fortress Maximus, in his titantic robotic form, slammed both his fists into the mountainside, a shockwave sending the Decepticons tumbling down the other side…except one.
Blitzkarion Prime himself transformed and flew in the air, the purple contrails behind him vibrant. “AUTOBOTS! YOU WILL ALL DIE!” he screamed madly. A maelstrom of laser fire rained down from the Decepticon, Skylynx again fleeing while Fortress Maximus easily bore the brunt of the damage. The jet buzzed like some angry bee, relentless and blind with rage.
It was then that the command hatch in Fortress Maximus’ chest opened. Optimus Prime, in vehicle mode with trailer, drove out into the sky. He arced down, landing hard on the ravaged mountain peaks. As Blitzkarion transformed and landed near-by, he was quick to transform to Powermaster form, merging to form the torso of an even larger incarnation of himself. As Blitzkarion Prime stood, he opened his chest briefly, revealing the Autobot Matrix. “You want this, well then you’re going to have to take it!” Prime firmly said, closing his chest back up.
“My pleasure…Optimus,” the Decepticon smiled. Blitzkarion rushed him, locking fists with Powermaster Optimus Prime. The Autobot stood over one and a half times his own height, but his strength was more than equal. He forced back Optimus despite the Autobot’s brute strength. “You…are…not match…for me! Even in…your new body!”
“We’ll see, Blitzkarion,” Optimus Prime grunted, “I…may not have…a Matrix of my own to draw strength from…but I still have friends!”
A blast struck Blitzkarion from behind. He stumbled back, giving High-Q time to run to Optimus Prime. He bolted to his chest, surging renewed strength into Powermaster Prime. The struggle began anew, this time Blitzkarion being forced back. “You…can not prevail Prime! You face nothing like never before! RAAAAAAGH!”
An aura of red enveloped around Blitzkarion, growing brighter with his rage. As he grappled him still, his fists became like fire in Prime’s, burning hot. The ground beneath the two transformers seemed to crumble away, gouging out a wide crater in a semi-circle. Then, throwing back his head, Blitzkarion’s rage summoned the power of the dark, tainted Matrix.
Powerful energy blasted out. The Auotbots about Fortress Maximus felt a powerful wind upon them, threatening to blow them away. “Everyone…to me!” Fortress Maximus bellowed. Skylynx flew and landed in the giant’s shadow, RedStreak, Hardhead, and the others clustering there as well as Fortress Maximus weathered the dark storm.
In space, Char became a red star, the cry of the Decepticon Matrix shaking the fabric of the sky.
Powermaster Prime groaned, finally falling back into a boulder, his eyes going blank. Blitzkarion bowed, leaning on his knees to catch his breath, his body steaming. “Now…to claim…my prize!” he growled, struggling to step forward.
High-Q detached, thudding at Optimus Prime’s feet. Drained of energy, he relied on his natural, organic muscles to stagger away, clutching in his arms the shimmering Autobot Matrix. Once Blitzkarion caught sight of it, he staggered toward the Nebulon instead like some invincible juggernaut. High-Q crawled on, until, exhausted, he reached the cliff edge. Exhausted, he let the Matrix slip away, to fall down the mountainside.
“NO! THE MATRIX! I MUST HAVE IT!” Blitzkarion exclaimed. He flew up and transformed, diving along the mountainside.
The Autobot Matrix fell effortlessly down the mountainside, tinkering off random rocks and pebbles until it came to rest before one isolated ledge. Amid the rubble, the frame of a dead Decepticon lay beneath a protective ledge of rock that had gone unseen. Then and there, the empty Autobot Matrix began to shimmer with a weak blue glow.
“Awaken, Galvatron,” the voice of Alpha Trion spoke from the Matrix. With those words, the dead, gray body of Galvatron became restored, changing back to purple and silver as he came to life with a groan.
Blitzkarion Prime landed with a heavy thud. His eyes were on the ground, on the defenseless Autobot Matrix. His hands grasped it, holding it in his palm. “Now, the time has come for ALL to be one!” he spoke aloud to it. His chest swung open, the Decepticon Matrix extending out. It opened by itself, its glow brighter than ever before. The aura enveloping itself and Blitzkarion quickly extended around the Autobot Matrix, calling out to it. As his hand moved the Autobot Matrix toward his chest, it too opened by itself, ready to bond with its waiting, tainted counterpart.
“BAH!” A purple hand slapped the Autobot Matrix of Leadership away, landing behind some sizeable gray boulders. Galvatron stood up before Blitzkarion Prime, a renewed rage, yet focused like a razor’s edge, behind his burning eyes.
One fist slammed into Blitzkarion’s open chest, smashing exposed circuits and servos, causing sparks to spit out violently, his opponent partially paralyzed. A second fist slammed into his jaw, causing him to stagger back, numerous cracks radiating out around his chin. A third, final fist, was directed at the Decepticon Matrix itself, clutching it, tearing it right out of Blitkarion Prime himself.
Blitkarion choked, gasped. He staggered back, the life fading from his body, strength evaporating. He collapsed, metal turning gray and dark black. The former Matrix-bearer returned to his original form, to die as the forsaken warrior, Blitzwing.
Little more than a half mile away, the forces of Optimus Prime gazed at Galvatron, now holding the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership in his own hand. A chill far greater than absolute zero went through them all, freezing their souls in that moment of pure terror.
Galvatron gazed at the ruby device in his grip. “Galvatron…” it voiced his name weakly. The voice of the dark Matrix reached out to the one its fate laid in; to the madness that was Galvatron. The desire to join with another in its seductive tone….
Galvatron’s grip tightened around the dark device. “I need NOTHING to assert my rule over the Decepticons!” he hissed to it, “Galvatron…has no master!”
He shoved the ruby device into his arm cannon. He charged it to full capacity, and in a fiery blast of red, orange, and yellow, the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership was forever launched away from Char, never to graze its surface again.
As it flew from sight, the voice of the dark Matrix screamed.
Inside Fortress Maximus, who blindly stood watching, Chip and Spike blinked as they watched what Galvatron did. They were silent for the longest time. Finally, Spike managed to make his mouth move.
“Damn,” he said in complete disbelief, “That was so scary I think I shitted my pants.”
“I think I did too,” was all Chip could managed to reply.
The repercussions of Galvatron’s actions did not truly hit the Autobots until they were more than halfway back to Cybertron, onboard the space-bound Fortress Maximus. In the main hanger, Hardhead shook his head. “Man…I can’t believe it. Galvatron…had it in his hands…and yet he threw it away! My processors can’t figure it out!”
“Neither can I!” further said Hot Rod, “I mean…Galvatron…finally had the ultimate weapon both he and Megatron had been seeking! Something as great as our Matrix of Leadership before!”
Optimus Prime wished he could provide answers, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked away, toward an isolated compartment. There he stood, waiting.
Alpha Trion’s glowing silhouette filled the room with blue light. “It has been done; the All-Spark has been saved. Why does your mind still linger, my son?”
Optimus Prime looked straight as his creator. “Why did Galvatron throw away the Matrix? Even I…with all my experience…can’t understand Alpha Trion.”
The answer was simple. “Because,” the ghost replied, “it was his purpose, his reason for being. The Matrix permitted his prior acts of evil all this time knowing, full well, only Galvatron’s jaded will and madness could resist the dark powers within that Matrix.”
Prime finally understood. Galvatron, and Megatron before him, were utterly dominated by goals of conquest and domination. Nothing else mattered to them, not the Matrix or anything. His will, and after Unicron’s enslavement, hatred of allegiance to any other force greater than his own, was the only one so indomitable that it could overcome such power as that of the vile Matrix. “I find it hard to conceive,” Prime admitted, “But I understand now.”
Hours…days…perhaps weeks passed. Time was impossible to comprehend for the lost Matrix of Decepticons, especially in the void of space it drifted helplessly through. It floated, slowly spinning, until it came across the only thing darker than space itself.
The black hole, invisible, except for the circular field of darkness against the stars, drew in the device. The strength of its gravity took it beyond the threshold of the universe, into its unseen heart. At that moment, the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership ceased to exist.
However, in that instant, something more malevolent was unleashed. The black hole shrank down, collapsing upon its dark heart. A star-like flash came…and then a wave of dark energy, cloaked in a veil of violet and black, surged out. The Decepticon Matrix was destroyed, but now the forces once locked within it were freed…determined to vanquish all life.
To Be Continued…?