(NOTE: A Round Robin fic is where one person starts off, then other people add on their parts as the story progresses. The total amount of people that are working on this project are: Washer, Silth (Vail), Beastbot, JW% (JaggedWing), Skycat, Enforcer, Architeuthis, Mirai_Cyborg17 (Hailblaze), Hitchhiker, Mako, Scaleblade, JEDI, Skidz (Skidplates), and Matrix3. Also, an ARGO Conquest looks somewhat like a jeep, with tank treads instead of wheels.  Beast Machines fans, don't take offense at certain comments within this story.. These are from JW%'s viewpoint, not a viewpoint in general. Hope you like this fic!)

Mako's feet touched the ground as the air grew still around him. Reaching out, he could feel the coldness of the dark. And, though he saw, no- felt, all around him, no light shone upon the room. At his beckon, the walls themselves began to glow- bathing the room in soft light.

"The Tribune....," Protos lowered his arms, "...where?"

Mako cracked a smile, "Alive. Within me."

"I see," Protos looked down at the limp body of Duran, "At least ONE of you got what you deserved."

"You... think he's dead, but he isn't. He, too, is a part of me," Mako lifted an arm, "Now- to fulfill my promise."

The walls shifted and faded away.

"What... what are you doing?" Jake tried to keep his balance as the floor disappeared.

"There will be no more judgements. No more Tribune. I am making this world- whole," Mako landed softly on the cool earth of the island.

Closing his eyes, Mako exhaled. Around him, the world rose, flexed, twisted, and bent to its master's will. In a flash, everything changed. The two bots stood speechless as they found themselves in another room that seemed to grow around them. The walls were soft cedar, and above, a chandelier lent the room a quiet glow. In the corner, a large antique grandfather clock ticked away. The walls were ordained with long flowing golden drapes from the two huge windows, and the obviously expensive furniture complemented them well.

"Where... ARE we?"

"Home, of course," Mako appeared, in a long robe, a content look on his face. Casually, he sat down on a lounge chair. "Please, sit."

Jake looked behind him and saw a large chair of similar design behind him. Protos looked down and nodded at him before the two sat down. No sooner had they done so than a woman came in from the chamber door. She was slim, with a two-piece bathing suit on beneath a silver gown.

"Gentlemen, my wife, Deborah- Mrs. Duran," Mako kissed the woman's extended hand lightly and she sat down next to him.

"Duran's wife?" Protos glowered.

"Mine now," Mako cooly answered, "Duran's life is mine, now. He did sacrifice himself so that we would live. Now, we have much to talk about. From the Tribune's memories, I saw why they had put us on trial, and why they did as they did. They... it... kept the realities seperate, although I have no intention of doing so," Mako took a drink from his tea, which appeared out of nowhere. "I have no intention of putting others on trial to preserve the old order. Gentlemen, and I us the term loosely, I intend to merge these conflicting realities. Problem solved."

"You... you can't!" Jake spoke up. "Who knows what chaos it could cause?"

"I know. Assemble those on the island before me. I will speak with them before I break the barrier. Forever."

"We..."

"You will do as I say, Protos. Greet them at the door when they arrive. I will get their attention."

"Yes," Protos glowered, "We will do as you say."

"Excellent," Mako stood up and raised a hand. Outside, the force field around the island grew dark. Bubbling slightly, it solidified, from the bottom up, into a solid shell. At the very top of the solid dome, it opened up, allowing a shaft of light to shine down and bathe the center of the island in a corona of daylight. "This should get their attention."

"What should we tell them when they arrive?" Jake stood up.

"We'll be out back by the pool," Mako extended his hand and Deborah took it. "My dear, shall we?"

"Let's," she answered him before heading for the door.

"The front door is in the main chamber, three doors to your left. Good day, gentlemen."

".....and so that is where I have been," JW% finished. The rest of the group was sitting around camp, and JEDI was washing the mud off of herself in a small stream.

"Why didn't you join us as soon as you got out?" Architeuthis asked.

"I don't know. I didn't know if any of you survived, and if I was going to avenge you I wouldn't want to be caught as soon as I left. I also had some things to check on. Finally, I don't know, I just had an urge to try it alone." JW% shrugged. "But when I heard that Enforcer was in trouble I just had to help. It just felt like the right thing to do."

"Okay," Skidz said, proud that he was right, and happy to have his friend back, "Then why am I getting the reading of a second spark in JEDI?"

~Because I'm here you silly little kitty! I'm here, but I'm not here. I'm alive but I'm not alive. Isn't it wonderful?~ Vail sent. Skidz's head snapped up and looked at JEDI. JEDI, however, looked to JW%.

"Did you hear that?" Skidz asked.

~No, I didn't. I don't hear anything. Lalalalalala. See, I can't hear anything.~

"Hear what?" JW% asked.

"Vail tried to talk to Skidz," JEDI said. "It worked, but I thought you were allergic to this psi stuff. Didn't you feel something?"

"No. Did Vail even try to send to me?"

~Nope! I'm not sending anything. I'm just floating here.~

"Vail? Are you alright?" Beastbot asked.

~I'm fine, wonderful, supersplendifiuoursljaid... whatever that word is.~

"I think she is suffering from sensory deprivation," Architeuthis said. "Have you been talking to her?"

"No," JEDI said.

"I can't," JW% said defensively.

"We need to get her back in a body before her mind falls further apart."

~But I don't want to go back! I got hurt in my body. I like it just fine right here. Nowhere, that is.~

"Well, where is her body?" JW% asked. "Depending on how bad it was hurt, we might be able to repair it. I mean, it is just a robotic shell for the spirit and JEDI has the spirit, so all we need is a working shell."

"I buried her over there," Washer said.

Together, the 'bots dug it up and washed it off as best they could.

"I don't know half this stuff," JW% said, "Some of it is understandable, but it looks pretty bad." His knowlege of technobabble, medical, and electronics were soon to be tested. At times, he would gain an insight that simply seemed to be instinct, but between him, Beastbot's self-repair knowledge, Architeuthis' biology knowlege, JEDI and Vail contributing what they could, and the help or at least prayers of everyone else, Vail was repaired.

"Okay, this should do it. Her main generator should come back online now," Beastbot said.

"I hope those spare parts you had hold, Jag," Architeuthis said. "Her tissues can't take the strain without insulation. Where did you get them, anyway?"

"We scavenged them from the cyborg aliens," JEDI said, blocking out Vail as she started to sing.

~Bringing out the dead, bringing out the dead...~

"Okay, I think this is the best we can do," JW% said, looking up at the sky. At least one night had passed since they had started to work (Night vision and scanners being put to the test at times), and it was almost mid-day again.

"All we have to do now is put her spark back in," Beastbot said.

Everyone stopped to look at each other. Finally, Skycat spoke up from the sidelines.

"How are you going to do that?"

Suddenly the sky started to darken, as a great dome closed over it.

"What is that?" Matrix said, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"I... don't know...," JW% said, staring up in awe.

JEDI glowered up at the sky... I hate it when my time sights right... It takes all the fun out of surprise birthdays... she thought, then took a deep breath. If she was right about this, then that meant she was right about...

No, she scolded herself in her thoughts. Don't think like that. If you do, you'll regret it for the rest of your life...

JW% looked at JEDI. Something was bothering her, but...

JEDI stepped forward. "Okay. Let's get this done now... before I lose my nerve..."

"Lose your nerve?" Beastbot asked, "Why would you lose your nerve?"

JEDI started to answer, then shook her head. "No reason..." she said, then in an almost inaudible whisper, repeated, "No reason at all..."

"JEDI?"

"I'm okay... You guys might want to back up..."

"Why?"

Their answer was an explosion of light and hurricane-strength winds... JEDI suddenly seemed to be encased in a silver fire that burned every limb, yet did no damage. She looked up to the sky, flaring her wings and drawing her arms back... and a faint silver aura suddenly appeared, slowly spreading until it reached Vail's body, which also began to seemingly burn...

"What the... What's she doing?!?" JaggedWing demanded... on his visor the energy reading were off the scale. But the energy he was reading from JEDI herself was racing down at a dangerous and frightening rate. ~I... I won't give up... I can't... oh, lord, I don't know how... I wish I could, but...~ JEDI suddenly seemed to flare a bit brighter, as did Vail. ~What is it? I think I might be able to... I might... I think I can... I CAN do this... I will... I did.~

JaggedWing was feeling extremely uncomfortable, the others were trying to figure out what JEDI's mind-voice had been talking about, and the animals in the vicinity had just followed common sense and split when JEDI suddenly stated those calm, final two words... Then collapsed as the light and wind suddenly faded like a bad dream...

As Vail got up... Skidz realized a terrifying fact about the limp silver and white gryphon-bot.

She wasn't breathing... and her heart had stopped... and he didn't have a clue on how to do robot CPR...

"N..no..."

Skidplates whispered roughly, his tones barely audible.. a cold, hard lump of ice was fast forming in his gut...

Gently, almost calmly, he lifted JEDI's suddenly limp form from the chilling ice... and began marching, almost mechanically, to a nearby clearing...

..An area where, for reasons unknown but to nature, the thick snow and ice had burned away, revealing verdant tufts of soft, green grass..as he layed JEDI down upon the earth...his face was shrouded from view, his normally brilliant visor a deathly black.

"No...," he whispered again, choking out the word in fragmented bits, "Not..not again...my
destiny....is..decay..death...."

"N...nooooarrrgghh!" Skidplates' once-shadowed visor flamed suddenly, a crimson nova to rival that which burned in the skies above. Rising suddenly from his former position, crouched on his knees, he quickly drew back his fist, then slammed it suddenly and with uncharacterictic force into a lonely spire of gray stone sprouting up from the nearby ground.

The spire seemed to disintegrate, as the sheer force of the blow reduced it to dust.

"Skidz...," someone whispered..many stood stock still, rooted to the chill ground by the sudden and traumatic series of events which had begun with nary a warning, or any sign at all, to occur.

Skidplates stood for a moment, seemingly glaring at the others, until his eyes fell upon a slight form splayed upon the nearby turf...

..Silver lighting still crackled spastically across Vail's body, even as she slowly began to stir....

The glow of raw energy was echoed within Skidplates' still-clenched, battle-scored fist....as if a sphere of pure light had ejected from deep within him...a spark of untamed electricity which leapt and danced to the palpitations of Vail's own spark...

"...Vail...," he spoke, his voice calm, and uncharacteristically low..but he spoke not to his newly revived comrade...but rather...rather to..another...

"Nightblade... 'Chaser... she can still be saved.."

Skidplates continued, mumbling to himself, as he stalked toward the peaceful area where JEDI.. Windchaser's.. still form lay, gleaming even in the bizarre mid-day twilight.

As he neared her prone form, Skidplates' translucent chest panels slid silently apart... a thick mass of coils and tubing slowly emerging from his form, hissing with arcs of blue lightning...

"Our...my..spark will fuel yours," he quietly intoned, as Windchaser's own stomach guard unfolded, revealing still-blinking circuitry and coiled wiring.

"Skidplates, what... are you... doing?" asked Vail, becoming alert. Her spark attuned to JEDI's distress as well, for although the link had seemingly been broken, in a way, perhaps it would never be completely destroyed...

"Vail..you're a medic..you have experience..help me..," Skidplates asked, as the mass of tendrils slid into Windchaser's open stomach hatch, bonding with her circuitry and infusing her form with new power.

"Vail...I need your help.."

Vail stared at the two robots before her. Although her emotions were on the brink of sending her over the edge, something forced her to step forward and give aid. She knelt beside Skidz and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. He stared up at her. The pain that was evident in his optics made her wish all the more that JEDI hadn't even tried the stunt. I can do this. I can pull her back, she thought slowly. I only wish I knew how.  That was when she saw JEDI's chest raise slightly.

"We still have her!" she cried. She leaned forward, scanning equipment in hand. Finding nothing obviously wrong with her, she checked her vitals again. They were weak and unsteady. It suddenly occured to her that if she didn't do something, JEDI would die.

She looked helplessly at Skidz. He could only return her stare, a look of bewilderment and fear written on his face.

"I.....she...we've got to...." For the first time in her life, she found herself without inspiration. It was like she was dying all over again. Falling into that deep pit of darkness, to the point of no return.

"...No return! That's it!" she cried. The others stared at her for a moment.

"JEDI, you stupid idiot!" Vail cried, "What are you trying to do? You nearly scared us to death! Well, I guess there really are some genuinely stupid people out there, you included. But you're a disgrace, even to them. So go ahead, die if you like! See if we care. We wouldn't miss a whiny, self-centered, snot-nosed brat like you. Of course, I am always the one to save you when you get yourself into these messes!"

She waited expectantly, while the others stared at her with a mixture of fury and shock on their faces. Suddenly, JEDI stirred. Her lips parted slightly, and she began to speak in a barely audible whisper.

"Not a chance, you stupid *^$%^$@$%^$*^*(%&*)...."

The others stared in shock. Skidz let out the breath he had been holding since the beginning of the entire experience. Hailblaze and Skycat cheered. Ed fainted.

Vail looked up momentarily to nod to Skidz that he no longer had to supply JEDI energy. Then she spoke to JEDI. "Sorry about that. It's the only thing that I knew would pull you back..."

"I never have been one to take insults lightly....."

"Speaking of which, you have quite an extensive vocabulary......"

"Being Irish has its perks..," she said. Then, for the first time in recent memory, she smiled. And being thus so, she fell asleep.

Vail stood and began to walk away from the group. She came to the edge of a nearby creek, and looked at herself. Her face was smudged with dirt, and she looked rather worn. She had been doing a lot of thinking while in JEDI's body. She bent over and touched the surface, distorting the image that peered back at her.

"Not human.....not robot. What are we?"

She looked back momentarily at her companions. JEDI had nearly died getting her back to where she was. She did not intend to leave them again.

"An excellent question," Jake said from the shadows, "Though I have a feeling we're about to find out."

"YOU!"

"None other," Jake looked at the assembled group, and then spoke into the air, "I've got them."

"What happened to you earlier?"

"I was summoned. Please, everyone. Follow me."

"Wait a second," JEDI got to her feet, "Two questions: why and where?"

But he just walked off, waving a hand, "You WILL want to talk to him."

Then, suddenly, they were all assembled, together, before the mansion.

"This way," Jake said, walking through the large front door. Stunned, the group of 'bots followed him through the door, and down the main hall. In moments, they were on a porch, bathed in the sun. And, floating on his back in the pool, was a man.

"Nice of you to all come on time," he said, floating up and off the water, landing in front of them. From his hand, a towel appeared, which he draped over his shoulders.

"As you all know," he continued, "I am Mako."

"We know who you look like," Vail answered, "But are you Mako or Duran?"

"You speak as if there is a difference. Duran was as much me, as Vail is you," Mako snapped his fingers, "See?"

Looking into the crystal clear water, she could see... she was human again! So they all were!

"We're...we're human!"

"Yes," Mako beckoned towards a nearby table, where he picked up an apple. "And I gave you clothes, too. I assumed suddenly appearing nude wouldn't appeal to all of you. Feel free to help yourself to the food, there IS an inexhaustible supply of it."

The repairs of Vail were a test of his skill, but the transference was simply too much for him. A dull throbbing pain started in his head, and had he left his mask open, he would have noticed a thin line of mech fluid that had dribbled from the corner of his lip and nose. JaggedWing stepped back, once, twice, finally back into the bushes and behind some trees. He jumped up into the canopy, clutching his head. He clung there, on a limb upside down. Finally, it was over, and the pressure on his psi-shields stopped. He looked and saw Skidz doing something to JEDI's limp body, and he saw Vail stand up and check JEDI as well.

Then he saw a form appear, almost out of the mists, had there been mists. It was large, dark, and ugly. JW% thought it looked a lot like Optimus Primal's first body for Beast Machines. He tuned his hearing back up so he could hear what was being said.

"... Excellent question," the figure said, "Though I have a feeling we're about to find out."

"YOU!" One of the group hissed out; he couldn't tell who, it was too close.

"None other," The large ape-like figure looked at the assembled group, and then spoke into what was probably a com signal. "I've got them."

"What happened to you earlier?" Beastbot asked.

"I was summoned. Please, everyone, follow me."

"Wait a second," JEDI got to her feet, "Two questions: why and where?"

But he just walked off, waving a hand, "You WILL want to talk to him."

Then, they all vanished. No flash of light, no warping of space, just vanished. Like one of the cheap special effects on the original Star Trek.

JaggedWing hung on his tree branch and blinked. Who had that been? What had happened to the rest of them? Why hadn't he been taken?

JW% calmed down. The only other person he knew that was with the group was Mako. That did NOT look like anything he had read about Mako. Mako would take a TM2 Cybershark rather than that form, and even more likely he would be in the body of Hydra or one of his fan-made super characters that bore little or no resmblace to any Transformer ever. An odd surge was felt, like that was an insult, but JW% pushed it down.

If that was not Mako, then who? His mind spun; no one had ever told him who or what Jake was, so he didn't recognize the figure. No answer came, and so he tried a different question. Why had he not been taken? Of course, if he didn't know that guy, the guy surely didn't know him. No wonder he had been overlooked, his energy signature was damped to that of the tree he hung from, he probably could hardly be seen, and from the looks of things, Jake only took the group he knew.
But where did he take them? The dark sky was lit with just one source, and that source was shining down directly on the top of the mountain. JaggedWing's optics couldn't see that far, but he had heard something about an explosion up there. Could it be that is where they are? It couldn't hurt to look. He dropped off the branch and flew toward the light.

As he came nearer, he saw that there was a structure there, a beautiful Greco-Roman building, a pool, a table with food set out, and... a bunch of humans? JaggedWing slipped into invisibility once more.

"An..illusion..has to be.."

The young man crouched by the crystal clear waters of the swimming pool...unconciously, he ran a hand through his thick brown hair...a hand..flesh and..and blood..

"Mako...," he breathed, as he eyed suspiciously the relaxed, seemingly self-assured man addressing the remainder of the group..the young man had quickly divided from the others..instinct,perhaps? He'd always been a loner of sorts..and at this particular moment, a deep-seated fear, scraping at the dark recesses of his mind, told him...

...Beware..

The voice....

"If...if we're..human..once again..why do I still sense..you? You're an indelible part of me,now...of who I have become..who I am.."

"No...," the man thought, snapping his head back suddenly and staring up at the placid skies, dotted with but a smattering of snow-white clouds..

 ...Then, once again, turning his vision toward "Mako"..or Duran.. the aggregate which the pair had mysteriously become...not two shared minds caught on a razor's edge..but rather..something more...

The young man at once realized the hidden truth, cleverly disguised with hopes and illusions..... this was no utopia.. something was terribly wrong.. and he'd get to the core of it, no matter what.

While Mako easily demonstrated his incredible new power, a shadowed form stood within the mansion, shrouded by the pitch darkness of the anteroom.

In theory, the open, airy room, scattered with a few plush chairs and couches, was to be brightly illuminated by an above skylight...but Protos preferred it otherwise.

Darkness was his natural abode..and only in shadow could he truly function..could his complicated mind, well-oiled machine that it was, deal with life's unexpected..challenges.

"This is far more than a mere challenge...," the robot scoffed, as he gazed at the..the creature of flesh..which had seized his masters' power..and twisted it to his own ends, and, in the process, robbing Protos of the practical godhood which the Tribune had granted him, when he had willingly served as their deadly emissary.

"He lies...I am far more than a figment of some creature's distorted imagination...and now...this..pariah threatens to destroy all that the Tribune has worked for...our cleverly laid plans, disrupted by Dominion scum.."

Protos, however, held a far deeper fear...a terror that cut him to the quick...for if Mako could fulfill his promise to these machines.. return them to human form.. what more need would he have for those fully mechanical beings.. what need would he have for Protos?

Protos pushed the thoughts from his mind. "Mako holds not the power to return all to human form...at least one...an..old friend...is now, I believe, beyond salavation." At best, any stop gap which Mako could introduce would be only temporary, for the boy..was now..more machine..than man..

Protos shook his head swiftly. True..some were perhaps beyond salvation....but many could still be saved... For a moment, the hint of a smile played across Protos's lips. His burning ruby crescent that was his eye flared,casting horrible shades of blood across the room.

Yes...Duran..or Mako.. whatever the overbearing fool now called himself.. would be stopped... and the process of killing him promised to be most..interesting...

...most interesting, indeed..

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