(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, please took not take offense at certain comments in this fic. They are from some of the authors' viewpoints. This part of the fic is rated PG-13 because of violence. Hope you like it!)

Skycat glanced around quickly, hardly believing the fact that everyone, including herself, was now human again.
What the heck is going on here? she thought to herself, moving slightly away from the group. It felt strange to be in her human body again. It didn't quite seem to fit anymore, and she felt weird without her wings. Suddenly she thought of something. Without their robotic bodies, the whole group was practically defenseless, and at Mako's mercy.
This can't be good... Skycat thought uneasily.
She was starting to feel a little hungry, but she really didn't trust the food... or Mako, either. The girl looked over at the others. Most of them looked either surprised, suspicious, or worried. Just how she felt at this new turn of events. But none of them seemed to be doing all that much about the situation.
"Right. That's it." Skycat muttered, her confusion, suspicion and worry all combining to make her rather angry.
She strode over to stand in front of Mako and glared at him, unfazed by the fact that he was now pretty much all-powerful.
"Now, d'ya mind explaining exactly what the bloody heck is going on here?" she demanded, arms folded.

Disorientation was her first reaction. At a snap of Mako's fingers, she was human, and so was everybody else.
Since she had never seen any of the BWA members in their original, human forms, she didn't recognize any of them at first. But then, after awhile, she was able to place voices with faces. That tall kid by the punch bowl sounded like Beastbot, for instance. The girl or young woman with the nasty limp sounded like JEDI. The young woman in the pilot's uniform was Hailblaze, and so forth.

It felt odd to be in this body again. She hadn't thought much about it, but she had begun to get used to the tentacles and the metallic body. Having fingers again was a novelty, even though she was happy to have her Towson University ring back. She had also gotten used to the increased height of her robotic form (roughly six feet, as opposed to the five feet three inches of her human form). It felt strange to be wearing glasses again, too. She'd adjusted to the squid-bot body; she would have to readjust to her old human one.

In some ways, she missed her robotic body; she had quickly learned to like its capabilities. In many ways, it was superior to the human body she now had; it was stronger, faster, and far more durable. She had enjoyed its amphibious qualities, even though they had proved virtually useless in the mountains. At times, she had fantasized about using her squid mode to explore the ocean depths and see things no human scientist had ever seen. In fact, about the only things she hadn't liked about it were some of the squid instincts that came with it, and its looks. A robotic, humanoid squid with ten tentacles, including two extending from around the abdomen, could only be described as hideous.

Why was she eating sushi? She had always HATED that stuff! She had never willingly eaten raw fish of any kind...until after her first transformation, when she, Hitchhiker, and Beastbot had all had VERY fresh fish for breakfast. Had she somehow retained portions of the squid-bot's instincts or personality? There was a relatively simple way to find out. The woman who had been Architeuthis walked over to the fruit platter, which held all kinds of succulent, tasty fruit, including her favorite, grapes. She picked up a cluster, planning to eat them--and felt the same repugnance she had felt toward bananas, on the day she had discovered her beast mode. So, some of the squid-bot DID linger in her. Was that a temporary side-effect of the transformation, or was it a permament condition? If the latter, she'd better stock up on her vitamin pills... On the heels of that observation came more questions. Why had Mako restored them? Was it simply to honor his promise to them, or to keep them helpless and vulnerable? Had he truly bested their faceless kidnappers, or was he a pawn? Why had they been kidnapped in the first place, and by whom? The woman who had been Architeuthis was suddenly afraid that she would not like some of the answers--and that was assuming she survived long enough to have an opinion. She was suddenly aware of how vulnerable they all were...

Something's wrong here...Something just doesn't quite fit.

The thought flashed quickly through Vail's mind. She, from the start of this entire escapade, wondered what would happen if she ever did become human. Now she was...

It was a sensation that made her completely happy, yet immeasurably sad. She, in truth, wondered what happened now. She was back in her old body. Same brown hair, same blue eyes, same freckled face staring back at her through silver-rimmed spectacles. But it was all too simple...too inconceivably easy that something...everything, was amiss. Whatever it was, however, was thus far intangible.

"Where does it go from here?" she asked herself softly. Having been a diligent reader of fiction her entire life, she had somehow envisioned a much more romantic end to the entire adventure, quite possibly involving the death of one or all involved. Yet now, there she was. Same Mariel Thorton looking back at her, the image mocking, almost laughing...tantalizingly out of reach.

Suddenly it occurred to her. She was not, nor ever again would be, the same 19-year pld who had left the airport a short week ago. And somehow, in an odd way, she was happy. In fact, she found herself wishing that she never had to go back. She had always led such a tame life. Her parents had died ten years ago. She had lived with her aunt in New York for a long time, and was on the flight bound for her cousin's ranch in the midwest. She was always being shipped off to the farthest reaches of the globe. Her aunt found her a nuisance (the feeling was mutual) and was rich enough to send her away when she became an inconvenience. And then again, she asked herself, why should she return? There was nothing waiting out there for her. In fact, her aunt had her life planned out and was hoping to send her to some well-to-do neighborhood and get her married to some rich freak by the time she turned 25. She never had relished the idea...

She shook her head and brought herself back to reality. The others were by the table staring at the food laid before them. Some gave looks of contempt, others relief. But Ed stood there, his eyes round and staring at the spread. For some reason the look on his face made her laugh. It was a normal human laugh.

If this is an illusion, she thought, then it's a pretty good one. She walked over to the table. But something about the food being within reach and so easy to get was unnerving. She decided, instead, to talk to Hailblaze and Hitchhiker, who were not exactly eyeing the food with the most trust.

There they were. Human. Normal. Weak. Enforcer rather liked the strength and massiveness of his robot form. Then, the sheer power and agility of his ARGO Conquest mode. Now, he could hardly lift a dead fallen tree. Things had changed. It was once "Oh, I'll never use those stupid scout skills I learned. I'll never use them." But now, he had forgotten all his leader had taught him. It felt strange to eat. The taste of fruit was duller than ever. Would he ever become robot again? Enforcer hoped so.

It was the same, and yet it wasn't.
Same old worn black jacket, same old jeans, same old glasses, same old green shirt. Same old dark coloring and nearly black eyes... and yet something didn't fit. The never ending sharp pain from her knee hadn't changed, nor had the heavy duty knee brace that she hid under the jeans. The softball-sized red rubber ball that she loved to toss and play with was still in her pocket, along with her Irish pipe and the letter from her uncle... but still...
She unconsciously began tossing the ball against the wall and catching it, not even looking as she caught it then tossed it again...
"I've got a bad feeling about this...," she muttered.
And once again the Time Sight visions that she had seen when she had fallen alseep had proven right... Maybe that final vision was right also...
"No," she muttered, "The future is what you make it. 'Chase's time Sight only shows what will happen if she doesn't act upon it..."
"And I've never been one to sit still when there's work to do." JEDI caught the ball on its return from hitting the wall and pocketed it, then headed off to find out who was willing to help. Duran wouldn't care that they were trying to figure it out, he knew he was above their attacks, especailly now, so there was no reason to pay any attention to what was conversed... And even if he did, all he would
hear would be the true topic. What the devil had happened, and why? JEDI nodded and limped off, years of practice nulling the heavy limp and covering most of the pain on her face.
They had little time to act... and yet all the time in the world...

Matrix couldn’t believe that he was human once again, and all just because Mako somehow willed it.
After some time, his bewilderment turned to worry. The reason he felt this way is that this was all too simple and he had the feeling that something bad might or was gonna happen soon. Knowing that his intuition was right most of the time, he went to speak to the others to see what they thought about this situation they were in.

The teenager formerly known as Beastbot inspected his body. It looked fine, but... it didn't feel fine. There was something wrong here, but he couldn't quite point it out.
Trying to get his mind off of it, Beastbot squinted his eyes again, trying to see what everyone else was doing. He had been having a bit of trouble seeing since he became a human again, even with his glasses; most likely the transition back from having one long band for an eye to having two normal eyes. It seemed they were gathering together for some reason. Curious as to what that reason was, Beastbot walked toward them.

The young man was concerned...recent events had begun to come to a head...and times were changing..drastically. Where once he would have gratefully accepted Mako's preferred opportunity..the chance to become a true human once again...he now felt a new responsibility...to the creature which he had so recently become..and to destiny. Not that he truly believed in destiny,.or any form of pre-ordained path of life...within, he just had a..a sensation..as if, despite the joy he would have gleaned from stepping among his fellow humans...becoming a part of society once again..
..such pleasure would be brief, and equally hollow...
 ..filled with regret, he pondered the life which he had left behind...his family..his friends...he missed them fiercely...ached with sorrow..
..."But how...,"  the youth formerly called Skidplates whispered to himself, his tone nearly inaudible, "How could I ever return..could I live with myself...when the call of destiny rings so resonantly within me.."
..No...there was not..and, he suspected, had never been...any going back...his path was set...and despite the piercing pain..the icy fear...a flame of determination burned within him..the conflicts which had so recently torn apart his life were but a forge...a raging inferno, whose purpose was to craft a different...a more powerful being...for the ultimate challenges, the culmination of his life's efforts...lay ahead.
An iron determination forming within him..fire in his eyes...the once-youth..and now a creature of an entirely different sort...set forth to join the others...
 ..and face his future..
...head on.

"Attention," Mako spoke calmly, his voice connecting with the minds of those around him, instantly, almost harshly, "I grow... tired. Listen, and you shall be privy to the truth so few know."

Mako got to his feet. "Deborah, leave us for a moment," he spoke to his wife, dismissing her, "We have much to discuss. Wake the children. We shall be leaving soon."

"Of course," she said, wrapping herself in a towel after leaving the pool. "I'll be upstairs."

"Thank you," Mako again turned to the group of people. "Don't look at me like that. I DIDN'T strip you of your powers. You can turn back at any time once you leave." Mako quickly composed himself. "Please, sit."

Several lounge chairs appeared from behind the group. Mako quickly noted that a small group remained seperate, and chose not to sit. Frowning slighty, he remembered how... uncooperative some of his guests could be.

"I'll try and keep this simple," he began slowly. "I'm sure many of you have... stumbled upon the Bible at one time or another. Most, I'm sure, believe in some form of God, as well. In the beginning... there was nothing save Eternity. He... for lack of a better pronoun, is the sum of all creation. He has never been non-existent. At the beginning of each cycle, he is reborn in an explosion of matter- the Big Bang, his memory of the last, collapsed, universe shattered to the void."

"God?" Ed mumbled, "GOD?!"

"No. He is everything- but not the God you're thinking of. WE were created in the beginning from him."

"We?"

"Two forces were needed. Eternity desired to know, to become, as before- the last universe, so he created Genesis, the creator. He said, 'Spin unto me a tapestry, a perfect universe, as it was before so shall it be again. By my will.' These were his only words. From that, Genesis spun, weaved the threads, planted the seeds, the realities we live in, and the Tribune sowed. Weeded. Cut. For Genesis could only create, not destroy. It was the Tribune's curse and responsibility to destroy the threads that contradicted, that made the cloth imperfect. Until now."

"Their power is within me," Mako clenched a fist, reaching out, and a small ball of water rose from the pool. Shifting, it turned from a ball of liquid into a ball of fire, and finally into a white dove, then... dust.

"I can only destroy," Mako looked down, almost in tears, "This... is my destiny. My curse. But in my sacrifice I have saved those I knew. Those I know, everything and nothing. I... I cannot save our world, it is... destined to be destroyed. THAT is why I do as I must."

"Mako," asked JEDI, "Why are we here?"

"Because I am going to merge several seperate realities- it will... cause complications. Hence all of you. You shall exist outside the realities, as it is my responsibility to... destroy, you must preserve our world. Quell the disturbances. Keep the peace. If... if our reality again jeopardizes the fabric... I... I will have to destroy it, and all connected to it. It is my destiny."

"Destroy it? Isn't there another way?" Vail spoke.

"No. It is the price I have to pay, the weight on my soul- and though countless realities lie, unaware that I am their executioner, I can live on, knowing that my home yet lives on, spared the blade," Mako wiped a tear from his eye and sat down, silent. "I will... answer any more questions brought before me. Then- I will retire for the day. Please, be brief; I have much work ahead of me."

Hitchhiker called out, "What you said about our transforming when we leave? Does that mean we're still really robots? Are our human forms an...alternate mode, like a beast mode or vehicle mode?"

"Yes," Mako answered her, "You are all triple changers now."

Architeuthis nodded to herself upon hearing this. That made some sense; it would explain why she was still carnivorous. She still had a lot of questions, though.

"Why did the Tribune select us to be their agents, or your agents, whichever it is?" she asked.

Protos waited in the eves..Mako's words resounded within him, striking a chord within him...Protos knew now..realized the error of his ways...

...He had touched the Tribune's power..its raw, universal energies...that Mako held the most private, the most sacred of all information...that could mean but one fact was true...

....Mako had not overthrown the Tribune..had not crushed or defaced Protos's respected..feared..masters..he had become them.

At once..Protos sensed a presence..standing behind him, in the darkness..

"So...so, boy, you sense it...as well, do you?" Protos replied to the form behind him.

Jake was stoic...momentarily, the young man spoke.

"My loyalty lies with Mako...and yours?"

Protos smirked...had he sensed a hint of..challenge..in Jake's tone?

Protos suddenly turned, his massive form looming over Jake, his cloak billowing in a chill, and wholly unnatural, wind.

"I..am undecided..as to my loyalty..Jacob..however...I do know that to face Mako now..to challenge the force which stands so boldly.."

Protos gestured forcefully, the amber steel which coated his arm reflecting the cool glow which emanated from Jake's optics..his razor-edged hand aimed directly in Mako's direction...

Protos noted how quickly Jake's form tensed, pistons and tendons alike preparing to strike...to protect his "master".

..Slowly, as if time was held suspended, Protos lowered his outstretched arm, motors groaning and hissing.

"Lapdog..," he spat, as he spun on his heel...headed for the courtyard..the time had come, for Protos, dark prophet, to enter the scene...

"The Tribune brought us here for judgement. I would be loathe to call it a trial, as we WERE indeed guilty, and would have never left here. We were ...guilty of disturbing the fabric. We were here so the Tribune could formally declare our guilt, find fault in our very existence, and sweep us away, cast into oblivion like a shadow before the light. To my... our knowledge, none who have been judged by the Tribune have ever survived the experience."

Mako closed his eyes and leaned back into the lounge chair. He didn't need to see to know Protos was approaching the group of humans, his artificial mind racing- thoughts as transparent as the clear waters of the pool.

JW% busily clipped in circut boards and power cells into his generators. He had scavenged everything he could find, from the X'Kaetil's equipment, to borrowing some parts from the large black mech he barely had time to visit. If what he heard was true, he would soon need every bit of it, and maybe even more. Suddenly, a thought occured to him. Should he lay all his cards on the table? He shifted his weight nervously and clicked his long nails together with his free hand. No, if he did so he might undermine this effort. Better to save it for later and go in with a plan, than to open up with everything and not know what you're aiming at.

Mako surveyed the crowd from the head of the table. Two of the Tribune's plants were standing near him, Thuntor had taken his robot form (an astounding shape vaguely reminiscent of TM Airazor), and Jake had never left his robot form once. They were not responding exactly as he had planned, but they were the random element after all. He would have been rather worried if they HAD all sat down, enjoyed the meal, and asked questions regaurding their current state. Perhaps the sudden transformation had come as too much of a shock to them. Surely they had not had such a hard time adjusting to a totally new body, as they were having with this simple change.

Everyone was eyeing their host suspiciously; some of them were still eyeing the food suspiciously, even.

Matrix was digging into the banquet with relish. His undead robotic body might be able to sustain on little, but back in human form he was hungry once more, and fully enjoying Mako's largeness.

Enforcer looked rather dejected as he ate, not as heartily as Matrix, but still in a healthy manner. He was missing his body perhaps more than the rest, possibly because it was so different.

Architeuthis was nibbling on some seafood. He wondered if she still had some of her beast mode instinct in her, or if she was normally like that.

Hailblaze politely sampled some of the delicacies, but was keeping an eye on every one else.

The girl known as Scaleblade had made several attempts to come and stand with his lieutenants. Thuntor had finally had to shove her down and tell her flat out that she was no longer in her "Predacon" body. She was now just sitting there, her head down, muttering something to her self along the lines of "I am a dragon, I am a black dragon" over and over.

Ed, oddly, had ceased any attempt at a tirade and had put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Vail was avoiding the food, but sitting politely, watching everyone else in wonder.

JEDI turned to face the shadows, making everyone in the group stare at her...
Then blink and back up as Protos slid out of those shadows. Protos raised an eyebrow to see JEDI staring at him. He was in for another surprise...
"Protos." she said.
Protos blinked, then anwsered, "JEDI."
JEDI cast a glance into the shadows, then calmly asked, "Trouble with the lapdog?"
Protos again blinked. "Yes."
"I judge from your expression the outcome was in your favor."
"It was. Timesight?"
"Yes."
"I was wondering how you knew... Perhaps the Tribune shouldn't have added that in..."
"True... It does take all the fun out of surprise birthday parties."
"True. If you'll excuse me.."
JEDI nodded, then calmly asked, "What's with my update in battle-mode?"
Protos did a double blink, then said, "Four more feet to compensate with the fact that you have less advantages than a normal human."
"From eight foot to twelve? Makes sense."

Washer wasn't sure if he liked what he was hearing. He wasn't even sure if he understood it.

"What do you mean we 'disturbed the fabric'? Disturbed WHAT fabric? And how did we disturb it? We're just a bunch of SF geeks and writers, not serial killers or despots like Hitler or Saddam Hussein."

"Yeah," added Enforcer, "And how are we supposed to 'quell the disturbances'? What kind of disturbances are you talking about? And how about giving an answer in ENGLISH? Not everyone here is a scientist, you know."

Good questions, thought Architeuthis. She'd been wondering the same thing. She also wondered who JEDI was talking to. Her green eyes narrowed as she tried to place the 'bot. She soon realized he was a stranger. But who was he and did he serve Mako or the Tribune that had apparently kidnapped them all? Curious, she approached them.

"Hi, JEDI. Who's your friend?"

The young man that was Skidplates snapped his head around suddenly...an all-too familiar presence had entered the area...

"Protos...," he breathed, "But...how...I..watched you die.."

Purposefully, he strode toward the imposing cloaked figure..determined to finally, perhaps, uncover a clue as to the cruel madness which had, until so recently, plagued him.

As the young man quickly crossed the expansive tiled surface of the patio, Protos seemed to stiffen...then, slowly, but inevitably, turned to face his former pupil.

"Well," he began, his tone tinged with slight amusement., "If it isn't.."

Skidplates cut him off, his own voice dripping with malice.

"Murderer." Skidplates' eyes seemed to ignite suddenly with an inhuman fury.

"But..whatever do you mean, my boy...Skidplates..isn't it?"

"Don't play coy with me....You know perfectly well the sins which you,without hesitation, commited, Protos...or at least, the last time that I checked, slaughtering a defenseless female was murder...or has your precious Tribune deemed to once again rewrite the rules of existence?"

For a moment, Protos seemed shocked, at a true loss for words...but quickly...

"How?" he inquired, his tone filled with what seemed to be genuine confusion.

"We're one now...his memories are mine...and mine..at least,what's left of them...are his.We...remember."

At that point, Architeuthis felt it neccesarry to interject.

"Please, could one of you enlighten me as to exactly what you're discussing...?"

JEDI's response was short and curt..yet seemed darkened with sorrow... "Nightblade..they're discussing Nightblade. She and Skidz..and I...share a past."

Protos faced JEDI, tilting his oblong head, his solitary, burning optic seeming to convey amusement. "So...it seems that our dear boy here isn't the only one who's gotten over the amnesia that we engineered...naughty, naughty!"

Skidplates had experienced far more from Protos than he could take...

"Stop..stop speaking to us in that tone, old man...we're children no longer. Perhaps our sparks were young prior to your masters' little experiments..but no longer. The fires of conflict have...matured us."

"Oh, please...," Protos responded, his words dripping with sarcasm. "Had you touched the power that I have..felt the energies of the universe flow through your form, igniting your every synapse with raw power...you'd realize that, despite the challenges which we've formulated for you...you are still merely a lot of unorganized children...a rabble, nothing more."

"I once wondered the same thing," Mako answered, "Tell me, is the ant that raids the picnic evil? It is commiting any heinous act warranting swift and heartless death? And... if it knew what it was doing was inherently wrong, would it change? No. Its is existing- surviving... and yet, in so doing, it poses an inconvienence. We are ants. Less so. If even a single individual among billions proves to distrub the order... all suffer. In the eyes of God, I'm afraid, one billion lives among countless trillions of trillions means nothing."

"But... what did we DO?" Washer asked again.

"We existed, and in our existance, we proved unstable, a random element as it were. I will..." Mako stopped in mid-sentence. Protos and some of the group were facing each other... tension was visibly building.

Skycat and Hitchhiker were at the moment looking rather worried, much like everyone else, still standing and examining everything for a sign of illusion.

The tension between Skidz and Protos was coming to a head near JEDI's seat, and Architeuthis had wisely decided to bow out of it. Mako would let it play out now before he would continue.

Washer broke the pregnant silence with a question, however.

"Mako... I'm remembering things now. I've had a hard time doing that since I got to this island, but..."

"Yes, it was one of the restrictions the Tribunal put on you. Go on."

"Well, I remember aliens. From the plane crash. Large-eyed aliens, like on X-Files."

"Ah yes, the Chagnites. I remember finding their ship. They were what the Tribune used as a gateway for bringing you all to this pocket dimension. Oh, that reminds me...," Mako said, as if he suddenly thought of something, even though it had been one of the only things on his mind for a while now. "I have to close off this reality before it messes up the tapestry any further. We'll continue our conversation in limbo."

A pair of scissors appeared in his hand, and a thread as bright and easy to see as yarn, but as thin as a spider's web, could be seen connecting the floor to the sky, where it was eventually lost in the only light source left on the island, the hole in the dark dome. The scissors were, of course, all metaphorical, and purely for show. Mako stood up and walked over to the dias to cut the string.

The threat to reality caused something to snap. "NO!!!!!" JaggedWing's dark form hurtled toward Mako's. The form suddenly stops in mid-air. The flying shape is stopped in mid-air, arms still out stretched in a flying tackle. "No," JW% said again, suspended in the air.

"And who are you?" Mako asked, "I don't remember you being part of the group."

"I'm JaggedWing, JW% on BWA. Mako, do you remember?"

"No," Mako replied, "Can't say that I recall."

"Obviously not. Unless that happens to be Moon Kitty." JW% said, catching sight of Deborah. (Editor's Note: Moon Kitty is another frequenter to the BWA Board.) "I was the one that put out most of the fire you were trapped in. I was the one that saved JEDI in the avalanche. I was underground for a while."

"Well, if you were once another human, I will gladly change you back." The suspension released, and JW% fell to the ground. There was a flash of light, and the form that hit the ground was not the one that had been flying only a few moments ago.

"Shock," JW% swore in Cybertronian, hitting the pavement with his fist, his overly long fingernails digging into his hand when he made the fist. Had they not seen the change, they would not have recagnized the form laying there. A large black duster coat covered him, shoulder length dark hair, with two streaks of grey hung from his head, and he wore dark blue sweat pants and black boots.

"You can drop the pretense. You are not a Transformer and you never were, so stop swearing like them," Mako said.

"I might not have been Cybertronian, but I was, and always will be, a Transfan," JW% said, standing up. Under his coat, which was simply hanging off of his shoulders, was a dark T-shirt with a tiger's face on it.

"Now that that is finished, and if I will have no further interruptions....," Mako cast a look over at Protos and Skidz, who had stopped glaring at each other for a moment to follow the other drama. "....Then I can finish." He reached out again.

"You're going to cut this reality out of existence? What gives you the right?" JW% snapped quickly.

"The Tribune gave me the right and the responsibility when I gained their powers," Mako snapped. "You think I WANT to do this? Clean up all of reality? No mortal should have that many lives lost, or never existed, on his conscience."

"The Tribune? Oh Mako, how Marvelite of you, you faced down a Living Tribunal," JW% taunted. "Now, think Mako, you can't cut that thread."

"This is probably the only thread I CAN cut that won't lead to destruction of anything but this island."

"No, it won't. If you start playing the role of the Three Fates, then you have to know what you're doing. You can't just cut a thread because it ruins the tapestry."

"I have to!"

"No, you don't. Cutting a thread will cause all the other threads it has come into contact with to unravel. You'll be causing more damage than you are fixing. The best you can hope for is to tie off the thread and wait until you're done weaving before cutting. You might need that thread."

"But I know what I'm doing! The Tribune is within me, giving me the..."

"Didn't you see The Secret Wars on Spider-Man, The Animated Series? You say we are being tested by a force greater than us. Well, pal, I've got news for you, the test might not be over! You might not have merged with anything but another plant in our midst like the alien bugs were. Even if you did get the real thing, you don't know if it gave you its full power."

"No! I know what I'm doing!"

"No you DON'T! One would have to be insane to destroy an entire dimension. You are NOT all-knowing, the fact that you didn't remember me, and the fact that you have no more of an idea of the extent of anything going on here than the rest of us proves that."

"I DO know what I'm doing!" Mako said, with a tone that was quite deep in madness. He reached out to cut again.

"No you DON'T!" This time the roar went sonic, and JW%'s outfit flared up around him. "I'll prove it! You did NOT turn me human, this is NOT my human body, this is an illusion. Your powers were held at bay for just a second by all my field generators working in concert, and boosted by all the technology I coud find, to warp reality at just the right moment to stop you." The grey streaks lifted up and became the horns, the hair faded away, the coat became his wings again, and the T-shirt once more the tiger's head on his chest. JaggedWing, in full robotic battle mode, floated a mere inch off the ground. "See!?" His wrist fans flared.

JEDI burst out of her human form, full-sized this time, in her battle mode. Energy crackled around her in a nimbus, but Mako held it back. A simple look and JW% was thrown away.

"You choose to fight, Mr. Mako?" Jake demanded, brandishing his long staff.

"Yes, we choose to fight him," Architeuthis said. "You should too. He promised you your human body again, didn't he? You don't have it, do you? You're still in your ugly robot mode. A hideous travesty of a form. Something straight from Bob Skir's little brain, child."

"No... I...," Jake was taken aback. Now that he thought of it, he HAD been promised.

"But you will NEVER get a human body. You never had a human body to begin with, if what Mako says is true!" Hitchhiker chimes in. "You are simply a plant by the alien forces, you are and always will be the thing you most hate."

"NO!" Jake screams in rage, dropping his weapon. He will go after them with his bare hands! His entire form is encased in a light show, as his body contorts into the shape of a large gorilla. Primal grunts and howls are all he can make as he smashes the table.

"Not even a decent transformer," JW% says a little woozily, standing back up. "You morphed."

"Was that really a good thing to do?" Hitchhiker asks Architeuthis.

"Of course it was!" Matrix says, rolling and scooping up Jake's fallen staff. Matrix's skin tears off of him in the roll, and under it is his robotic form again.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Deborah has come out to aid Mako. Hailblaze and Washer are having a hard time keeping her occupied. Thuntor decended on the group like a storm, throwing Scaleblade's small form aside and releasing a bolt of power at Vail. Vail's thought of, "Oh no, I hate being dead", is cut off as Ed pushes her out of the way and takes the fatal blow himself.

"Transformer... transform... how do I transform?" Enforcer asks to no one in particular.

"Similar to how you transformed before," JW% snaps, trying to fly toward Mako, who is quickly dealing with JEDI. Suddenly, JW% had an inspiration. "This time you're leaving a pretender shell. Snap your wrist together and yell 'Pretend'."

"I feel like an idiot doing this," Enforcer mutters, emulating the MasterForce pose and yelling his activation code. His human body splits, and his towering robot form is revealed. "YEAH! NOW it's time for some fun! ALL WEAPONS ONLINE!" Mako doesn't even pause in his struggle with JEDI to send a bolt of energy into Enforcer's chest plate. JW% dodges out of the way as Enforcer's body is thrown back.

"I know all your strengths! I created all of you! I have the power! I know what I'm doing, what I MUST do!" Mako was ranting. JEDI's powers shorted out, and her body was sent crashing backwards.

In the explosion of sudden fury, Protos, his madness broiling beneath the surface for so long, finally and ultimately snapped.

"Well," he began, spinning suddenly in his seat, his tone dripping with malice..

"It's long past time that we settled some old...affairs." With incredible force, his body exploded into a raging inferno, superheating the air around him to a near-boiling temperature.

All around him erupted towering, licking golden flames, like a thousand malevolent, hissing serpents. And through it all, the same smirk twisted his lips..his optic glowing like a white-hot blade.

"But first...," Snapping his wrist around, a fireball blasted forth from his outstretched palm, smashing into JEDI, and consuming her in a sphere of pure flame. Distracted by Mako's assault, she was unprepared for the new-found threat. Hurled through the air, her body aflame, she slammed hard into the polished marble floor, her hard metal form clashing with the floor's unyielding surface with a scream.

"Now that that old thread has..how shall we say..been cut..I believe that you and I, my dear boy, are LONG overdue for a little reunion.You DO remember old times, don't you, lad?"

The juxtaposition of sheer, cruel brutality, and Protos' mocking tones slashed into Skidplates like a verbal dagger, cutting him to the quick..and igniting a boiling furnace within his blood.

"Oh, our boy's finally getting a tad angry, now isn't he..what have I told you about.."

"Shut...UP..," growled Skidplates, his tone low and deep with menace. His eyes burned with pure fury...it had all finally reached a climax...and the sight of JEDI's flaming body, as she attempted to struggle to her feet...Protos's mockery..all were contributing to Skidplates' rage.

"Make me."

Protos flicked his wrist again, and oh-so-casually, sent a bolt of energy hissing forth across the room, striking Vail dead-center in the chest. The superheated plasma seared away her human flesh in an instant, sending her robot form crashing to the floor.

"So...do you like?" Protos sneered, eyeing he who had once been his pupil..he whom he had so cruely manipulated..driven over the edge of sanity, into the realm of madness.

Protos, poised to continue his verbal torture, gasped suddenly, clutching at his armored chest..at three smoking holes, bored neatly through his massive form...

Behind him stood JEDI, or Windchaser rather..the fusion which now existed in their place..not one completely..nor the other. Coils of smoke drifted from the barrels of her laser pipe cannons, still superheated from her assault.

"Oh...oh...," Protos moaned in falseto voice, dropping to his knees, "I am so...so...unamused."

In the blink of an eye, he bridged the distance between himself and JEDI, and, drawing back his fists, began laying blow after blow into her, almost too quickly for her to block. His cape billowed, strangely unaflame, despite the aura of fire that consumed him..snapping back her own wrist, JEDI drove a fist into Protos's gut, smashing her way through fabric, steel, and circuitry...unleashing a trememdous explosion.

Skidplates stood, viewing this clash of the titans with growing anger..and an increasing conviction that he had to end the battle..the entire affair..and soon.

"Impressive, girl...but remember..I taught you everything you know!" With that exclamation, Protos' cloak ripped from his body..his massive form, with its flaring shoulder wings...massive leg thrusters, pulsing with power...a giant in gleaming amber and midnight black, he seemed to quite suddenly tower over JEDI.

"Now..to deliver to you the same fate, my girl, that I granted your SISTER! You do remember Nightblade, don't you? So full of life..of energy..of intelligence..a pity that I was forced to kill her so..so violently," His tone full of sarcasm, Protos feigned wiping an imaginary tear from his face...

"But, oh well, all in a day's work!" With that, his fingertips ignited with psionic fire...

"Nightblade...no...noooooo!!!"

Protos spun to watch in surprise, as the young man strode through the flaming tempest, oblivious to the conflict raging around them all...with each step, more and more of his flesh seared from his body..Skidplates was seemingly..beyond pain.

"You killed her, you..you idiot," he began, his voice cold and hard, "Wiped one from the world, one who never thought of hurting you..who trusted you like...slag it, like a father!"

"Well...Father knows best."

Skidplates trembled with fury..and, ultimately...

"Forgive me..," he whispered, his voice rough..

Unexpectedly, from his stomach exploded a mass of coiling tendrils, the mark of his robotic heritage.

"Now...Protos..," he ground out. "Now...you die!!"

All at once, his human form shredded, robotic components bursting from every part of his body..his skull tore away, the glowing visor beneath flaming with pure intensity.

His wrist launchers slid open, grenades screaming forth in the blink of an eye and tearing into Protos's thick body armor, sending hunks of slag, gobbets of molten metal, flying into the air.

"You fool..you poor, miserable child...I made you what you are..and this is how you repay me!?"

"True, Protos..," Skidplates responded, his plasma cannon dropping into his ready hand, "You did make me what I am..and now..it's time to reap what you've sown!"

Skidplates' cannon screamed pure starfire. As Protos leapt aside, the blasts stuck a nearby column, nearly vaporizing it.

In mid-air, Protos spun, his open hand again releasing energetic death..pure daggers of magnetic force..his vaunted "psionic power".

"I..am unto a god! So bow before me!" he grinned,as the beams of energy struck Skidplates, knocking him onto his back.

Skidplates' body only seemed to absorb the assault, flashing with a white light.

His servomotors groaning, Skidplates hissed but one word..

"Blasphemy."

Rising slowly to his feet, Skidplates pulled back his fist, then, once again, ripped forth, this time with a hailstorm of grenades; they fired as quickly as the ammunition reserves in his backpack section could load them.

The rockets, like deadly fireflies, whirled around Protos, dodging his every attempt to blast them.

Ultimately, rage burning in his eyes, Skidplates raised his own outstretched palm...then slammed it into a fist, detonating each and every single grenade.

White-hot shrapnel gouged into Protos, drawing forth gushing reserves of mech fluid.What the shrapnel failed to attack, the multiple explosions tore away.

Screaming in pain, Protos was smashed into the unforgiving floor, his body twitching and trembing.

"Is this how it felt, Protos?" Skidplates asked, his tone strangely conversational, "This is how Nightblade must have felt, when you melted her down to a lump of lifeless slag!!"

Balling his fist yet again, Skidplates drove it into the cockpit built into Protos' chest, tearing through glass, circuits, and steel.

"I have a mind to tear out your spark...to squeeze it..to crush it..," Skidplates continued, as he routinely slammed blow after blow into Protos's struggling form. Protos, with sudden force, seized Skidplates'wrist, and began crushing..

"Really, Protos..I'd have thought that such was..how did you always put it..below you." Skidplates brought up his other arm, and, squeezing the trigger of his cannon, blew Protos' lower arm off.

"Now...maybe that's how she felt, when you ripped her in half..or was she already beaten into submission at that point? What was it, hmmm?"

JEDI could not believe what she was seeing...

"Skidz..no...it's not worth..this torture..," she whispered.

Protos, his visor darkened, a spiderweb of cracks spread across it, cracked a smile.

"You know, dear boy...you're already mine..look at you...carrying on Daddy's tradition."

"You...are...not..my..father!" Skidplates' scream burst forth, followed by a swift impact which tore open half of Protos' face.

An explosion rocked the structure suddenly...but both warriors were seemingly oblivious to the mayhem that surrounded them. Their entire conflict had begun...and seemingly, would end..with them.

Time seemed to slow, as if all was suspended in liquid. Skidplates raised his head suddenly..some new force..crackling and whispering in his audio sensors...and beyond the range of sensory perception, it resounded..within his very spark.

"Skidzzz....nnnooo..," JEDI screamed, as Protos, ever so slowly, raised his hand..his aim blind...desperate, in what he sensed to be the final hour..to finally..eliminate..his hated foe. But she was forced to turn away..to again confront Mako.

The sphere of psi-energy seemed to drift ponderously across the scant feet separating Skidz and Protos...Skidz knew, as he eyed the sphere, that the end was inevitable...and, in the final seconds, brought his cannon to bear.

Two orbs of destruction, one golden, and the other silver..the sun and moon..the opposite sides of..oblivion..

..The psi-blast struck Skidplates...digging into him, seeming to shred and peel away his body like an onion...Protos had only a second to revel..before he too, was consumed in plasma flame...the anger of lost love..unleashed.

As the molten cloud that once had been Protos slowly expanded, Skidplates dropped gently to the floor..what scant components were left of his form splayed on the creamy marble floors. He was peripherally aware of a growing light..the tone which he had sensed before..the archaic whispers that he had heard all along...throughout the conflicts..the trials.

"The light..," he thought, slowly, "Is the darkest hour...."

"God...but..no..is..no god..but....Primus..." And, in those final seconds..he knew the truth.

Reality has drawn to a halt..for but a scant moment..there is no past..no future..there is only..the now.

"You don't know all our powers!" JW% yells, making Mako look to him instead of the thread. "You don't know this one!" JW% curls up into a ball, shouting an activation code. "TransMetallic!" JW%'s form turns a black-and-white for a second as a self-containd quantum surge strikes his body, then he unfolds into a new body, a Transmetal feline with bat parts. "You are not all-seeing."

"And you really didn't see this one coming," Skycat says from behind Mako. He turns and she give him a solid right cross to the chin. Mako seems unphased for the most part, but a trail of blood dribbles from his lip to his chin.

"PITIFUL CHILDREN, ALL OF YOU!" Mako bellows, and the world explodes. "I will cut the thread and leave you ALL in this reality! You don't understand, and you don't deserve to!"

The waves of power, not just force, not just psi, not just radiation, but pure power that explodes, show that Mako has been pulling all his punches. JW% has his field dampers on full, boosted by his Transmetal powers, and he is still forced to kneel down and dig in with the stiletto blades on his hands. JEDI fairs about the same. A dreadlock from Architeuthis wraps around JW%'s leg as she is almost blown away. Enforcer and Beastbot grab a column of the building and both try to catch Hailblaze and Hitchhiker as they are thrown from the ground. Washer attempts similar with Vail and Ed. Matrix uses his blades to dig in, but even with them up to the hilt he cuts a full foot long trench from being forced back. Scaleblade and Skycat are on the other side of the explosion, and no one can see where they go. In fact, they can't see much of anything;  all scanners are reading right off the scale, and looking now would be like looking into the sun.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything is calm. The explosion is still happening, it has just been slowed to the point that it seems to have stopped. JW% blinks to let his eyes adjust as his visor polarizes against the brightness.

"What happened?" Architeuthis asks from behind him. "Did he cut the thread?"

"I don't know," JW% replies.

"No, he hasn't yet," Skidz says weakly from over by JEDI, "He just stopped. If the blades moved one more micrometer, they would cut it, but everything seems frozen in time."

"And that is how it will stay." A powerful voice comes from everywhere.

"Grand, now what are we going to deal with?" Matrix asks.

"The end."

"Gee, that clears things up," JEDI says.

"Let me try to explain."

JW% blinks again as a large shape stomps forward from the bright light. "Monolith?" JW% gasps. All around, the others are doing the same, but none of them said the same word.

"No," The crystal form says, the voice dropping down to a more reasonable level now that it is coming from a body. "Well, maybe. It all depends on how you look at it."

"I am, for lack of a better term, an emissary of those who are in charge." He holds up a hand to forstall argument. "No, I know that you are all seeing something different. Some of you are seeing Tigerhawk, some of you are seeing the Vok, some of you are seeing a floating head of Unicron, most of you are seeing something that means something to you and you alone. You are probably even hearing things differently, each getting a slightly different explanation that covers all of your questions. This was indeed a grand experiment. A shame it is over, the game was so much fun. At any rate, the forces that be thank you for your participation. I know you will probably never fully understand just what exactly happened here, I don't even understand it all myself; and look at my position, so don't feel bad. This was... an experiment, a game, a story, all woven into one. Each of you had your... sponsors I suppose, that set goals for you. I'm not sure what the goals were, or even if you reached them. Mako, in particular, had an interesting sponsor, though each of yours were unique. You have all been tested, on what scale I don't know, but you were given different advantages and disadvantages. For example, the large black Transformer you found on the beach, it had what each of you did, but it lacked the machine touch, the nerual net, the positronic synapse, whatever you wish to call it, that lets you interface with your robotic bodies. Some of you had an overabundance of the machine touch, and it lead to problems; some of you merged so fluidly you never noticed it. The sectoid aliens, the storm, the X'Kaetil, -and they were X'Kaetil, not Sirie- the fire, the avalanche, the Tribune, each of those was a test. Some of you failed, some of you passed, all of you were judged differently. Are you all ready to be sent back now?"

His form is brutalized..his faceplate split down the middle by a wicked crack...the very substance of his face oozing out in inky goblets. His optic band flickers....his own thread, like that of reality..near fragmentation.

"We...we...we did it...'Chaser...," he grinds out, his voice nearly broken...slowly, he turns his head, gazing at JEDI, who has, during the entity's explanation, come to his side...Vail is there as well..both of them seem...afraid..for some odd reason.

Perhaps the condition of his form...the missing legs, torn brutally from their housings...or his chest, stripped of all but a few shards of fur and steel, where once was his feline head...

"It's..not the end..'Chaser..Vail...for me..for you..all of us...it's but..but the beginning.."

There were some nods, and some that looked uncomforatable. Enforcer expressed his concern first.

"I kinda like my robot body. Can't I keep it?" The timid question sounded odd, coming from such a large and powerful mech. Whatever he saw, he either feared it or admired it greatly.

"That is a question, isn't it? In a way you will, in another way you won't. The thread of reality unravels into parallel worlds. In one, your spirit will return to its world of humans and think that this is all a dream, or perhaps something you made up. In another, your body will return to its world of robots and think the same. Everything possible in between will happen too. A gestalt of both worlds might form, to match the gestalt of you. You might appear as a human on Cybertron, or a transformer on Earth. We have decided to unravel this thread, so we know where it is next time we wish to play the game, try the experiment, or tell the story. Next time, not all of you will be there, and not all of you will be the same, or there might be more of you even. It isn't that anything can happen, it is that EVERYTHING can happen. It all depends."

That answer satisfied everyone, despite its cryptic form.

"No...," whispers JEDI.

"No...grieving was never your...your style, Chaser." He ceases to speak for a moment...seeming to stare off, into the light field.

She clasps his outstretched hand..stained with his lifeblood.

"I've seen...," he continues, his voice increasing in excitement...in almost..joy.

"I've seen..the light...where..all are one...my path..ours..are far from over....please, I implore you, though...."

She's begun to fade away..divergent facets of reality reclaiming them..

"Do...do not grieve...today..is but the first day...of our new..newfound..destinies..I know..," He seems to almost grin.. ".....I know that..doesn't make sense..but...know that it's...not...over...yet."

"Very well now, shall we leave?" They all nodded, and each had their own way of leaving. JEDI opened a portal. Beastbot cloaked into nothingness. JW% entered the octogonal structure of his dimensional ship, the Megalith, and it carried him. The Blackmech's spirit simply faded out, returning to whoever it came from.

And, as all became nothingness...new frontiers claiming them...finally..the madness..has ended.

"Just...you and me...now...," Skidplates grins...but, in a moment, realized that he is of two minds no longer..he is, at last, whole.

As he too begins to slip away...a cool breeze seeming to waft over him...the same voice..his voice..repeats within his mind.

"Over for now...but..not..over...yet."

The thread of reality was tied off, but far from cut.

Epilogue

He took one last look around.

The sky was clear, and the air crisp. It was twilight, a most appropriate time, and the crickets were singing, birds in flight. It was as it should be. Then, he felt another presence, and an arm around his.

"Dear?"

"Yes?" Mako grinned, as his mate rested her head on his shoulder. "I know."

"Do you think they'll really be satisfied with what we've done?"

"Frankly, my dear, right now, I don't give a care," he said, flashing her a smile. "Where shall we be off to next, my love?"

Moon Kitty/Deborah raised a hand, and an image appeared in the air before them. "I created this one in my previous form, but it has proven... unstable."

"Another one?" Mako kissed her lightly. "You seem to be losing your touch with age. How long has it been, my Genesis?"

"At least fifty or sixty billion years, I'd say," she giggled, "But I look young."

"That you do," Mako sighed slightly, "This... is a good life we have chosen. Young, strong forms. They are a worthy addition to us."

"Hmmm...," she added in.

The two watched the sun slowly set over the horizon. One last sunset. One last kiss on this world.

"My dear, I believe it's time to go," Mako led Moon Kitty back into the house, "My old world is in good hands. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without you. We've spent an eternity together, and you still continue to surprise me. My Genesis..."

"My Tribune, My Destroyer... I do love you."

"And I you," Mako snapped his fingers and all was dark, the island gone. "Let us depart. We both have much work ahead of us."

The End?

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