The artificial gravity generators made by Quintus and Vector were working well, making sure the Thirteen stayed on the "floor" of their base near the Core.
Not for long.
Optimus Prime drew near the gravity generators. "Sow chaos," Unicron had told him. "And fear will bloom." Optimus was doing so. Taking his G-metal sword from his back, he braced himself against the wall and brought it down on the generator. It sputtered to a halt, and gravity started to point back towards the Core.
Optimus Prime stood up on the wall and leapt through the door. Since he was near the centre of the planet, gravity was weak, and he slowly floated down.
The fallen Prime finally landed on the Core -- landed on Primus -- after a minute-long fall. His sword never left his hand, and now he filled it up with dark energon, the blood of Unicron, making it glow a sinister dark purple.
"By the power of Unicron," Optimus Prime called out, raising his sword. "May you fall asleep, never to awaken!" He plunged the sword up to its hilt into the Core.
The veins of Cybertron turned dark purple.
Most of the Primes were going to the gravity generator, but when the veins suddenly changed colour, they knew something was wrong. They fired their aerial propulsion systems, landing on the Core with a clang.
"Who would betray Primus?" Optimus shouted at the rest of the Primes. "Me! You have not thought of that, have you?"
Prima looked hurt. He reached behind his back, not for the Star Saber, but for the Matrix of Leadership. He brought it in front of his chest and started pulling the two halves apart.
Optimus Prime swept his sword in an arc, and a wave of dark energon knocked Prima away, and the Matrix out of his hands.
Solus fired her jets, charging at Optimus. He responded with a Dark-En wave. Solus hit the centre of the wave with the Forge, forming element 113 just like the last time with Unicron, but the rest of the wave flung her away from her hammer.
"Solus!" Megatronus flew towards her.
"I'm fine," Solus said, holding out her hand. The Forge flew towards it, landing in her hands perfectly. It grazed past Megatronus, knocking him aside. Once it was back in her hands, she fired two opposing jets, spinning her around. She released the Forge, and it flew into Optimus, knocking him away.
Prima reached for the Matrix, and it sped towards his hands, but was knocked away by another dark energon arc.
Quintus raised his hand. A magenta portal with specks of lime green opened near the wall of the chamber. A large hulking beast flew out it, weapons trained on Optimus. Volleys and volleys of missiles were fired, but all were detonated mid-flight by Optimus's Dark-En-infused G-metal sword.
"Do you know what Unicron's problem is?" Optimus shouted as he rammed into the beast with his shoulder. "He is a god. He underestimates you. He does not know you well either. I, on the other hand, know all your tricks. You cannot fool me." He stabbed the creature in the neck.
"Wrong, brother," Prima called. The Matrix was back in his hands and he pulled it apart.
"No!" Optimus charged up his blade, flinging a gigantic arc of Dark-En towards all of them, but it was too late. The dark purple tainting Cybertron's veins retreated into Primus, who ejected it as a dark purple crystal.
Prima fell unconscious after using the Matrix. The Dark-En wave slammed into everyone, knocking them away from Optimus and separating them from their weapons. Solus was knocked into the portal, appearing next to Megatronus near the core. Everyone else was slammed into the walls of the Core chamber, some even denting it. Optimus sliced through the air, throwing wave after wave of dark energon towards Prima.
"When the time comes, one of you must sacrifice yourself." That was what Primus had said, and what Solus is thinking of now. Though she is on the verge of blacking out, she reached out for her Forge. As it happens, Optimus Prime was halfway between them. Catching on to what she was doing, Megatronus held onto her hand and kept himself to the Core with his telekinesis, anchoring her.
The Forge of Solus Prime made a beeline for its owner, and since Optimus was preoccupied with Prima, he didn't see it coming. It slammed Optimus into Solus, through the wall of the Core, forming a hole. Megatronus was wrenched off the wall and into the Core.
Silence.
Then the Core sealed up the sides of the hole, forming a perfectly circular opening. It then spun around to an area and fired. The beam of energon cut through to the surface, forming the Well of All Sparks. As the rest of the Primes looked on, the Well spewed forth mechanical life forms of all shapes and sizes, from the diminutive Minicons to the gargantuan Predacons.
From the mass of new robots, Alpha Trion could spot the three Primes reincarnated. Two unnamed gladiators from Solus and Megatronus, and the data clerk Optronix from Optimus.
Alpha Trion decided he would be Optronix's mentor, hopefully to divert him from the path of evil.
