Prime: Whatever It Takes

The Matrix of Leadership

"Look!" Emilia points out the window, causing Bumblebee to skid to a stop. He turns, driving close to the cliff. Built onto the side of it was a giant door. It looked carved out of the rock itself. A form of tomb just waiting for them. They were right.

The blonde pushes her door open, running for the entrance to pull herself in. The other three were behind her, and the Autobots had transformed so they could enter. It was big enough that they didn't even have to duck to get in.

Emilia enters the tomb first, but her smile fades when she sees the inside. Empty. Nothing but a mural painted on the far wall. She looks around, feeling her heart drop. She had to have been right. There was nothing left to the puzzle, and it was all empty!

She leans her back against the stone wall, her head going down into her hands as she slides down the wall to sit. This couldn't be happening.

"Wow, Okay," Leo scoffs. "We're trusting grandpa blackbird who doesn't even know what planet he's on."

"In his defense," Simmons says. "This is the biggest doorway I've ever seen in my life."

"Oh. Okay. Well, that's great. Let me do a quick search, Alright?" He turns in a circle. "Uh... nope. Ever cross your mind, guys, that archeologists have been here before? There's nothing here!"

"Real life is heartbreaking, kid! Sometimes you get to the end of the rainbow and the leprechauns went and booby-trapped it!"

"Why am I listening to you? You live with your mother!"

"This isn't over," Emilia shakes her head. She couldn't give up. Not now. Not when they were so close.

"Emilia, baby, I think you're amazing, but it's over. It's done."

"Why're we still listening to a kid?" Mudflap shakes his head. "I mean, what you ever do?"

"Killed Megatron, how about that?" Skid argues.

"Wel, she didn't get the job done, you know what I mean, cause he's back now and he's-"

"Are you scared?"

"Scared? Scared of your ugly face!" At that, he throws a punch at his brother, and Emilia stands quickly.

"I'm ugly? We're twins you stupid genius!" Skids grabs his twin around his torso and flings him into the mural.

"Oh, bring it on then!" The twin stands up and launches himself over, the two beginning to properly fight without a thought of the humans around them.

"Guys! Come on!" Sam yells, knowing it was no use. They were always bickering.

Bumblebee moves over, grabbing each twin and lifting them away from each other. They start to complain, but he gives them no time as he clashes their bodies together and throws them out of the tomb. Then, he glances at Emilia.

"Ignore them," he says. "You've done a lot."

The blonde glances at him, before turning back to the mural, which had a crack in it. There was air blowing through, so there had to be something on the other side.

Simmons must have caught on, for he came over and pulled a piece of the mural out, revealing a piece of metal, the symbols etched into it.

"Oh my god," Emilia said quietly. "The symbols." She turns, pulling Simmons away. "Bee!"

The moment the humans were all far enough away, Bumblebee turned his hand into a blaster and shot the tomb open. Emilia was the first to return, Simmons pulling a flashlight out and handing it to her.

"I'm going in," the girl says, before stepping into the metal cavern. Moving the flashlight around, she sees metal faces and arms wrapping around them to form the tomb. "These are the bodies Jetfire was talking about."

"The tomb of the Primes," Simmons nods.

As Emilia moves further in, seeing a small platform. When she shines her light on it, her jaw nearly drops. There it was. "The Matrix," she said, grabbing everyone's attention.

She doesn't hesitate to move to it, seeing it hum with Energon. She looks around, the three guys not knowing what to do. So, she took in a small breath, and reaches for it.

It's heavy in her small hands, and it shines against the light. But almost as soon as she had it, it crumbled and turned to dust. Emilia felt her heart shatter when it did. "No," she whispered, her voice shaking. "No, no, no!"

"Thousands of years, turned to dust," Simmons shakes his head.

"This is not how this is supposed to end..."

The older man perks his head up, hearing jets over head. "You hear that?" He asks, before moving to the exit with Leo. But Emilia and Sam remained.

"You can't bring him back, Emilia," Sam shakes his head. "There's nothing left."

"Look! Look around you!" She motions to the Primes encasing them. "We didn't just go through everything we went through for no reason at all, and to have it just end like this. There is a reason that we are here. The voice and the symbols in my head led us here on purpose. Everyone's after me because of what I know, and what I know is that this is going to work."

"How do you know it's gonna work?"

Emilia stands, pulling off her shoe and then taking her sock off before shoving her foot back in her shoe again. She moves to the platform, pouring the dust into her white sock.

"Because I believe it," she tells her brother, making sure to get every speck of dust. "Because I know that I was chosen for a reason, and that I fell in love with Optimus Prime for a reason. He's not meant to die like this, is isn't meant to stay dead. He has to fight this and he has to win, because more than I believe in anything or anyone, I believe in him."

"Emilia," Sam moves to her after she finished, tying the sock closed. "If this doesn't work-"

"It's going to work," she nods. "I need it to."