Mazikeen jumped up and yelped as she felt pain run through her body. June ran over to her immediately and put a hand on her shoulder and gently laid her back down, 

"Mazikeen!"

Mazikeen groaned and opened her eyes to see the worried looks everyone was giving her, 

"Oh, hey, I feel like I missed something,"

Miko sighed, 

"A boogey man is living in the Earth,"

Mazikeen rubbed her eyes, 

"I'm sorry. Did Miko just say a boogey man is living in the Earth...don't you mean on?"

Ratchet sighed, 

"No, and Miko meant to say Unicron,"

Mazikeen's eyes widened and she tried sitting up again but was immediately pushed back down, 

"Stop trying to sit up!"

Mazikeen winced and shook her head, 

"No, no, I need to stand up,"

Ratchet glared at her, 

"Mazikeen. I swear to Primus-"

"That's just it!"

They all looked at her in confusion. Miko frowned, 

"I think we lost her,"

Mazikeen shook her head, 

"You don't get it. Where is Unicron exactly?"

Wheeljack crossed his arms and sighed, 

"He's at the center of the Earth,"

Mazikeen frowned, 

"What? How is that possible?"

Ratchet knelt down in front of her, 

"Do you know the tale of Primus' battle against Unicron?"

Mazikeen nodded, 

"Yeah, Primus created the original thirteen Primes to defeat Unicron, they cast him off and killed him,"

Ratchet nodded, 

"Yes, it is believed that they did offline him. But, we have just discovered that he was only in deep stasis. We believe that debris surrounded Unicron through time. That is how Earth came to be,"

Mazikeen frowned and looked around at everyone, 

"Why is everyone looking at me in concern?"

June put a hand on her shoulder, 

"Mazikeen, Raf got hit too. We helped him first, but...when we helped you, you didn't wake up. Your mark was glowing too and we didn't know why,"

Mazikeen winced and shrugged, 

"I feel better now,"

Phoenix flew down to her and crossed her arms, 

"You do?"

Mazikeen nodded, 

"Yeah,"

"Then why did you jump up when you woke up and why did you react like that when they said Unicron?"

Mazikeen sighed and patted Phoenix's shoulder, 

"Don't worry about me, Phoenix, I'm fine,"

Jack sighed, 

"Maze,"

"Nope, if you think I don't recognize that tone of your voice, I do. But I'm honestly fine,"

"Did you speak to him?"

Mazikeen tilted her head at Phoenix,

"Who?"

"Cade,"

Mazikeen sighed and nodded, 

"Yeah, I did. I have a puzzle to solve so I can go home,"

Arcee crossed her arms, 

"What is the puzzle?"

Mazikeen smiled at her, 

"Now, where is the fun of that? Sorry, guys, but this is a puzzle I gotta solve by myself,"

Miko frowned, 

"But-"

"Miko, I'm sorry, I really am. This is something for me to solve, no one else can help,"

Wheeljack frowned, 

"But we are your friends,"

Mazikeen nodded, 

"Yes, you are, but I am the only one that can solve it,"

June sighed, 

"Maze, you have to let people help you,"

Mazikeen nodded, 

"And I will when it's time for help,"

They all just sighed. Mazikeen frowned, 

"Where is Optimus?"

Ratchet glanced at her, 

"He's out searching for Unicron,"

Mazikeen's eyes widened, 

"You let him go alone?!"

Ratchet frowned and nodded, 

"I will reach out to him right now,"

He opened the comm-link, 

"Optimus, have you uncovered any further proof of Unicron's emergence?"

"Unicron is power incarnate, and you the last of the Primes shall perish. Along with the Herald of Primus,"

Ratchet frowned, 

"I'll take that as a yes. We are on our way!"

Mazikeen's eyes widened when she heard Herald of Primus.

"Negative, Unicron can not be defeated by sheer force. He wants me, Ratchet. This fight must be mine alone,"

Bulkhead frowned, 

"But he also said something about a Herald of Primus. What does that mean?"

Ratchet shook his head, 

"I do not know. Heralds of Primus were all offlined during the war on Cybertron. No one has seen one in eons,"

Mazikeen frowned, 

"We have to help him!"

Phoenix nodded, 

"I will go,"

Ratchet shook his head, 

"Absolutely not! You are both staying in this base. Everyone else, get ready. I am sending you over to him,"

Wheeljack knelt down next to Mazikeen and Phoenix, 

"We will be back before you know it, Corn,"

Mazikeen sighed but nodded, 

"Fine,"

Miko raised her fist, 

"You get him, Bulk!"

Bulkhead chuckled and nodded, 

"Let's roll out!"

Mazikeen watched them leave and turned to Phoenix, 

"Come,"

Phoenix quickly followed Mazikeen as they walked into a small spot where no one would hear them, 

"What is it, Maze?"

"I want you to stay by the kids,"

"What? Why? Where are you going?"

Mazikeen shrugged, 

"Just in case, okay?"

Phoenix sighed but nodded, 

"Alright,"

Mazikeen immediately ran back over when she heard a slam. She looked up to see Ratchet seething with anger,

"Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still siding with evil,"

"Do you think you witnessed the full power of Unicron, those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron has yet to awaken fully. With each passing moment, the bringer of chaos evolves, mutating Earth from the inside out. What we have witnessed  until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon your world."

Mazikeen's eyes widened,

"That's Megatron,"

"Like your quest for power has destroyed Cybertron?"

"Make no mistake, this time, there will be a planet left for me to rule."

Mazikeen ran over to Phoenix and immediately told her to go to Miko. She heard Optimus talk about ground bridging,

"Absolutely not! Ground bridging onto a moving train or space is difficult enough, but plotting a blind jump inside of a sentient being is even more difficult. Besides, exposure to that much dark Energon will destroy you. You haven't built up enough of a tolerance for that like Megatron!"

"Yet another great reason for soliciting my help,"

Mazikeen frowned. 

"You can provide us with exact coordinates for Unicron?"

"I can do you better. I can transport us into the very spark of Unicron,"

Mazikeen frowned, 

"I don't like this,"

Miko nodded, 

"How can we trust him?"

They could hear Arcee sigh, 

"Even if we get to his spark, how are we supposed to stop Unicron?"

"With the Matrix of Leadership,"

Mazikeen's eyes widened, 

"The Matrix,"

Fowler frowned, 

"What is that?"

Ratchet sighed, 

"A vessel of pure energy, the collective wisdom of the Primes,"

Jack frowned, 

"Do we even have time to go on a scavenger hunt?"

Mazikeen crossed her arms and leaned against the rails, 

"Does Optimus have it?"

Ratchet nodded, 

"Optimus carries it within him,"

"It would follow that unleashing the complete power of the Matrix into Unicron's spark that it would return him to stasis,"

Miko frowned, 

"Hold on, if everything goes right. Unicron is going to stay down there?"

"Yeah, can't we get him out somehow? Like get him following a trap and boom bye Unicron,"

"He's not in the core, he is the core,"

"Tampering with the core could very well destroy this world. Tragically, Unicron must stay there."

Mazikeen sighed as she heard Optimus ask for a ground bridge. She watched as the Autobots came in. She ignored them speak as she looked at her mark. She thought about what she learned from Barricade and knew that this was why she was here. She looked up as she zeroed into the conversation again, 

"If humankind is to be saved, I have no choice but to proceed. But you do,"

Bulkhead crossed his arms, 

"I don't know about humankind, but I'm willing to do it for Miko,"

"For Jack,"

"For Raf,"

"For Maze,"

Mazikeen smiled and nodded, 

"Let's get this on the road,"

Ratchet immediately started pushing Miko as she groaned, 

"But I wanna see himmmm!"

Phoenix came flying over to her and picked her up, 

"Hey! Phoenix this is so cheating!"

"Oh, quiet. You will have more opportunities, I'm sure,"

Optimus glanced over at Mazikeen, 

"Thank you,"

Mazikeen nodded her head, 

"Anything for a friend,"

She watched him go over to Jack and hand him something but ignored it as she walked over to Raf and put a hand on his shoulder, 

"It's okay, Raf,"

Raf nodded and held onto her hand. They watched as Ratchet opened up the ground bridge again. She glared as she saw Megatron enter from the portal. 

"So, this is where the magic happens. Quaint,"

Mazikeen felt Raf move from under her hand and run up to Megatron, 

"Raf!"

"You!"

Mazikeen immediately caught up to Raf and pushed him behind her. She knew everyone followed behind her. They were staring at Megatron as he smirked down at the two,

"Ah, you are looking much better than the last time we met. Humans are resilient,"

Jack frowned, 

"Come on Raf, he's not worth it,"

"And you, I remember you. I never forget the face of a human,"

Miko glared, 

"If you double cross any of them. You will never forget my face! Never!"

Fowler dragged her away, and Megatron stared at Mazikeen, 

"You. Who are you?"

Mazikeen glared at him, 

"Your doom,"

Optimus sighed, 

"Tell Ratchet the coordinates so we can go,"

Megatron nodded and left. Wheeljack knelt down next to Mazikeen, 

"Don't do anything stupid,"

Mazikeen smirked, 

"No promises. I'll see you later, Jackie,"

"Yeah, see you later, Corn,"

Everyone watched as they left through the ground bridge, and Mazikeen sighed, 

"I got a bad feeling about this,"