"Okay... Stay calm..."

Optimus stood in his quarters alone, the door closed as he paced back and forth. What to say? The second he walked in there, Sentinel would just disregard everything he said to him. But he needed to speak to him, to set a few things straight, even if Sentinel didn't like it.

He took a moment to collect himself, and then marched straight out of his quarters. "Jazz, where is Sentinel?" He inquired.

"I saw 'im a few cycles ago down in the lower levels. He was mumblin' somethin' about no respectin' your elder bots."

Optimus nodded, and then passed the ninja to head downstairs to the basement. Even as he entered the elevator, he could hear his former friend speaking from below, and as he entered the lower levels, he followed the sound into the large room Soundwave had once trapped them in, now devoid of hardly any technology, cybertronian or human.

Sentinel was standing in the center, speaking quietly as if he were addressing the High Council on a topic.

Optimus had once joked that losing the respect of his subordinates might drive the Elite Guard mad, but now he was hoping that hadn't been the case. "...Sentinel?"

Sentinel whipped around frantically, his optics wide for a moment before narrowing. "You heard nothing, Optimus! Nothing!"

Optimus fought back a groan, "Sentinel, I need to talk to you."

"Oh, about what? About how much of a failure I am at keeping my troops in line? Or how it's my fault that you're trapped here on this cursed planet? Or my fault that Jetstorm is trapped in some other dimen-"

The Elite Guard had expected Optimus to interrupt him with some response, but not by grabbing him by the armor and slapping his cheek hard.

"Snap out of it, Soldier!" Optimus barked, his voice echoing off of the metal walls. "This is no time for you to lose your grip on the situation!"

Sentinel stared at his fellow prime for several shocked seconds, and then his eyebrows furrowed as Optimus stepped back from him. "...Right." He cleared his throat, "You are correct...Dare I say it...Thank you."

"You're welcome, I guess... Now you need to get this situation back under control."

"Oh, since when are you letting me take command rather than taking it from me ever time I'm on this miserable planet!?"

"Whether I agree with your methods or not- which I don't- Jetstorm and Jetfire are your junior officers, and neither one of them is going to regain their respect for you unless you do something to prove you're worthy of their respect."

"Are you suggesting that's not what I've been doing this entire time!?"

"From where I stand, all you've been to them is a bully who is constantly putting them down. And no bot is going to respect a bully once they themselves had gained a backbone."

"And that's supposed to be encouraging?"

"No. It's supposed to point out where you need to improve your social skills."

"I don't need your advice!" Sentinel turned away from his fellow prime, and the room was silent for several minutes before he relaxed, seeming to have submitted to the fact that Optimus wasn't going to just leave.

"...How do you do it?"

"What?"

"...Your team's all so... Buddy-Buddy...! How did you get them to treat you with respect...!?"

"By following a few things I've learned from humans... First of all, if you want respect, you have to give it to others first. Second, I trust my team to keep me in check. They're not afraid to tell me when I'm wrong, and I don't punish them for it. And third..."

"Yes...!?"

"...I know that I'm not perfect, and there isn't a single organism, mechanical or organic, that is." His eyebrows furrowed, "...What happened in the past cannot be changed. The best we can do is let go of the past...and move into the next step."

The young prime left the room without waiting to see or hear Sentinel's response. He'd said what he'd needed to say, and it had lifted some of the weight off of his shoulders. He could not make Sentinel put the past to rest, but he could do so for himself, and that was all he could do...

______________________________________________________________________

Jetstorm clung tightly to Alloy's shoulders as she landed back on the ground, her wings folding in around his legs as she overlooked the lake to their right. "...We might be safer under the iciness of the water." He suggested.

"Uh uh. No can do. We can't get over there from here."

Jetstorm's head tilted to the side, "...Why not? We are being very close."

Alloy stepped towards the water, but just a few feet from the water's edge, she stopped. "Reach out there, Tiny. You'll see. We can't go any further."

Jetstorm climbed off of her back, walking towards the water before suddenly running into something. "Ah!... What is this...?"

"You know how I said the Shadowzone is like a bubble in a current? Well bubbles have walls." She leaned against the barrier, her shoulder squishing in the process. "This is the wall. We can only go as far as this on this side, and your friends' base is near the other side. The center is always where the portal that put us here was formed."

Jetstorm looked back into the city, and to Sumdac Tower. "...The human professor's tower...That is the middle."

"Right! Wow, this Earth is so weird compared to mine. I mean, I've never been to my Earth, but Flash tells me it's cool, so I believe her. But her Earth doesn't know about us- Well, some humans do, but they make up like... zero zero zero zero. Zero zero zero-"

She was stopped by Jetstorm putting a hand over her mouth.

"...Your Earth?" Jetstorm questioned. "Are you telling me there are more than one?"

Alloy gave that wide, not quite sane grin once more. "There are, Stormy... There are billions...!" She giggled excitedly. "Just think! Every single decision made by every single intelligent being in the universe creates an alternate timelines, alternate versions of the universe! Ever circling together in an ever-twirling dance, guarded by powerful beings called Anomalies that keep the peace by taking bots from one world and dumping them in others!"

"You mean that we could see these other worlds?"

"Absolutely! I got here from an experiment me and my buddies were working on, but I'll bet if you asked one of the Anomalies to take you somewhere, they would. But you gotta know them by name, and not very many people know their names. I think the Optimus Prime from my world knows one. Oh! I can't believe you know Optimus Prime! I've always wanted to meet mine!"

"He is a popular bot, then?"

"Popular!? He's a Prime, for Prime's sake!" Alloy jumped up and down, "One of the greatest heroes of our entire universe! And one of the oldest, now that I think about it. He's rather good-looking for someone his age-"

Jetstorm decided to try to steer her consciousness. "Alloy...Are you thinking we can go back to the plant now? I am thinking the broken bots will be gone now."

"Hmm. You're probably right. Hop on again!?"

"N-No thanking you. I will be walking, please."

"It will be faster. You can get back to your twin faster and tell him more."

Jetstorm looked down at his arm struts. Though they did not hurt as much now, they were still bent. Still, he wanted to do this himself.

Transforming was a struggle with his damaged systems, but with a pained grunt, his limbs and helm folded in and he took on jet form. He swayed to the side, but eventually steadied himself. "V-Very well...Let us go."

Alloy gave him a suspicious look, and then shifted completely into the form of a large bird. "Yes...let's."

________________________________________________________________________

"...You don't look too happy."

Jetfire rolled over on the couch, his optics narrowed as he looked up at the large, green bot that was looking down at him. "No...Whatever is making you think I am not happy...?" He responded with a forced grin. "It is only that my brother is missing and I am not able to go searching for him!"

His brother was hurting a little more intensely now than he had been a little while ago. He could only hope his brother hadn't gotten into any serious trouble and hurt himself further.

Bulkhead stepped back a pace, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to-"

"No... It is me who is sorry..." Jetfire sat up, giving a hard sigh. "I am just being frustrated... My brother is hurting and running away from somethings, and I cannot be helping him or even comforting him."

"Well, I may not have a brother, but I know what it's like to have somebody you care about go missing and not knowing how to help them." Bulkhead sat down next to the jet, "When Bumblebee went missing I didn't even know where to start looking... But then he found his own way home... Jetstorm will probably do the same thing."

Jetfire sighed, "I am hoping you are right..."

Flares of irritation at something had been periodically pulsing from his brother over the past little while, but were now being accompanied by concern and fear. What was his brother doing?

But all at once he felt a wave of intensity, like his brother was right there, and then Jetstorm's voice rang out in his head again.

Ow!

"Brother, you are back!" Jetfire jumped to his feet.

Ah...Yes. I am being back.

"He is?" Bulkhead cheered, and then hurried off. "Good, I'll go tell Prime!"

Jetfire nodded, and then turned back to his brother's words. "Did you lose the pursuing bots?"

Well I am thinking so. I am just-

Jetfire then felt a wave of irritation from his brother, followed by pain. No, I don't think it does work that-OW!

"Brother, are you okie dokie?"

Go stand all squishy over there!... Yes, Brother. I am just making a new friend... Sort of.

Jetfire bit his lip to keep from laughing at the predicament his brother seemed to have gotten into. "Well we are having a plan. You must be going back to the Spacebridge so we can be remaking the portal to let you out."

That is sounding like a good plan. We will be going there and meeting you?

"Good plan! Be seeing you soon, Brother!"

Jetfire gave a sigh of relief as his brother's presence started to move away again, but only for a short amount of time.

"Did you get through to him again?"

Optimus and the rest of the team hurried into the front room, Sentinel and Jazz close behind.

"I did! He is going to the Sumdac Tower to meet with us. We need to hurry!"

"Finally, some good news in all of this." Sentinel sighed, "Let's go!"