"It's been a while since we've seen Dinobot. He's gotta have something to get his honor back, right? Right?" asked Grimlock.

"It's long due that he will, Grimlock. I pray with my Spark that Dinobot can amend for his selfishness." Prime assured.

"But still, Optimus, I can't shake off the cold feeling in my Spark as well!" Grimlock affirmed. "I dunno what to feel right now."

"Then let us see for ourselves... if Dinobot can redeem himself. Omega Scion, if you may."

"Very well, Optimus Prime. In three... two... one..."

Everyone fell silent.

In a hospitable valley where primate-esque creatures reside, there these 'protohumans' take their time to explore what they held in hand or what they looked upon in the ground.

"Are those... humans? They don't look like much." Brawl asked.

"Careful, Brawl. Whoever these creatures are... they certain look awfully a lot like humans." Megatron surmised.

"Knockout?" Ratchet asked.

"I've taken the liberty to look upon the Earth archives myself when the Decepticons had yet to arrive. It was stated that those creatures are apparently the ancestors of the humans today. Proto-humans, as they call it, evolved from those hairy creatures called apes or monkeys billions of years from today. That's at the apex we Cybertronians were at the Age of Beginning, when we grew primitive and started making clans, hunting for Energon and warring against each other for territory." Knockout clarified

"Long before we received the shepherds of our society... interesting." Prime commented.

But the paradise of these protohumans was not safe, for a predator lurked amongst them silthering in the ground.

"It's a snake!" Bumblebee gasped.

"Get outta there!" Warpath shouted.

"Save yourselves! Get away from that snake!" Smokescreen exclaimed next.

Too late, as the snake then pounces forth one of the protohumans, laying claim to it's next game.

"Primus curses..." Primal silently whispered. He hated humans being endangered by any.

Aboard the Axalon...

Grief-stricken at the remembrance of having betrayed those who are his comrades, Dinobot laid on his knees, attempting to raise his sword towards himself.

"What is he doing?!" Grimlock asked.

"Is he gonna destroy himself?!" Bumblebee asked.

"Sounds like he is. That was a technique the Japanese humans call seppukku, a suicide ritual conducted by their warriors known as samurai, as I recall." Knockout stated.

"You've really grown fond of Earth, haven't you?" asked Barricade.

"Yes I do, my police friend!" the young doctor replied.

But even as he tried to do, he recalled what he had said before back in the rock formation. Try as he may, Dinobot could not bring himself to perform the deed and thus he threw his sword away.

"Whew!" Bumblebee relieved.

"I knew Dino-boy wasn't that much of a coward!" Grimlock pointed out.

Primal arrived on deck of the Axalon. "So what is it?" he asked.

"Remember that transwarp cell explosion?" Rhinox tried to recall, yet Primal didn't seem enthusiastic "Okay, stupid question." he took back and clarified "Anyway, I've been calculating its path. The temporal wavefront is moving into the future at an accelerated rate. It'll reach Cybertron in approximately 2.218 decacycles. They're going to know where we are."

"The question is, has Megatron made the same calculations?" Primal wondered aloud.

"If I was a bettin' rodent, which I am, Oh, yeah."

Primal grunted in reply and suggested "We'd better start increasing the base defenses."

"Wait, 'they'? Who's they? The aliens?" Air Raid asked.

"I don't think so Air Raid. I believe something else is going to come to Earth." said Perceptor "Rhinox said that the wavefront has accelerated in 2 decacycles. Something else is coming to Earth."

"Let's not guess who else is coming and see the future right now, Autobots." Ultra Magnus replied.

Dinobot arrived.

"Well, if it ain't th' irascible raptor." Rattrap spouted.

"The base remains infested with vermin, I see." Dinobot retorted.

"Yeah, funny, ya know, not much changes around here. 'Cept maybe the occasional allegiance. Found any golden disks, lately? Passed 'em on to any Predacons?" Rattrap pressed

"I don't need to explain my actions to you, mouse." Dinobot denied.

"Yea, that's right. Ya don't. 'Cause they pretty much speak for themselves." the rat Maximal replied out of distrust.

Dinobot moved closer to Rattrap and threatened "Go ahead, rodent. Push it one more inch."

"Uh oh..." said Grimlock.

Rattap shoved Dinobot off him.

"Y'know, I used ta figure I had you pegged. 'He's a slag-spoutin' saurian, but at least ya know where he stands.' Guess we live an' learn, huh?" and went back to work, leaving Dinobot to walk in shame.

"Whew! Last thing we needed is infighting." Grimlock breathed out in relief.

"The rodent's words give off the stench of truth." Dinobot admitted. "Destiny has one great Test in store for us all. Has mine already come and have I failed it? A deed, once done, cannot be undone. but perhaps it may yet be mitigated." He transformed in Beast Mode, loading a machine pistol and rushed off for a mission.

Prime realized. "Primus protect you Dinobot. Redemption comes for you at all..."

"Making amends for his backstabbing, eh? Not an easy thing, yet I don't think Dinobot's doing it easy..." Wheeljack stated.

Meanwhile, Cheetor was flying ahead on aerial reconnaisance...

"Cat patrol to bot-base. Got a blue-plate sighting in Tengu Sector. Crab Legs and Crabby. All you can eat!" he reported.

Once both Megatron and Rampage spotted Cheetor they transformed to Robot Forms, readied their weapons and open fire at Cheetor.

"Whooo! But be warned this plate is HOT!" Cheetor then tried to hail for reinforcements. "Cheetor to anybody - come in!"

"This is Dinobot." the aforementioned Maximal replied while investigating a thread of cyber-web in a seemingly empty space inhabited by no other than caribou. "Speak, feline."

"I'm teachin' a solo lesson to Megatron an' Rampage." Cheetor replied. "Trouble is, they're slow learners, an'- AAAAH!" he took a hit from enemy fire.

"Cheetor! Are you injured?" Dinobot asked.

"Yeah, I'll survive... But somebody's gotta follow up on Megatron find out what he's up to." Cheetor said pulling back due to damages.

"He should have waited for reinforcements rather than just taken on two enemies alone." Ultra Magnus stated.

Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Cliffjumper felt small when their older subordinates glared at them.

"Fear not. Someone most assuredly will." Dinobot transformed, loading his machine pistol.

As a caribou was then caught by Tarantula's cyber-webbing...

"Dinner is served!" he wickedly spouted. He transformed to Beast Mode, attempting to get close to his prey, but from underground he stopped when he felt the cold barrel of a weapon pointed at him from under.

"Taken from down under! What an underhanded move!" Swindle hammed dramatically.

"Didn't you and Blast Off did the same to that Autobot convoy in Ketalis?" Onslaught reminded.

"Yes, but this is different, Onslaught!"

Dinobot emerged from the ground and throttled Tarantulas at gunpoint. "Sickening spider. Your base was betrayed by the stench of your perversions." he then interrogated "The Golden Disk. I need to know what information it contains."

"I can't tell you that." Tarantulas denied.

Dinobot fired, destroying the cyberweb that freed the caribou.

"Run, little one. Run and save yourself!" Smokescreen commented.

"I don't know! I don't know!" Tarantulas replied "There's no more copies! Megatron won't risk a security breach again. Only the original Disk, and he keeps it with him!" he continued.

"Scraps. Pred-Megs is smarter than he looks there." spouted Jazz.

"Then I shall go to Megatron." Dinobot realized.

"Good luck catching up to him. He's miles away." Tarantulas taunted.

But Dinobot looked at Tarantulas in the eye with a smirk. Because much like Rattrap, Tarantulas became Dinobot's ride.

"You'll pay for this, lizard!" he hissed.

"Shut up and accelerate!" Dinobot demanded while holding Tarantulas at gunpoint.

Some of the audience had a mirth of laughter.

"Oh man! I thought Rattrap would do go as Dinobot's ride, but this?!" Barricade laughed.

In the valley, Megatron regrouped with Rampage in the clearing up above. By flight that scared the natives away.

"The mountain. That will serve our purpose, yess." Megatron hammed.

"You've brought us all this way to look at scenery?" Rampage questioned.

"I don't care for your tone, Rampage." Megatron pressed his Spark, tormenting Rampage to silence.

"Soon, very soon, I expect a visit from Cybertron." Megatron monologued.

"So that's what they're expecting..." Prime siad. "It's not the aliens, Autobots. It's from Cybertron!"

"But I got a feeling they're not gonna come to the Maximal's aid, Prime." Ultra Magnus replied.

"I eagerly anticipate your imminent demise, then." Rampage groused.

"Defiant even as he holds your Spark? Admirable." Predaking noted.

"A likely outcome, I admit. But only if reality remains as it is." Megatron pulled out the Golden Disk and attached it to his cannon arm which switched into a disk reader, creating a strange screen that showcases the mountain from now to the future when he pointed it at the mountain from now. "This disk contains images recorded in the future.  One future, anyway." He subtly ordered Rampage...

"My dear Rampage. If you please."

"You presume to order me..." Rampage transformed to tank mode and aimed his cannon at Megatron, but out of reluctance he aimed at the mountain instead, firing a shot that shattered the mountain in half.

"NO!" Bumblebee said.

"YOU MONSTER!" Perceptor cursed.

"How could you..." Ratchet cursed.

Such a thunderous shot can be heard by even the valley's inhabitants.

Upon analysis, Megatron hammed in appeasement. "Yes. Yess! Oh my crazed crustacean, do you realize what this means?"

Yet his activities were observed by no other than Dinobot himself. "When reality alters, the future alters with it! With the Golden Disk, Megatron's power is limitless!"

"Someone has to be foolish enough to stand up against him in spite of his great power." Predaking mulled sagely. "Because even fools with power are never invulnerable."

"Now. According to this disk, the human race is destined to emerge from this valley. Humans." Megatron stated via analysis. "Thanks to their interference the Autobots defeated the Decepticons, and thus it is the Maximals which rule us."

The Autobots perked up with interest of the mention of themselves and of the Renegatrons.

"That is kinda true. Without Miko, I would have been gone to the All-Spark by now." Bulkhead admitted.

"And Rafe too." Bumblebee said.

"And Agent Fowler as well." Ratchet added.

"And Jack. Because he was amongst the reasons I won over Airachnid." Arcee joined in.

Prime hoped that the humans that helped them in their war found their own sense of peace in their home.

The Renegatrons, well, some of them, frowned. The humans were always thorns in their side back at the days. Yet Megatron could respect the humans for their tenacity and resilience found abundant in the Autobots.

"But no longer. Noo. Destiny is about to undergo an improvement." Megatron hammed. As more of his minions arrive.

Prime glared daggers, realizing what the future Megatron is doing.

"Dinobot to Optimus Primal-" Dinobot's hail was cut off by a shot from Tarantulas. 

"Shouldn't take your eyes off a spider. They tend to be venomous." Tarantulas taunted.

"But they still squash!" He fired his optic lasers at the rocks over Tarantulas, squishing him like a bug. 

"Optimus here. What is it, Dinobot?" Primal replied.

"Code Red... situation extreme." Dinobot replied.

"Situation extreme... oh no, the valley, the Predacon presence..."

"Prime, what is it?" Bumblebee asked.

"He's going to kill the humans, Bumblebee..."

"Destroy this valley and everything in it!" Megatron ordered. "The human race will never have existed!" Megatron fired his fusion cannon, killing multiple protohumans.

"NO!" Prime shouted.

The Autobots gasped in shock in realization what Megatron was doing.

The Renegatrons were indifferent but uneasy.

"I would never approve of this..." Megatron commented.

The Predacons were shocked while their leader was angered.

The Predacons descend into the valley, razing forth a hail of mixed gunfire that gunned down scores of protohumans as easily a target as they are. While fewer tried to flee with their lives, most of them were slaughtered like animals.

Nothing could describe how livid the Autobots are at the Predacons right now, especially when the ancestors of the humans are being decimated without the means to defend themselves.

"Cowards! How dare you murder a race that cannot defend itself!" Predaking cursed.

"We'll be there as soon as we can. In the meantime, fall back and wait for us!" Primal ordered.

Realizing that it would be too late by then, Dinobot refused. "Negative!" and cuts off comms with the Maximals. Looking upon the destruction and carnage inflicted upon a defenseless species, Dinobot mused "The question that once haunted my being has been answered. The future is not fixed, and my choices are my own. And yet, how ironic... For I now find I have no choice at all. I am a warrior." Dinobot readied his sword in preparation of his battle. "Let the battle be joined."

Grimlock gulped, but he cheered "GET THEM DINOBOT! CRUSH THOSE PRED-FAKES TO SPARKLING FRAGMENTS!"

Warpath cheered "BREAK THEIR LEGS, DINOBOT!"

The Autobots cheered in support of Dinobot, especially Prime who hoped that he could stop the madness going on. But deep inside, he suspected that Dinobot may not survive especially when he is now outnumbered.

Predaking smashed a fist in his armrest and voiced his support "DO IT! DESTROY THOSE MOCKERIES OF THE PREDACON NAME!"

The Maximals were en route as quickly as they can upon departing the Axalon immediately "Oh man, no matter how soon we get there, it's gonna be 'way too late." Rattrap pessimistically said.

"Do you always have to see the bright side?" Rhinox asked.

"Dinobutt against six Preds?" Rattrap worried still accelerating as quickly as he can, yet he knew deep inside he would be right. "There won't be enough left of him t' make a toaster."

They gulped. Hoping Rattrap would be wrong...

"But something tells me that he'd be right..." Arcee said aloud, frightening the Dinobots.

As both Blackarachia and Inferno pushed forth in gunning down more protohumans as they go, Dinobot showed up at the last minute, raising his sword down on Inferno, tearing apart his circuits and chassis like carved turkey. Blackarachnia turned around and fired, pelting Dinobot a barrage of gunfire, yet he was able to cover behind Inferno and shot Blackarachnia with Inferno's weapon, taking Blackarachnia out easily. He turned Inferno's weapon at him, blowing the ant Predacon's head off. As Megatron witnesses.

"GET THEM DINOBOT!" Wheeljack shouted.

The audience cheered for Dinobot. Some of them, as the old were not sure to see if Dinobot would survive or not.

Dinobot proceeded onward, pulling out his spinning rotor shield to then propel himself into the air to meet Rampage and Waspinator firing at more protohumans. He met them upward and fired, taking Rampage down temporarily, Waspinator fired, destroying his shield, but Dinobot soon began to fall upon him.

"No!" too late, as he got stepped on beneath Dinobot himself.

"HA! SQUISHED LIKE A BUG!" Warpath cheered.

He turned to see Rampage preparing his cannon at him, but Dinobot shoved Waspinator in the cannon, taking out both of them at once but knocked Dinobot clear, though not entirely unscathed. Waspinator twitched afterwards.

Dinobot, though heavily damaged, stood tall amidst the valley. Fire, destruction, carnage and the massed corpses of protohumans surround him still with the bodies of those who were his comrades destroyed before him, and yet he stood tall over all of it. Yet he felt red liquids in his feet and scrunched his nose. But nonetheless, he carried onward.

The audience, mostly the Dinobots, cheered more for the bot named after them, though toned down in worry of his damaged state.

Megatron and Quickstrike saw Dinobot from afar. "One lonely turncoat, battling on against impossible odds. I'm almost touched." Megatron sarcastically noted.

"HA! You could never prevail over Dinobot without help from your minions, you coward!" Megatron derided.

"Fortunately such moments pass quickly. Quickstrike - scrap him." The Predacon Fuzor jumped in hollering like a cowboy.

"And just to tilt the odds even further..." Megatron glared to a group of surviving protohumans.

This angered the Autobots more, realizing what exactly the future Megatron is going to do.

As Dinobot moved onward to search for more of his old friends though wounded and broken, one of them struck at him at a rock. Granted the blast aggravated his damages, yet he looked up to see Quickstrike looking intimidating, yet Dinobot would not buy it, given that he had prevailed over the Fuzor before...

"Welllll, howdy!" Quickstrike intimidated, Yet Dinobot, despite his damages, was unpertubed by his threats. "Don't bother gittin' up! Ah'll just kick ya while yer down."

"Don't listen to that weakling, Dinobot! Crush him!" Predaking pushed.

Dinobot responded by firing his optic lasers at Quickstrike, though it pushed the Fuzor an inch. He stood up and fired again, but the lasers fell short.

[Warning. Systems failing.] Dinobot coughed in pain.

"So. What's a warrior without weapons, eh?" Quickstrike asked.

"A warrior still!" Dinobot replied after a moment then smashed his fists at Quickstrike upward then downward, then he tossed Quickstrike to the rocks and crushed his chestplate with his foot, disabling the Fuzor.

"Ha! Dinobot didn't need just weapons to turn your aft to fragments weaksource!" Grimlock taunted.

Predaking smirked. "You impress me greatly Dinobot. Once you join me, I believe you will find my Predacons worthier than that rabble you once alligned yourself into!"

"NO way, Dinobot gets to be with the Dinobots!" Grimlock argued.

"We shall see." Predaking challenged.

Dinobot's systems began taking in a diagnostic. 

[Warning: power reserves 96 percent depleted. Stasis lock commencing.]

As it was about to perform said lock, Dinobot overruled it with "Override."

[Repeat: power loss critical. Further expenditures will result in loss of Spark. Stasis lock MUST