On the Wings of a Crow

by Switchblade X

Inferno glanced at the two 'bots that flew on either side of him. The tension between them was so thick, one could cut it with a dull butter knife. Such tension was dangerous...'(PLEASE R & R!)

1. Just Like You

Disclaimer; I own Lacuna and the plot. That's it. Three Days Grace owns Just Like You.

Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG-13.

On the Wings of a Crow

Chapter 1

Just Like You

by Switchblade X

He didn't move when the other 'bot landed behind him on the outcropping. "Do you think we'll ever make it home?" he quietly asked, his gaze never leaving the planes that rolled before them, bathed in moonlight.

The other 'bot looked down at his comrade, "Want the truth?"

"Preferably."

"No." He took a step forward, and sat down on the ledge.

"Me, neither."

Silence fell between the two as they contemplated the significance of their words.

"…Waspinator?"

"Hmm?"

"We're not gonna win this war, are we?"

"What makezz Terrorzzaur think that?"

"The bad guys never win, Waspinator. Not even in cheap fiction novels."

"Zzo? That doezzn't mean we're going to lozze. Who knowzz? We might be the exceptionzz. And then, we will rule thizz planet forever!"

Terrorsaur smiled in spite of himself, "Waspy, you never cease to amaze me. How can you be such a pessimistic optimist?"

The wasp shrugged, "Wazzpinator juzzt izz. It comezz in handy zzometimezz."

"Yeah, I guess it does." He pulled one leg up to his chest, put one arm over his knee, and rested his chin on his arm.

Waspinator looked closely at his best friend, "What'zz wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Terrorzzaur lookzz bummed. Wazzpinator wantzz to know what'zz wrong with him."

"I've just been thinking a lot lately, that's all."

"About?"

"Everything."

Waspinator caught the unspoken "I really don't feel like talking about this right now.", and fell silent.

Terrorsaur sighed heavily, and looked up at the star-filled sky, "Do you think they're watching us?"

"Probably." He knew full well who they were.

Another moment of silence fell.

As he gazed up at the stars, Terrorsaur caught sight of a white object streaking across the sky out of the corner of one optic. He chuckled, but there was no humor in it, "A falling star. Make a wish, Waspy."

Waspinator's optics widened as he spotted the "falling star". He tapped his comrade's shoulder, "Um, Terrorzzaur? Wazzpinator doezzn't think that'zz a falling zztar."

The pterodactyl turned around to face the wasp, "Then what else could it--holy slag!" He hit the dirt, taking Waspinator down with him, as a wounded ship screamed by overhead, engulfed almost completely in flames.

Both Predacons sat up in time to see the craft crash into the ground below. Neither one said a word as they transformed and headed toward the wreckage.

"That's a Maximal Starhopper!" Terrorsaur exclaimed, as they got closer. "Commandeered, no doubt."

"How doezz Terrorzzaur know?"

"The Maximal insignia on the side has been crossed out. That's usually a sign."

"Oh." He tapped his commlink, "Wazzpinator to bazze."

"Base here." Scorponok answered. "The scanners are picking up something pretty big near your location, but there's too much interference for me to get a good clear reading. What's going on out there?"

"Wazzpinator and Terrorzzaur have found a crazzhed zzhip. We are about to invezztigate."

"Good." Megatron said, taking over Scorponok's job. "Salvage anything you can, and if there are survivors, I want them brought to me at once; they may prove to be useful, yes."

................................................................................................................................................

Terrorsaur and Waspinator weren't the only ones to see that ship crash. Not too far away, Airazor had also spotted the dieing craft, and was now on her way toward it. Tigatron was also coming, and the Maximal base had been alerted to the situation.

Please don't let me be too late this time. Airazor prayed, as she neared the crash site. "Oh, no." she groaned, spotting Waspinator and Terrorsaur, who were trying to put out the blaze. She transformed, and opened fire.

"Incoming!" Terrorsaur cried, diving out of the way. Waspinator did the same just before part of the cliff behind them exploded.

"You're not taking another innocent being from us!" Airazor shouted, as the roof of the Starhopper exploded, and a black shape shot up toward her at an incredible speed.

"What makes you think I'm innocent?" the crow asked, hovering before the falcon.

Airazor fumbled, "Uh, well-"

The crow cackled, and transformed into a black and white femme with purple optics. "Fool!" she exclaimed, drawing her gun, "This is war! No one is innocent!" And with that, she blasted the Maximal from the sky with a single shot.

"Oof!" Airazor grunted as she hit the ground hard.

The she-crow landed beside her, put one black foot in the center of her back, and leveled her pistol at her head. "You are pathetic."

Another shot was fired, and Airazor lay still.

"Nice." Terrorsaur said, as he and Waspinator approached the newcomer.

"State your name, rank, and commanding officer!" the crow ordered, aiming at the two Predacons.

Quickly, both of them raised their hands. "We mean you no harm." Terrorsaur replied. "Apparently, you're on our side."

"You are Predacons?"

"Yes. I am Terrorsaur, and this is Waspinator. I lead the Predacons!"

"Liar!" She snapped off a shot at him, which he barely dodged. "Your face betrays you!"

"Okay, okay! I don't lead the Predacons!"

"Then who does?"

Terrorsaur climbed back to his feet with a little help from Waspinator. "Megatron."

This sparked some interest in the she-crow, "Then this is Earth?"

He shrugged, "You got me. Last time I checked, Earth only had one moon. This place has two."

"True. …That second 'moon' is what shot me down."

"It did?"

"Yes. I will explain it all later. Now, I would very much like to see Megatron."

Terrorsaur looked to Waspintor, who shrugged and transformed. "Follow us." he finally said, transforming and taking off.

The crow glanced back at what had at one time been her stolen ship. Now, it was nothing more than a smouldering slag heap, not even suitable for scrap metal. "So much for going back home." she murmured, transforming and following the two Predacons.

................................................................................................................................................

"Aw, man." Rattrap shuddered, and looked away from what remained of Airazor, "Whoeva did dis is gonna pay."

Tigatron had called for assistance as soon as he had arrived at the crash site. Right now, though, he was torn between being angry, worried, and sick. He didn't acknowledge Rattrap's words.

"What do you make of this footprint, Big Bot?" Cheetor asked, pointing to a footprint beside Airazor's body. "It looks almost like Airazor's."

"Hmmm…" Optimus knelt down and studied the print. "The talons on the heel are different."

"How?"

"These aren't falcon talons, Cheetor. They're crow."

"I saw a crow following Waspinator and Terrorsaur." Tigatron quietly said. "Perhaps it did this?"

"It looks like it." Optimus replied, standing, then gently picking up Airazor's broken body. "Let's get back to the base."

As one, the other Maximals transformed.

"We need to have a meeting. Rattrap, when we get back, call Dinobot in."

"Can do, fearless leader." the rat assured, hopping onto Optimus' back.

We're outgunned now. Optimus thought as he lifted off. And from the looks of things, this newcomer means business.

................................................................................................................................................

"I told you not to follow me!" Megatron roared.

"I thought you might need help." the she-crow said. She was standing on a hoverpad in front of Megatron, surrounded by the rest of his minions. "And from the looks of things, I was right."

"Who is this infidel that angers you, my Queen?" Inferno asked. "She will buuurn for her insolence!"

"That infidel is my daughter, Lacuna." Megatron snarled.

Inferno almost fell off of his hoverpad, "Y-your daughter, Royalty?"

"Yes. …Which would make her your Princess."

At once, Inferno dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead into the floor of his hoverpad, "Forgive me, Princess! I had no idea!"

Lacuna looked down at the groveling ant, "Uh, that's…okay." She looked to Megatron, "Fa-ther! You know I hate being called 'Princess'!"

Megatron smirked, "Try being called 'My Queen' every two minutes."

She turned her attention back to Inferno, "You can get up, you know. I'm not mad at you."

"Thank you for your graciousness, my Princess." Inferno said, standing. "I am undeserving of such kindness."

"You'll get used to him." Megatron assured her.

Lacuna examined Inferno warily, "I'm not entirely sure I want to."

"Scorponok!"

The scorpion snapped to attention, saluting his leader.

"Take my daughter on a tour of the base." Megatron leaned back into his throne, "Show her to her new quarters, point out major rooms, explain everything that is necessary, you know the drill."

"As you command, Megatron." Scorponok motioned for Lacuna to follow him, which she did.

Once they were gone, Tarantulas approached Megatron. "Lacuna." he said, tasting the word. "Hmm. Hardly a Transformer name."

Megatron shrugged, "I liked the exotic sound of it. And besides, she's my spawn; I can call her what I wish, yes."

"That's something else I don't understand." The spider moved closer, but kept an optic on Inferno. "I never saw you as the child-rearing type."

Another shrug, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Tarantulas. And raising a child is much easier than leading you buffoons, yes."

"Why a female?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Females are more of a challenge to raise than males; they require more attention and patience." Megatron acted as though he was bored, "Plus, females are sometimes seen as little threat; the perfect cover for a warrior. Now, away with you! I need to have a talk with Terrorsaur and Waspinator regarding what they saw."

................................................................................................................................................

"So, you're Megatron's daughter?" Scorponok asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yep." Lacuna replied.

"Why did you follow him? How did you follow him?"

"I followed the vapor trail the Darkside left behind to this planet. And, I followed him because I thought he might need help."

"Oh. …Here's the armory." He gestured to a door, but kept walking.

"…Tell me, Scorponok, has my father won a single battle since he's been here?"

"We've come close several times."

"…I see."

"Somehow the Maximals always outsmart us."

Well, that certainly couldn't be hard. she thought.

When they entered a different hallway, he gestured to another door, "Here's Megatron's quarters. No one's allowed in except Inferno, but I'd say he might let you in."

"Now, Scorponok. I don't expect to be treated differently simply because I'm Megatron's daughter."

He shrugged, "If you say so." As he led her down the hallway, he pointed to each door, "Inferno has the next room, naturally, then me, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur. Here's your room."-he stopped in front of the last door on the right-"It used to belong to Dinobot. Hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind." She opened the door, and peeked inside. A small cot that was crammed against a wall was the sole occupant of the room. It looked as though the place hadn't been opened in a long time. "Hm. Cozy." She shut the door and turned back to Scorponok, who motioned for her to follow him back up the hallway.

"Incase you're curious, the spiders stay in their lairs most of the time."

"Yes, the spiders… What are their names?"

"Tarantulas and Blackarachnia."

"Ah."

"Be warned, they're creepy as well as treacherous. Don't ever turn your back on them."

"I'll keep that in mind. …Did you see the way they were looking at me back in the command center?"

"No."

"They were looking at me like I had a big neon sign hanging over my head that said 'Here I am; eat me.' …I don't like that. At all."

He nodded, "I know all about that."

Lacuna was silent for a moment, studying her tour guide. "You sound like you need a friend. Y'know, somebody to look out for you."

Scorponok smiled bitterly, "We all do."

"Well, I have an idea. You watch my back and I'll watch yours." She shrugged, "It may be the best line of defense we can get if one of the spiders gets hungry; they don't strike me as above eating one of their own."

He stopped and looked at her closely. This could be a trap. Oh, this could so be a trap. …But, she was new; she needed somebody to look out for her. At least for a little while. In all honesty, he needed somebody to look out for him; none of the others seemed to care if he was scrapped, and the spiders did look at him like he was a steak most of the time… If this was a trap— and he was beginning to seriously doubt that, although it wasn't out of the question just yet— he could always blow her away. It wouldn't go over well, but that could be dealt with…hopefully…

She held out her hand, "Well?"

He took it, "Deal."

................................................................................................................................................

"So, one of the moons shot you down?" Megatron asked. He was in the process of trying to make sense of the events of the last few hours by hearing his daughter's side of the story.

Lacuna nodded, "I don't know how, but as soon as I flew by the largest moon, I was hit from behind. I didn't see any external defense systems on the moon, though… Fortunately I was able to pick out a beast mode before the crash."

"I see. …How did you survive the crash undamaged?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I might."

"Whoever owned that Starhopper before I 'borrowed' it was a safety nut; the thing had airbags in it and everything."

Megatron raised an eyebrow, "Airbags?"

"Screwy, isn't it? But, if it hadn't been for those airbags and the internal sprinkler system, I would've been toasted long before I ever hit the ground."

"I see. …And the rest…?"

"The rest of the story is consistent with what Terrorsaur and Waspinator told you."

He nodded, and leaned back into his throne.

"Anything else you need to know?"

"Not at the moment, no. I suggest you recharge; you've been through quite a bit."

"As you wish. Goodnight, father." She maneuvered her hoverpad over to his throne and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He returned it, "Goodnight, my little one." Sleep well. he thought. For I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a busy day, yes.

................................................................................................................................................

Lacuna couldn't bring herself to lie down on the bed in her new room. She'd taken the liberty of asking Scorponok about the Maximals, and he had told her everything he knew about them, including the fact that they had a Predacon defector in their ranks: Dinobot. She had known Dinobot (Megatron had introduced them long before he ever decided to start a rebellion and steal the Golden Disk), and had respected him a great deal; they had even become friends over time. Dinobot had once owned this room, her room.

The place smelled strongly of him. It wasn't a bad scent, just a very masculine, warrior-like smell. In a way, it comforted her, but in a way, it also reminded her of the room's true owner. She felt like she was invading his privacy by being in this room, and sleeping on his bed was simply out of the question.

So, she curled up on the floor in robot mode, and darkened her optics. I wonder what made him defect… she thought before dropping off to sleep.

................................................................................................................................................

The next day was indeed a busy one; a strange golden disk of alien origin was found, a truce was declared, Tarantulas was caught stealing a Transwarp cell (although he didn't know he had been caught), Waspinator had been blown to pieces by Tarantulas, and three Maximals tried to infiltrate the base, one of whom succeeded and hacked into the main computer system, stealing valuable information. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the aftermath of that infiltration.

Lacuna, who had been ordered to remain behind with her father, shook her head, "Your troops need training."

"Tell me about it." Megatron replied, as they watched the others return on a monitor in his quarters. "Of all the bumbling idiots to get stuck with, I get this bunch." He sighed, and slumped in his chair, "Of course, I suppose there are worse teams out there…"

"The Maximals overtook them too easily. If they knew how to fight without weapons, they might've stood a chance."

Megatron looked at her, "You've been around Dinobot too much."

She shrugged, "I'm just saying your troops need a little work, that's all. I can teach them a thing or two if-"

"That won't be necessary, no. At least not right now. For the time being, we need to focus all of our attention on that disk, not the Beast Wars. Hence the truce."

She bowed submissively, "As you wish, father."

He chuckled, and put an arm around her waist, "Ah, if only all of my soldiers could be like you." He made a sweeping gesture with his T-rex head, "One day, we shall rule the universe together. An unstoppable duo, conquering one world after another. We shall rule it all as father and daughter!"

"Yes, father. We shall rule it all. And we shall take it all by force."

"You should be proud of yourself, Lacuna; you're turning out to be just like me."

"Yes, father. Just like you."

................................................................................................................................................

After she had been ordered to leave her father's quarters, Lacuna quickly got bored. So, feeling that she needed to do something that would earn her acceptance into the Predacon ranks, she located Waspinator's remains, gathered him up, and took him to the CR tanks.

"What're you doing?" Blackarachnia asked, watching Lacuna carefully lay Waspinator's detached limbs onto the lift of an open CR tank.

"Salvaging Waspinator." Lacuna answered, her tone suggesting that this was the most normal thing in the world. "Why do you ask?"

"That's Terrorsaur's job."

"Terrorsaur is busy at the moment." She nodded to the next CR tank.

The spider looked at the crow for a long time, "You're as crazy as your father."

"My father is not crazy." She stood, and faced Blackarachnia, who had to look up in order to make optic-contact. "You, on the other hand…"

Blackarachnia glowered at her, "Your father is a lunatic. An absolute lunatic. He's going to be the death of us all, and you can tell him I said that, too!" And with that, she stalked off into the shadows.

Lacuna sighed, sensing someone else approaching her from behind. "Is she always like that?"

"Most of the time." Tarantulas answered, leaning casually against a nearby wall and crossing his arms over his chest. "You'll get used to her."

She frowned as she turned to face him, "Peachy."

"So…what's it like being the spawn of Megatron?"

The crow shrugged, "It's okay. I can't complain; he treats me well enough."

"…How long were you separated from your father?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"

"I'm just curious."

"I'm not stupid, Tarantulas; you're up to something."

He stood and walked over to her, "My dear, I'm always up to something."

"So I've heard."

"I trust you knew of his plot to steal the Golden Disk and start a rebellion?"

She chose her words carefully, "Yes, I knew of this. My father would not permit me to aid him in his rebellion; he said he didn't want me to get hurt. Or worse. That's why I was left behind."

Tarantulas chuckled softly, "Be warned, Lacuna; Megatron is not what you think he is. He is power-mad, overly ambitious. A tyrant if there ever was one. He could care less if one of us got slagged. All that matters to him is what he wants, and he doesn't care whom he has to sacrifice in order to get it. Including you."

She frowned, "Why are you telling me this?"

"You, unlike several of the others, have some intelligence, and you're not a mindless drone like Inferno. You are simply a child that adores its parent, and has yet to see what a monster that parent is. I am merely preparing you for when your loving father sends you on a suicide mission. You'll come back in pieces, my dear; I guarantee it." He bowed courteously, then followed after Blackarachnia.

Lacuna stared after him for a long time, wondering if he was right. Until last night, she hadn't had any contact with her creator for almost a year. …Come to think of it, she had noticed a change in Megatron's optics; he had a vicious, tyrannical look now that he hadn't had the last time she had seen him.

Had Tarantulas actually warned her? Or was he just messing with her? Scorponok's warning from last night replayed in her mind. Until she had some solid proof, she wasn't going to listen to Tarantulas' warning. But, she wasn't going to forget it, either…

................................................................................................................................................

Terrorsaur and Waspinator emerged from the CR tanks at the same time. Lacuna was waiting for them.

Oh, great. Terrorsaur thought. What does she want?

"I suppose you want to know why I'm here." she said.

"That would be nice." Terrorsaur replied, transforming and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I came to apologize for yesterday. I wasn't exactly the friendliest of 'bots, and I shouldn't have taken a shot at you. So, I'm sorry." She shifted uncomfortably, "Can we start over?"

Terrorsaur looked to Waspinator, who stepped forward.

"Wazzpinator acceptzz crow-bot'zz apology. Crow-bot zzalvage Wazzpinator; Wazzpinator izz in her debt."

She grinned, "Please, call me Lacuna."

Terrorsaur sighed. Ordinarily, he wouldn't accept such an apology, but when he considered the 'bot who was apologizing… It might be useful later on to have Megatron's daughter as an ally… "…All right. I accept your apology."

"No hard feelings?" she asked.

"Not from Wazzpinator." the wasp buzzed.

Terrorsaur only shook his head.

"Good. I-"

Inferno marched up to the trio and saluted, "My Princess, the Royalty requests your presence in his quarters."

Lacuna's hands balled into fists, "I told you not to call me that."

"A thousand pardons, my Pr-"

"Inferno!"

Terrorsaur sniggered.

"Don't laugh at me, Terrorsaur." She sighed, "Okay, okay. Lead the way."

Inferno saluted, and marched off.

Lacuna shook her head, muttered something about single-minded insects, and followed him.

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"You called for me?"

Slowly, Megatron turned to face her, "Yes. Inferno, leave us."

The ant saluted— "Yes, my Queen."— and left Megatron's quarters, taking up his eternal guard outside the door.

He sighed and shook his head, "I do wish he'd stop calling me that."

Lacuna grinned.

"Now, to business. I want you to be wary of the others. I'm not telling you to avoid them altogether, just watch them; none of them can be trusted, with the exception of Inferno for obvious reasons. Until further notice, I will be working with the alien disk, which means you probably won't see much of me. Until then, I want you to watch out for yourself, understand?"

"Yes, father. I appreciate your concern, but I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Megatron stood, walked over to her, and put an arm across her shoulders. "I know that, Lacuna; you're not a little girl anymore. I just…don't want you to be manipulated by anyone. Namely the spiders."

"I'll watch out for them."

"Good. If anyone starts harassing you, call Inferno."

"Yes, father."

"That's my girl. Now, off you go."

She nodded, and left.

"Watch her, Inferno." Megatron said as soon as Inferno reentered the room. "Make sure that none of the others get too close."

"As you command, Royalty."

"Lacuna isn't as innocent as she appears. She just hasn't gotten used to the others yet, that's all."

"Of course, Royalty."

"I fear that the spiders and Terrorsaur might try to use her against me. I want you to make sure that this does not happen."

"Your wish is my command, my Queen."

"As it should be." Megatron sighed, "Inferno, if only I could have a thousand warriors like yourself, I could rule the entire universe in a week's time."

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"It's kind of lonely up here, isn't it?" she asked, walking closer to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the Darkside. Lightning flashed overhead, warning of the coming storm.

"It's not so bad." He glanced at her as she sat down beside him, "What do you want?"

"Nothing important. Just somebody to sit with, and maybe even talk to."

"You can't find Scorponok, can you?"

"What makes you think I'm looking for Scorponok?"

"I've seen the way he looks at you. Even though you two haven't known each other for more than a day, it's not that hard to figure out that you're in cahoots."

"Oh. …You're right; I can't find him."

"So, you found me."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. I was lonely, I guess."

"Get used to it, kid. You're not gonna make friends in the Predacon ranks. Especially considering your bloodline."

"I'm not looking to make friends, Terrorsaur. I just want some answers. Straight answers. That's why I was looking for Scorponok."

He snorted, "You'll have to look elsewhere for straight answers. Maybe the Maximals will tell you something."

"Why did Dinobot defect?"

Terrorsaur was silent for a moment as thunder rolled overhead, "Why do you ask?"

"I knew him. We were friends. Dinobot was fiercely loyal to the Predacons; I want to know what made him change his mind so quickly."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I might."

"No, you wouldn't. Your vision is clouded, Lacuna; you see only what Megatron wants you to see. You're so wrapped up in your hero-worship, you can't see what a monster Megatron really is."

"You're the third 'bot to tell me that today."

"I am?"

"Yeah." She shifted uncomfortably, "…Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Has my father really gone…insane?"

"He's close enough."

"Please elaborate; I'm not sure I understand you."

"Why should I? Anything I tell you will be repeated right back to Megatron."

"No it won't. I know how to keep my mouth shut."

For the first time since he had met her, Terrorsaur looked at Lacuna. Really looked at her instead of just glancing over her.

She was taller than Blackarachnia, but not as thin; Lacuna had a sturdier build, but was still lithe-looking. She was black from the waist down. Her feet resembled Airazor's, only with crow talons acting as the heels instead of falcon. Her boots only came to mid-calf, and each one had three belt-like designs on them; the "belt buckles" were silver. She had another belt-like design on her right thigh, and a row of compartments around her left thigh. Her pistol was clearly holstered with these compartments. Her chest was covered with a black design that looked like an extremely low-cut sports bra with spaghetti straps. She wore black gloves that lacked about two inches of coming to her elbows. The triple belt design was repeated here as well. Her beast mode folded neatly onto her back, and the crow's head became her helmet, its beak making a sort of widow's peak on her forehead. Her face, neck, chest, arms, and stomach were white. Her optics were purple, and the "pupils" were violet.

"Please, Terrorsaur," she pleaded, "tell me something. Anything. I need to learn everything I can. I won't tell, I promise. Please?"

He was silent for a moment longer. "…All right, I'll tell you."

She smiled, "Thank you."

"Don't think this means I like you, 'cause I don't. I'm just telling you this because, like the others, I don't want to deal with another Inferno. We pity you, Lacuna. But that'll only last for so long; soon enough, we'll start to look down on you. This could have lethal consequences. Do you understand?"

"……I understand."

"Good. I assume you knew of your father's plot?"

"I knew. I wanted to come along, but he wouldn't let me."

"I see… I'll start at the beginning, anyway." Lightning flashed again as he took a breath and began;

"About a year ago, Megatron got this crazy idea; steal the Golden Disk, and use its power to change history as we know it. So, he recruited Scorponok, Waspinatior, Tarantulas, Dinobot, and yours truly to help him with this plan. The first phase— stealing the Golden Disk— went off without a hitch. So, with the Darkside at full power and illegally equipped with a Transwarp drive, Megatron attempted to use the Golden Disk's files to get us to the planet Earth, where the power of the Disk would allow him to alter the future and forever change the destiny of Cybertron, making it a planet ruled by Predacons.

"However, we intercepted a Maximal exploration vessel. Being the only ship in range, they engaged us in battle. The fight lasted for quite some time, and both ships were badly damaged. We made a Transwarp jump, but the drive malfunctioned, and we dragged the Maximals along by accident.

"We came back into real space where Earth was supposed to be, but wasn't. Neither ship was able to maintain flight, so we crashed onto this planet. Before the Maximals went down, they ejected all of their stasis-pods into orbit, which is where most of them still are.

"Both teams had to choose beast forms in order to shield us from the effects of this planet's rather abundant energon. Territory lines were drawn between the Darkside and the Axalon, and both ships were turned into bases.

"Since we've been here, four stasis-pods have fallen from orbit. The Maximals claimed Tigatron and Airazor, and we got Blackarachnia and Inferno. We've also discovered several structures of alien origin; apparently, a race of extremely intelligent aliens are doing a little experiment on this planet. Somehow, each structure that we run into alerts the aliens to our presence. And you can bet they're not happy with us.

"Then you came along. Surely you know everything that's happened since you've been here."

She nodded, "Sounds like you guys have had a helluva time."

"You could say that."

"So, what made Dinobot defect before the first shot was fired?"

"He thought that Megatron had taken us to a different planet, which would mean that he had failed as a leader. So, not wanting to be on the losing side, Dinobot defected." Terrorsaur sighed, "There are times I wish I had've gone with him.

"Your father has gone steadily insane ever since we landed here, Lacuna. I guess the idea of absolute power has screwed with his logic circuits. That and his refusal to accept defeat. He sends us out on suicide missions all of the time, and could care less if we came back or not. Greed and illusions of grandeur have made him a lunatic tyrant.

"This is one of the reasons why the rest of us are warning you about him. He's not the hero you think he is, kid. Not by a long shot. He's a dictator, a nut. He's gonna get us all killed, and he knows it. But, he doesn't care; all that matters to him is his own success.

"And don't think that you're immune to this simply because you're his daughter. Sooner or later, he'll send you on a suicide mission, and he won't do so much as bat an optic when you come back in pieces.

"We don't want another Inferno, kid. We tried to warn him, but he wouldn't listen. Just remember, though, we'll only warn you for so long; then, we'll treat you exactly like we do Inferno."

Lacuna was silent for a moment, "…Why don't the rest of you defect?"

Thunder roared again before he spoke. "We can't."

"Why?"

"Mostly it's because we fear Megatron; he's not above blasting us to kingdom come. But, another part of it is because we'd be thoroughly screwed after this war ended. We'd be tried and executed for war crimes. So we stay with Megatron. Better to go out fighting than in a Maximal prison, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

He sighed, "Have I made any sense to you at all?"

"Yes, actually. You've made a lot of sense, and I thank you for that. I owe ya one."

"Just don't get yourself killed, okay? You've got a lot of potential, kid; don't let your nutcase dad screw that up for you."

"Okay." She paused for a moment, "There's still a lot of things that I don't understand; things about myself, this planet, the 'bots that live here, my father… But I'll figure it all it out in due time." She stood and patted his shoulder, "Thanks again."

Terrorsaur flinched away from her, "Yeah, whatever."

"And Terrorsaur?"

He looked up at her, "What?"

"You're only six months older than me. So, watch who you're calling 'kid', okay?"

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open.

She smiled and winked at him before transforming and flying off.

................................................................................................................................................

A week went by, and the Predacons became restless. Several fights broke out, but no one was seriously damaged. Only an intervention by Megatron himself brought an end to the scuffles.

After that, the spiders were usually nowhere to be found, Scorponok was with Megatron, helping him to decipher the alien disk even further, and Waspinator and Terrorsaur were usually off somewhere together, which left only Inferno for Lacuna to talk to.

She wasn't particularly fond of the ant, but at least he could keep up his end of the conversation. He told her what she wanted to know, and was beginning to loosen up a bit. She'd finally gotten it through his thick head to call her Lacuna instead of 'My Princess'. At least when she was nearby.

As of right now, the two of them were sitting on the nose of the Darkside, looking out over the lava fields. "I'm bored." Lacuna complained.

Inferno only nodded.

She sighed and stood, "Take a break, Inferno. I'm gonna go stretch my wings."

"I shall accompany you." he said, also standing.

"No, stay here."

"But, what if the Maximals-"

"We have a truce. They won't hurt me. They're stupid, but they're not stupid enough to violate the truce. I'll be fine."

"The Royalty ordered me to keep an eye on you, Lacuna. I must fulfill my duties."

She reached up, and put her hand on his shoulder, "You've gone above and beyond the call of duty, Inferno. For Primus' sake, you haven't slept in days! Get some rest. Please?"

"The Royalty ordered me-"

"Well, the Royalty is busy right now, and that means I'm in charge. Now, I'm ordering you to get some rest. As soon as my father is finished with that disk, the truce is over. You should rest and replenish your strength for the coming battle."

Apparently, she got through to him. "As you command, my Pr--Lacuna."

"Good boy. Now, off you go."

He saluted, and marched off toward the entrance to the Darkside.

Finally. Lacuna thought, transforming and flying off. Now I can get some serious recon done.

................................................................................................................................................

Cheetor stalked silently through the forest wishing the truce was over. He was bored out of his mind! With the Preds holed up in their base, he didn't have anybody to shoot at. So, he spent his time wandering through the wilds, running into Tigatron every now and then.

"Warning, Predacon energy signature detected." his onboard computer said.

He stopped in mid-step and began looking around, searching for the Predacon. His eyes stopped on a crow that sat on a low branch of a tree in front of him. "Jumpin' gyros, that's a big crow." he said. "Wait a second; that's no bird, that's a Predacon!" He snarled and transformed, "You're the one that almost slagged Airazor!"

"So I am." the crow replied, looking at him calmly. "You must be Cheetor."

"What's it to ya?"

"Nothing, actually." She hopped off of the branch, transforming before she landed. "I'm just making conversation."

He looked at her warily, "What's your name? What do you want?"

"My name is Lacuna. I am the daughter of Megatron, and I'm going to be your worst nightmare once this truce slag is over with. Now, as to what I want." She removed a small audio-video player from a compartment on her leg, and tossed it to him, "Deliver this to Dinobot. And don't go to the trouble of trying to hack out the contents; only he knows the access codes."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have to, and frankly, I don't expect you to. All I'm asking is that you deliver my message to Dinobot." She turned to go, but paused, and turned back around to face Cheetor, "And, by the way, don't bother with trying to destroy that thing. You can't."

He snarled at her.

Lacuna grinned, blew him a kiss, and transformed, cawing as she few off.

Cheetor looked at the tiny device that he held in his hand. He considered throwing it down, but thought better of it. He tapped his comm, "Cheetor to base."

"Base here." Rhinox replied.

"You'll never guess what just happened to me…"

................................................................................................................................................

Dinobot stared at the A-V player that rested in the palm of his hand. He had filtered out Cheetor's tale of how he came to possess such a device a long time ago, and was now pondering the significance of this occurrence. Rattrap's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts.

"You got weird taste in friends, Chopperface." he said. "Dat dame almost slagged Airazor!"

"How do you know her?" Optimus asked.

"Megatron introduced me to his daughter long before he ever decided to steal the Golden Disk. We became…close friends…" Dinobot explained. "When Megatron set his plans into motion, Lacuna was ordered to stay behind. Needless to say, she didn't take that too well."

"She said only you knew the access codes for that A-V player." Cheetor said.

"Of course. We used to use these things all the time to communicate back and forth while we were still on Cybertron." He sat the player onto the table, and typed in the codes.

The player hummed to life, and brought up a hologram of Lacuna. It looked like she was in her quarters.

She glanced nervously around her, "Attention Maximals, this is a Code One emergency! I repeat; this is a Code One emergency!"

The Maximals perked.

"I'm sure your striped scout told you all about the alien disk that my father has translated. The aliens are coming, and until today, no one knew when. I took the liberty of hacking not only into the Darkside's data files, but Tarantulas' as well. If Tarantulas' calculations are correct, and I believe they are, the aliens should arrive within the next twenty-four hours!"

A collective gasp went through the Maximals.

Lacuna glanced around again, "Ordinarily, I wouldn't relay such valuable information to the enemy, but you have a dear friend of mine in your ranks, and I don't want anything bad to happen to him." Someone could be heard coming to her door in the background. She looked at the door, then back to the player, "Hurry! Prepare yourselves! The aliens are coming now!"

As soon as the final word was spoken, static overtook the hologram.

"Can we trust her?" Rhinox asked.

"Lacuna wouldn't lie about something as serious as this." Dinobot answered, switching off the A-V player.

"How da you know?" Rattrap challenged. "You two ain't seen each other in almost a year, and she's Megatron's daughter. Fer all we know, she could be settin' us up."

"She wouldn't do that, vermin. Lacuna isn't your ordinary Predacon; honor, trust, loyalty, and friendship actually have some meaning to her, as they used to have meaning to her father."

"What do you think, Optimus?" Rhinox asked, looking to his commander and friend.

Optimus sighed, "Considering the circumstances, we have to trust her."

"What?! Optimus, she's a stinkin'-" Rattrap started, but Optimus interrupted him.

"Dinobot, are you absolutely sure that Lacuna is trustworthy?"

The raptor nodded, "As I said before; Lacuna wouldn't lie about something as serious as this."

Optimus nodded, "All right, I'll take your word for it."

"You should be grateful; Lacuna took a huge risk to deliver this information to us. If Megatron ever found out about this, he would not spare her his wrath. He is not above killing his own creation."

"I believe it. Battle stations, Maximals; we have under twenty-four hours to prepare for an extraterrestrial visit."

................................................................................................................................................

Lacuna was right; the next day, the aliens landed. However, she was ordered to stay behind and "guard the base" while Megatron, Terrorsaur, Scorponok, and Waspinator went to investigate the landing site. Inferno had been sent to follow the spiders, who were planning on fleeing the planet before the aliens got really mad.

"How come I never get to have any fun?" she wondered aloud, flopping into her father's command center throne. "Everybody else gets to go off and kick some Maximal skid, and what do I get to do? I get to sit here on my butt, bored out of my scull, acting like I'm guarding the place. For Primus' sake, couldn't the external defense systems do that? I wanna go slag somebody! …And Waspy thought he always got the crappy assignments. I'd trade places with him any day."

A computer monitor dropped down in front of her, a red light flashing on the keyboard.

"Scorponok, I love you!" she cried, pressing a button.

Before he had left, Lacuna had talked Scorponok into using one of his cyberbees to relay what was going on out there back to her. Apparently, he hadn't been caught releasing the bee.

A huge, green mushroom-like thing filled most of the screen. Terrorsaur, Scorponok, and Megatron stood near it, discussing something. Waspinator and the Maximals were nowhere to be seen.

Lacuna whistled lowly, "What is that thing?"

The cyberbee flew lower, giving her a decent view of a hole that had been blown into the side of the "mushroom". Beyond the hole was nothing but darkness. Over the humming of the bee's wings, she could hear someone screaming inside.

"Yep, the aliens 're mad." She leaned closer to the screen upon seeing something moving inside the structure.

The bee landed beneath the roof of the structure, giving her an upside-down view of a rat dragging a hawk out of the hole, which closed up behind them. If her memory served her correctly, that was Rattrap and Airazor, the hawk that she had "almost slagged", as Cheetor had put it. Airazor looked hurt.

The Predacons leveled their weapons at the Maximals.

Lacuna managed to make out "truce" and "over" above the bee's humming. She watched as the unarmed Maximals then proceeded to beat the slag out of the Predacons. Disgusted, she switched the monitor off. "Pathetic." she grumbled, stepping onto her hoverpad. "Absolutely pathetic! It's no wonder they always lose! If father would just let me--Waspy!"

Waspinator staggered onto a hoverpad, and guided it up to her. "Area izz zzecure." he said, his voice changing pitches several times.

"What happened to you?" she asked, reaching out and steadying his hoverpad.

Several buzzes, squeaks, and grunts answered her.

Even though she knew it might only make the situation worse, Lacuna smacked Waspinator in the back of the head.

Waspinator stumbled forward a step, then regained his balance. "Thankzz. Wazzpinator needed that."

"What happened to you?"

"Wazzpinator wazz zzuppozzed to zzecure area. When Wazzpinator got to area, rat-bot wazz there. Rat-bot would not leave, even after Wazzpinator told him to." He growled, his fists clenching, "Rat-bot fight dirty."

Lacuna nodded, "So, basically, you ran into Rattrap at the landing site and told him to leave. He didn't, so the two of you got into a fight. Am I correct?"

He nodded, "Wazzpinator got off one good hit, though."

Dear Primus. she thought with a sigh. "Well, that's more than the others did. Are you damaged?"

"No. Juzzt zzore. …And humiliated." He looked down at his feet, "Rat-bot wazz unarmed. Wazzpinator zzhould've been able to take him out with no problem. But Wazzpinator couldn't even do that. Maybe…maybe Megatron and other Predaconzz are right; maybe Wazzpinator really izz bumbling idiot."

Lacuna put a hand on his shoulder, "Waspy, look at me."

He did.

"You're not a bumbling idiot. You have a disability, I won't lie to you about that, but you're not stupid. I don't care what the others say, you're not stupid. You're brave, and funny, and positive about everything, and practically indestructible, and a whole lot of other things. But, you're not stupid. Do you understand? You are not stupid, no matter what anyone else says."

Waspinator looked at her for a moment longer, then threw his arms around her. "Why izz Lacuna zzo nice to Wazzpinator?"

"Because I like you, Waspy. You're different, like me. And 'bots like us need to stick together."

He was about to say something, but the commotion of Scorponok, Megatron, and Terrorsaur entering the base caused both of them to jump.

"What's goin' on?" Lacuna asked, noticing the worried expressions on both Terrorsaur's and Scorponok's faces.

"The aliens have activated a planet-wide destruction sequence." Megatron calmly answered.

"What?! When?"

"Oh, a few moments ago." He sat down on his throne, "Now, then. Battle stations! Power up the shields! I want a full report on what the slag is going on, and I want it now!"

Quickly, everyone got to their station. Lacuna took Tarantulas' station, not having one of her own.

"I can't find them!" Scorponok cried. "It's like they just up and left. And they took one of the moons with them!"

"Fool!" Megatron snapped. "That moon was never a moon to begin with; it's true purpose it to blow this planet to atoms. And us with it."

"What're we gonna do?" Terrorsaur asked.

Megatron shrugged, "We can do nothing. Computer, scan the Maximal base for a Transwarp energy signature. Use an alien frequency."

While Megatron was consulting the scanners, the other Predacons exchanged nervous glances.

"We're toast." Terrorsaur lamented. "Crispy, burned beyond recognition toast!"

"Wazzpinator doezz not want to be toazzt. Wazzpinator hazz planzz for hizz life!" Waspinator groaned.

"We're not dead yet, Terrorsaur." Lacuna said.

"We might as well be!" he snapped.

"Not quite. If I can just reroute all of the available power to the shields-"

"NO!" Megatron exclaimed. "What has that imbecile done?!"

"What's wrong, Megatron?" Scorponok asked.

"Tarantulas and Inferno are offline! Blackarachnia and the Transwarp cell are both functional, but there are Maximal energy signatures all around them!"

"Looks like Tarantulas' little scheme failed miserably." Terrorsaur sneered.

Megatron was about to throttle him, but stopped at Scorponok's cry of surprise.

"Megatron! The alien machine! It's powering up!" Scorponok called.

"We're doomed!" Waspinator cried.

"Hey, the Maximals are sending up a stasis-pod!" Terrorsaur shouted.

"See if you can get a reading on who's flying that thing." Megatron ordered. "Lacuna, divert all available power to the shields."

"Aye, Sir!" Lacuna replied. "It's gonna get a little dark in here!"

"Optimus is flying the pod!" Terrorsaur announced. "And he's about to eject!"

"I think not, no." Megatron spoke a few commands to the computer and then to Optimus himself.

Lacuna wasn't listening. Numbers were running through her head, numbers guessing at exactly how many pieces Optimus would be blown to once that pod impacted the machine. There's not gonna be enough of him left to make a point for a needle! she thought.

The Predacons watched as the alien machine— and Optimus Primal— exploded. A collective victory cheer went through the ranks.

"We won!" Scorponok exclaimed. "We won!"

"Whoa, wait just a second." Lacuna said. "That stasis-pod had a Transwarp cell in it. When a Transwarp cell explodes, a quantum surge usually follows it."

"What are you getting at, Lacuna?" Megatron asked.

"Am I the only one who paid attention in school?" When no one answered her, she continued, "Apparently so. Anyway, when you figure in our proximity to that machine, the results of a quantum surge would be catastrophic! Since that machine didn't fry us, the surge will!"

Before anyone could say anything, an alarm started going off. "Warning; quantum surge detected." the computerized voice calmly reported.

"Battle stations!" Megatron ordered. "I want those shields kept up!"

Instantly, the Predacons returned to their stations.

"Impact in forty-five seconds!" Scorponok announced.

Pieces of metal began falling from the ceiling. Some splashed into the lava, others fell to the floor.

Seeing a rather large piece of metal heading their way, Terrorsaur and Scorponok maneuvered their hoverpads away from their stations. However, since Scorponok was the closest to the falling debris, his hoverpad was the one that was nicked, sending him crashing into Terrorsaur. Both of them plummeted toward the lava, screaming.

"NOOO!" Lacuna yelled, seeing the tragedy that was unfolding. She leapt off of her hoverpad and flew toward her falling comrades, grabbing them at the last possible minute. But, as she landed on the nearby floor, the combined weight of Scorponok and Terrorsaur made her fall. "Oof!" she exclaimed, landing hard on her stomach.

Swinging dangerously back and forth, Terrorsaur and Scorponok looked up at her, utter terror shining clearly in their optics.

"Hang on." Lacuna said. "I'm--AAAH!" A sharp piece of metal sliced into her left shoulder, almost pinning her like a bug to the floor. She tried desperately to hold onto Scorponok, who was clinging to the arm that was connected to the shoulder that now had a metal spike in it. She turned her head to Megatron, who was watching from his throne, "Father, help me!"

"Drop them, you fool! They are worthless! Drop them, or perish with them!" he shouted above the sound of the Darkside being torn apart.

It was in this moment that the universe as Lacuna knew it shattered into a billion pieces. Her father really didn't care about her! Or anyone else for that matter! Tarantulas, Blackarachnia, and Terrorsaur had been right! If she weren't in the middle of a life-and-death situation, Lacuna would've gone into a rage. Instead, she looked to Waspinator, "Waspy, help me!"

"Don't you dare leave your post!" Megatron commanded.

Waspinator looked between the two. Megatron wanted him to sacrifice not only Lacuna's life, but Terorsaur's and Scorponok's as well! Was Megatron really willing to sacrifice his own daughter in order to win this war? …Well, Megatron might be willing, but Waspinator sure as slag wasn't.

"Obey me!" the Predacon commander yelled, as Waspinator began to pilot his hoverpad toward the downed trio.

"No!" Waspinator shouted, rushing to save his comrades. He leapt off of his hoverpad, and fell to his knees beside Lacuna.

"Get Scorponok." she said.

He nodded, reached down, and hauled the scorpion to safety.

As soon as Waspinator had Scorponok, Lacuna began to pull Terrorsaur up, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. She then caught sight of something that chilled her mech-fluid.

"Insolent fools!!!" Megatron roared, snapping off a shot at Lacuna and Terrorsaur.

Quickly, Lacuna yanked Terrorsaur up onto the floor and shielded him, mere milliseconds before the blast connected with her back. She cried out once, and fell against the pterodactyl, lifeless.

Meanwhile, Scorponok and Waspinator had overturned a hoverpad and grabbed a huge piece of fallen metal, constructing a quick dome-like shelter to shield them from the oncoming quantum surge.

"Terrorsaur!" Scorponok shouted.

Not wasting a second, Terrorsaur grabbed Lacuna's limp body, pulled the piece of metal from her shoulder, and scooted under the "shelter" with her. Once he was settled, he held her tightly against his chest, and prepared for impact.

The quantum surge hit with a deafening roar and a blinding white light. Megatron fell to the floor, and the command center was soon filled with the agonized screams of the Predacons, as the quantum surge did its work.

................................................................................................................................................

Waspinator awoke to complete darkness. He was about to panic, but then remembered what had happened. Lacuna! Terrorsaur! Scorponok! Were they okay? He started to move, but stopped when someone close by groaned. "Zzcorponok? Izz that you?"

A yellow visor lit up a few inches away. "Waspinator? You okay?"

"Wazzpinator thinkzz zzo. You?"

"I'm in one piece, I think. Let's get this thing off." With Waspinator's help, Scorponok pushed their rickety shelter aside. He looked down at the other 'bots that had shared the shelter, and inhaled sharply. "Oh, no."

Terrorsaur lay over Lacuna's body, completely motionless.

"Izz he…?" Waspinator couldn't finish the sentence.

"I…I dunno. I hope not." Gently, he poked the pterodactyl's shoulder, "Terrorsaur? You alive?"

"I'm dead, right?" Terrorsaur asked, slowly sitting up. He looked at Lacuna, who lay before him, looking frighteningly dead. She had saved him. Twice. Terrorsaur was in shock; nobody had ever done that for him. Gently, he touched her cheek, "Lacuna?"

She groaned, her eyes flickering several times before they ever lit up completely. "Mmmm…Terr…"

"I'm here, Lacuna."

"Is…everybody okay?" Her shoulder sparked, making her grunt.

"As far as we know." Unconsciously, he had started stroking her cheek.

"Good. …Bloody hell…aaaah…" She tried to move, but that only made her shoulder and back spark more. "Mmmmmmm. …Help me up."

Carefully, he helped her stand.

Even more sparks flew from her wounds, making her grimace, but she didn't cry out. "Thanks."

Seeing that she wasn't able to stand on her own, Terrorsaur slipped under her good arm. "You need to go to the CR tank."

"No. I'm not hurt that bad."

"You saved us." Scorponok said. "Why?"

Weakly, she smiled, "You watch my back and I'll watch yours."

He grinned, and carefully hugged her. "Thank you."

"No problem. If it hadn't 've been for Waspy, there wouldn't none of us be here. Y'orta be thankin' him, not me."

Waspinator looked down, embarrassed, "Wazzpinator doezzn't dezzerve thankzz. Wazzpinator juzzt wanted to help."

"I hate to be a downer, but, where's Megatron?" Terrorsaur asked.

Slowly, someone stood up beneath Megatron's throne. Several sparking wires gave the Predacons a vague view of someone that looked somewhat like their leader, only more streamlined. Red optics lit up and stared ominously at the quartet.

Lacuna growled as a tiny trickle of oil started at one corner of her mouth. Dinobot was the one who had taught her how to growl; it always agitated Megatron when she growled.

The 'bot before them narrowed his optics.

"M-Megatron?" Waspinator asked. "What happened to you?"

"I've had a change." Megatron answered. "For the better. …Now, prepare yourselves! If the quantum surge knocked all of us out, I'm betting it did the same to the Maximals, which would mean that their defenses are down."

................................................................................................................................................

Every beat of her wings sent a spike of pain through Lacuna's body. Her beast mode wasn't damaged as badly as she had previously thought, but the damage was still there. She wasn't going to show her weakness, though. Not now, not ever.

Terrorsaur was flying close to her. Although he wouldn't admit it for the world, he was genuinely concerned about her. Her wounds were starting to get the best of her, he could tell. So, he flew close incase she fell; he intended to catch her. He hadn't thanked her for saving his life yet. He was still in shock, to be honest.

When Megatron had revived, a coldness had come into Lacuna's optics; fury combined with pain, betrayal, and deep hatred. That coldness was now reflected in the crow's eyes.

We tried to warn her. Terrorsaur thought, glancing at her. I guess she just had to see it herself before she believed us. …Poor thing.

Ahead of them on the ground, Megatron had taken out Tigatron and Airazor, and was in the process of throttling Blackarachnia. Rattrap and Cheetor, who had also been Transmetalized, were coming out of the base to assist their fallen comrades. Waspinator was instructed to take on Cheetor, since he was the closest flier. Terrorsaur and Lacuna had fallen behind quite a bit.

"Are you okay?" Terrorsaur asked, noticing that Lacuna had begun to pant.

"I'm fine." she answered, nodding toward the ground, "Where does she think she's going?"

"Huh?" He looked down and saw Blackarachnia leaving the battlefield, carrying something that looked like a curled-up spider. "I dunno. She's probably saving her own hide again. …I hate spiders."

"I'm not exactly fond of them myself." She angled her wings, preparing to dive, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bone to pick with a certain spotted cat." She dropped from the sky, transforming as she fell, heading straight for Cheetor, who had Waspinator pinned beneath him.

"Hold still, Bug Eyes." Cheetor said, as Waspinator struggled beneath him. "This'll only hurt for a nano. OOF!" Something hit him hard, knocking him off of his opponent.

"I'm afraid it's gonna hurt longer than a nanosecond." Lacuna said, standing. She had tackled Cheetor with her good shoulder, fortunately.

"You!" Cheetor exclaimed, climbing to his feet.

The crow grinned, "What's new, Pussycat?"

For a brief second, Cheetor wondered about the damage to her left shoulder and beast mode. But, that second passed. He growled, and flew at her, his jets screaming.

Lacuna calmly unholstered her pistol and snapped off two shots at the oncoming cheetah.

"Aah!" Cheetor cried, as both of his jets were blown off. He crashed onto the roof of the Axalon, and skidded to a halt a few centimeters in front of Lacuna's feet.

"That was for hurting my Waspy." she said, watching Waspinator climb to his feet. "And this,"-she kicked the cheetah, knocking him onto his back-"is for not remembering my name. And this,"-she leveled her pistol at his head-"is for being a slaggin' Maximal."

Cheetor's eyes widened as he stared down the business end of her gun.

"I told you that I would be your worst nightmare once the truce was over." she continued, cocking her gun, "I intend to keep my word."

Another shot was fired, and Cheetor lay still.

Waspinator stood beside Lacuna, who was looking down at her latest victim.

"I hate to do that to a kid, but he asked for it, and this is war." she said with a sigh. "Are you okay?"

"Wazzpinator izz okay."

"Good." She holstered her gun, and picked up the stasis-locked Maximal, slinging him over her good shoulder like he was a sack of grain, "Let's leave him where they can find him."

Waspinator nodded, and lifted off with her, heading back to Megatron and Terrorsaur.

................................................................................................................................................

Rattrap was getting worried about Cheetor. He'd seen Lacuna head to the roof of the Axalon, which was where he'd last seen his friend. Three shots had been fired, and then silence. But, as of right now, he had bigger problems; namely Terrorsaur and Megatron.

Terrorsaur screeched, and snapped off a shot at the fleeing rat, causing him to swerve into Megatron's line of fire.

Megatron opened fire, taking Rattrap out.

The Axalon's elevator opened, and Inferno came tumbling out.

"Inferno!" Megatron exclaimed, rushing over to the downed ant.

"Royalty!" Inferno cried. "You have come for me!"

"Megatron!" Rhinox yelled from inside the Maximal ship.

Megatron transformed, grabbed Inferno, and lifted off, "Predacons, retreat!"

Rhinox let out a battle cry, and jumped down the elevator shaft, gun in hand.

Thinking fast, Lacuna hurled Cheetor's body at the rhino, who barely caught him before he hit the ground. She then transformed and flew after her comrades, cawing.

Rhinox looked after her for a moment. He didn't move when Dinobot landed beside her.

"The crow is supposed to be the bird of death in human folklore." the raptor said, looking at Cheetor.

"She hasn't killed anyone yet." Rhinox replied, looking up at his comrade.

"Yet. Look at Cheetor's wound. It is similar to the wound that Airazor received from Lacuna except for one little detail."

"And that is?"

"Cheetor's wound is closer to his vital circuitry. The difference in his injury and Airazor's is only a few millimeters."

"So? Maybe her aim is off."

Dinobot shook his head, "No. If Lacuna wants to hit something, she will; she doesn't miss. If she doesn't want to hit something, she'll miss it by a few inches."

Rhinox only looked at him, still not quite understanding what was being said.

"Don't you see? She's trying to psych us out! Each 'bot that she hits has the exact same wound, except the wound keeps getting closer and closer to vital circuitry. Sooner or later, she'll decide it's time to kill one of us, and that unlucky one will have the exact same wound, only the blast will have hit vital circuitry. She's battling us physically as well as mentally."

This time, Rhinox nodded, "Which makes her all the more dangerous. If she's playing mind games like Tarantulas does, we'll really have to watch her."

Dinobot nodded and grinned, "I taught her well."

................................................................................................................................................

Meanwhile, back at the Predacon base, Lacuna was standing in front of Megatron, surrounded by the other Predacons except Blackarachnia and Tarantulas, who were nowhere to be found.

"Why did you disobey me?" Megatron asked, anger simmering in his voice.

"Scorponok and Terrorsaur are my friends. I am not going to sacrifice them just so you can win your petty little war." Lacuna defiantly answered.

"Insolent wretch!" he yelled, smacking her with his arm-mounted tail-gun.

Lacuna cried out as she fell from her hoverpad to the floor. She could feel mech-fluid begin to leak from the gash in her right cheek, as she slowly pulled herself to her knees. Megatron had never hit her before, never! Sure, he'd been angry with her before, but he'd never hit her!

"How dare you defy me! I should have you reprogrammed into a maintenance 'bot!"

"Do it! I dare ya!" She climbed to her feet and looked up at him, showing no fear in the face of her father's wrath.

"Wazzpinator alzzo dizzobeyed! Punizzh Wazzpinator, too!" Waspinator exclaimed, maneuvering his hoverpad in front of Megatron.

"You don't have enough sense to know when you're disobeying me." Megatron retorted, smacking him out of the way. He lowered his throne, grabbed Lacuna by her throat, and lifted her up.

She struggled, but he tightened his grip on her, and she went still.

"I will have no more rebellions out of you. Do you understand? No more. You will obey me without question. If I tell you to do something, you will do it instantly. If I tell you not to do something, you won't think a second thing about it. If you are to be my heir, you must learn some discipline."

"I'm not like you." she growled.

"No, you are not. You are still young and full of rebellious nature. I intend to break you from that habit."

"You won't control me."

Megatron laughed, his grip tightening around her neck again, causing several ominous pops. "My dear, I have always controlled you."

................................................................................................................................................

Lacuna awoke with a groan. The first thing she was aware of was the absence of pain; someone must've taken her to the CR tank. The second thing that she was aware of was lying on a bed, presumably hers. No, the bed wasn't hers; it was Dinobot's. Her entire room was Dinobot's; she had no claim to it whatsoever.

"Lacuna?"

She recognized that voice. As her vision cleared, she found herself face to face with Terrorsaur. She almost jumped; she didn't think he was that close.

He smiled, "Hey."

"Hey. How long have I been out?"

"Quite a while. All the rest of yesterday and most of tonight, actually. We…we thought we were gonna lose you there for a while. Megatron almost crushed your neck completely."

She nodded, and darkened her optics. "Ah, yes, my loving father." She sighed, "I'm sorry, Terrorsaur. I should've listened to you. I should've listened to Tarantulas and Blackarachnia. …You were right; I was too wrapped up in my hero-worship to see what a monster my father really was. I'm so sorry."

"Everybody makes mistakes, Lacuna."

"I could've gotten somebody killed!" She sat up with a sigh and dangled her feet over the side of the bed, "How could I have been so blind? How could I have been so stupid?"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not! I let him brainwash me!" She put her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, "Stupidity on my part, that's all it was."

Terrorsaur sat down beside her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why're you here, anyway?"

He shrugged, "It was my shift."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Your shift?"

"Yeah. Me, Waspy, 'n Scorponok 've been taking turns watching you. Like I said; we thought we were gonna lose you."

"I thought you didn't like me."

"A 'bot can change his mind, can't he?"

She grinned.

"'Sides, I owe you my life."

Her grin faded, "Don't worry about it. I was just doing what I thought was right. Apparently my father doesn't share my opinions." She snorted, "Some heir I am."

"You don't have to be like him."

"I know."

"Then why are you so stressed over this?"

"…I don't know."

He looked at her for a long time before he spoke again, "You don't have to stay here. Megatron's asleep; you can make a break for it now."

She looked closely at him, "Terrorsaur, I'm not gonna-"

"You don't fear him like we do. You can get out of this hellhole! Go to the Maximals; they'd gladly take you in. And, Dinobot's there: he can look out for you better than any of us ever could. Lacuna, this is your chance at freedom! If you don't take it now, you might not get another one!" He was pleading with her now. If she didn't go now… He didn't want to think about what would happen to her the next time Megatron got mad.

Lacuna stared at Terrorsaur for several moments, a million thoughts running through her head at once. "No."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not going to leave you guys here with that tyrant. I'm gonna stay here, and fight with you 'til the bitter end. I am not going to abandon my friends. …You're right, Terrorsaur; I'm not like him."

................................................................................................................................................

Just Like You

Three Days Grace

....................

I could be mean

I could be angry

You know I could be just like you

....................

I could be fake

I could be stupid

You know I could be just like you

....................

You thought you were standing beside me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you

....................

I could be cold

I could be ruthless

You know I could be just like you

....................

I could be weak

I could be senseless

You know I could be just like you

....................

You thought you were standing beside me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you

....................

On my own, cause I can't take livin' with you

I'm alone, so I won't turn out like

You want me to

....................

You thought you were standing beside me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you (just like you)

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you

....................

I could be mean

I could be angry

You know I could be just like you

................................................................................................................................................

Author's Note; Well? What d'ya think? This one took me a LONG time to do, so I hope you enjoyed it. I LOVE Three Days Grace; they've got to be one of the coolest new bands to hit the hard rock universe; I HIGHLY recommend their self-titled first album! (I'd recommend their Demo CD, but I can't find it anywhere, so I guess I can't recommend it.) Anyway, you know how this goes; show me some love, please review! There will be more to come if I get feedback. ;)