Pretty Rock Part II:
"Silverbolt to Optimus. So far no sign of Cheetor. If I go any further I'll enter Megatron's jamming jone."
"Come back to base." The comm-link spouted.
"All-right. I'll--WHAT IN THE NAME OF PRIMUS?!!!" Silverbolt shrieked. The flying wolf almost fell.
"What is it?" Optimus asked.
"It looks like...Waspinator...I think. Looks too freakish, and..."
"And what?"
"And it sees me..."
Silverbolt looked down. He saw the monstrosity staring at him, grinning wildly. "Silverbolt, maximize!"
Silverbolt transformed and dove down to examine the creature. It's expression had changed to pure insanity.
"Greetings! I am Silverbolt of the--"
"Wazzpinator know exactly who Doggy-bot is."
"Waspinator?! But how--"
"Megatron put Wazzpinator into mean machine. Make Wazzpinator powerful. Now Wazzpinator more powerful than zztupid dinozzaur Megatron!"
Waspinator spread his mandibles, drooling a venomous acid. "Wazzpinator need Doggy-bot'zz help."
"Ah! Deciding to become a Maximal, eh? Well, I'm certain I can aid you." Silverbolt chuckled. But Waspinator just stood there, cackling and drooling. Silverbolt, nervous, drew his swords. Waspinator lunged for him.
"Wazzpinator to to you what he do to Cat-bot!"
"You BEAST! Preying upon a boy!" Silverbolt scolded. He was pinned to the ground, desperately trying to avoid Waspinator's venomous bites. Silverbolt kicked Waspinator in the gut, knocking him off.
"Wazzpinator not like Doggy-bot! Doggy-bot DIE!" Waspinator whipped out his gauss rifle, blasting away. The sharp, stinger-like projectiles hit Silverbolt in various places, decorating him like a pine cone. Silverbolt howled in pain.
Suddenly, the pain stopped. He looked at a hole in his chest. He wearily saw Waspinator devouring his very spark. Silverbolt collapsed and died, whispering, "'Til all are one..."
***
"Silverbolt, do you copy? Silverbolt?"
"Unit Silverbolt has been terminated."
Optimus gasped.
"What's wrong, Boss-Monkey? You look like somebody died." Rattrap said, cheerfully walking into the bridge.
Optimus turned to him, saying "Somebody did. Silverbolt. And I think I know who killed him..."
"A slaggin' Pred, no doubt." Rattrap growled.
"The most unlikely one, at that." Optimus looked a Rattrap, who was puzzled.
"Who, Waspy? You gotta be pullin' my servos. Is it April Fool's Day or somethin'?"
"No joke, Rattrap. Waspinator killed Silverbolt."
"Jimminy biscuit!"
"Silverbolt mentioned that Waspinator looked different and--"
"Warning! Base is under attack." Sentinel said.
Primal ran to the main screen. He turned it on, and sure enough, Megatron and his legions were there. Except for Waspinator.
"Rattrap, get Rhinox and Dinobot." Optimus commanded.
"Righto, Mista' Monkey."
"Don't call me that."
***
Megatron grinned. He loved it when he took the Maximals by surprise like this. Expecially when he outnumbered them. His grin grew as he saw Optimus, Rattrap, Rhinox and Dinobot be lowered to the ground on the lift, and running into battle.
"Come to meet their doom, eh?" Megatron laughed.
"So it seems, Royalty! Grah-hahahahahahaaaa!" Inferno cackled, activating his thruster and leaping into the air. He fired off a few shots, taking out autoguns.
Quickstrike fired off a few shots, hitting Dinobot, but before he knew it he had already lost a limb thanks to Rhinox's chain gun.
"Dang varmints!" He screamed.
Dinobot started his assault on Tarantulas, who nimbly dodged his slashes. Dinobot fired off his optic lasers, hitting the arachnid right in the gut. Tarantulas staggered a bit, only to be kicked off the ledge by a chuckling Dinobot.
Blackarachnia was being mowed down by Rhinox as Rattrap shot at Quickstrike. Optimus and Megatron exchanged blows, as Dinobot fired upon Inferno. It was even. Until Rampage rolled in.
"Bwahahahaha!" He laughed. He fired off a few shots, the transformed to robot mode. He continued laughing and firing at every Maximal he saw, knocking them to the ground.
"Excellent, Rampage, yes!" Megatron shouted. Inferno growled in jealousy. "Now, the Axalon is ours!"
"Why wazzn't Wazzpinator invited to party?"
Everyone turned to look at Waspinator. He had grown to Inferno's size and was sporting a nice set of razor-sharp teeth. His insectine stripes had been replaced by somewhat jagged black spots against yellow. He spread his now grayed wings; they were almost bird-like.
"It appears you've changed since the last time we met, Waspinator!" Megatron said. "Both in looks and in personality!"
"Wazzpinator get by." Waspinator chuckled, more arrogant than usual. "Wazzpinator not know what happening to him," Waspinator sneered. "But Wazzpinator likezz it!"
"He's startin' to remind me of Cheetor," Rattrap mumbled to Rhinox. "A more...'evil' Cheetor."
"Waspy's changed alright. Look at his wings." Rhinox said. "Remind you of someone?"
Before Rattrap could answer, Waspinator shot a devious look toward Rampage. Here was a challenge. Rampage rarely acknowledged pain, and had a thing for raw power.
"Wazzpinator like what he zzeezz!"
Waspinator lunged for Rampage, mandibles spread. Rampage roared and swung a punch at him. Waspinator flew backward, landing with a thud.
"Fool! You're no match for me! But I could always use a new playmate!" Rampage taunted. Waspinator rubbed his aching chin.
"Wazzpinator get Crab-bot yet!" He screamed. He drew his guass rifle, and took aim. Rampage cackled and aimed his rocket launcher. Waspinator let loose a stream of sharp, strangely feather-like quills. Rampage merely laughed as they bounced off his red chest. Rampage unleashed the full fury of his powerful cannon towards Waspinator who just stood there, grinning. Waspinator leaped up, letting the rockets hit the Maximal base as he dove for Rampage once more.
As the battle raged on, the Maximals began their strike. Rhinox fired away at a damaged Quickstrike as Rattrap shot Blackarachnia. Dinobot continued blasting at a surprisingly quick Inferno.
But Optimus and Megatron just stood there, exchanging menacing looks. Then it happened. Rampage shrieked in pain.
Everyone turned to look. Waspinator had latched himself to Rampage, ripping into his spark chamber. He grabbed the half-spark with his mouth, downing it with ease. He leaped off of Rampage, cackling in a maniacal manner.
Rampage fell to the ground, twitching in agony. He needed a spark to live. His optics flickered as he shut down.
"Predacons, retreat!" Megatron barked. As the beaten Predacons made their escape, Megatron turned to Optimus, grinning. "It seems for once we share an enemy, Primal! Good luck!"
The Maximals turned to Waspinator, or so they thought. He had made his escape.
"A hideous creature, he is." Dinobot said. "A once noble--but acciden-prone--warrior has been corrupted by his own power."
"Geez, he ate Rampage's spark! He must have some digestion system!" Rattrap sneered.
"His head's a spark extractor..." Rhinox mumbled. "And I don't think he's eating the sparks."
"What's your take, Rhinox?" Optimus asked.
"I think he's assimilating them." Rhinox replied.
"And he got ol' Crabcake's spark, which means--"
"It means we are in grave danger, vermin." Dinobot shuddered. "The horror of it all..."
***
"How long until his next mutation, Tarantulas?" Megatron asked.
"An estimated five megacycles." Tarantulas replied.
"Slag. We haven't enough time." Megatron sighed. "Join Blackarachnia and Inferno in the reconstruction of the capsule."
"What about me, Boss-bot?" Quickstrike asked.
Megatron tapped a few buttons on his console and brought up a screen He grabbed the smaller Predacon off of his hoverboard and shoved Quickstrike's face into the screen.
"That, Quickstrike, is a new stasis pod. Because Inferno is busy building a more durable capsule, your duty is to get that pod."
"Yipee-kye-yay! I'm gonna get me that thar stasis pod!" Quickstrike shouted with joy. He jumped onto his hoverboard. "I'll get that pod, don't you worry!" With that, he flew out. Megatron shook his head.
"I must be mad."
***
"Man, ol' Waspy's probably gonna show up any cycle now!"
Rattrap sped along the trail, alone. "I don't wanna be assimilated!"
He was looking for the stasis pod, hoping he didn't find Waspinator along the way. He was nervous. Very nervous. He saw what happened to Rampage, and knew what happened to Silverbolt and Cheetor. He wanted his spark to be his, not Waspinator's.
He stopped. These were the coordinates, weren't they? He didn't see a pod anywhere. "Nada...zip...bupkus!"
"Hey, up here, varmint!"
Rattrap looked up. He saw Quickstrike--and a new Predacon!
"Rattrap, maximize!" Rattrap shouted. He transformed to robot mode, drawing his gun.
"Quickstrike, terrorize!" Quickstrike shifted body parts here and there, and got to robot mode--only to be blasted by Rattrap. He fell backward. "Slag! Show 'im what ya got, Sugar-bot!"
The shadowy figure leaped off of the small hill to the ground.
"A giant ant? Don't you guys already have one of those?!" Rattrap shrieked.
"Antagony, terrorize!" It yelled. It reared up on its hind legs, swinging the ant head down, and folding ant legs to her arms and legs. The end result was a rather sultry Predacon. She aimed her gun, smirking.
"Why do all the attractive ones have to be evil?" Rattrap sighed. The only reply he got was a blast from Antagony's rifle. He went flying.
"Nice shootin', Sugar-bot!" Quickstrike said. "Now lemmie show ya what I got!"
Several blasts of cyber-venom shook Rattrap. His whole body had become infected. He couldn't get up. He couldn't move. He couldn't see it coming.
Quickstrike thrust his cobra head/hand into Rattrap's chest, gnawing away at systems and damaging his fuel pump. "Now, should we leave 'im to wither an' die, Sugar-bot?" Quickstrike clinched his spidery fingers into a fist. "Or do you want to claim the kill?"
"You'll do niether!"
Antagony and Quickstrike both turned, only to get blasted by Optimus Primal. He reverted to vehicle mode, propped Rattrap up on the board, and sped off.
"Dagnabit!" Quickstrike snarled.
"Silverbolt to Optimus. So far no sign of Cheetor. If I go any further I'll enter Megatron's jamming jone."
"Come back to base." The comm-link spouted.
"All-right. I'll--WHAT IN THE NAME OF PRIMUS?!!!" Silverbolt shrieked. The flying wolf almost fell.
"What is it?" Optimus asked.
"It looks like...Waspinator...I think. Looks too freakish, and..."
"And what?"
"And it sees me..."
Silverbolt looked down. He saw the monstrosity staring at him, grinning wildly. "Silverbolt, maximize!"
Silverbolt transformed and dove down to examine the creature. It's expression had changed to pure insanity.
"Greetings! I am Silverbolt of the--"
"Wazzpinator know exactly who Doggy-bot is."
"Waspinator?! But how--"
"Megatron put Wazzpinator into mean machine. Make Wazzpinator powerful. Now Wazzpinator more powerful than zztupid dinozzaur Megatron!"
Waspinator spread his mandibles, drooling a venomous acid. "Wazzpinator need Doggy-bot'zz help."
"Ah! Deciding to become a Maximal, eh? Well, I'm certain I can aid you." Silverbolt chuckled. But Waspinator just stood there, cackling and drooling. Silverbolt, nervous, drew his swords. Waspinator lunged for him.
"Wazzpinator to to you what he do to Cat-bot!"
"You BEAST! Preying upon a boy!" Silverbolt scolded. He was pinned to the ground, desperately trying to avoid Waspinator's venomous bites. Silverbolt kicked Waspinator in the gut, knocking him off.
"Wazzpinator not like Doggy-bot! Doggy-bot DIE!" Waspinator whipped out his gauss rifle, blasting away. The sharp, stinger-like projectiles hit Silverbolt in various places, decorating him like a pine cone. Silverbolt howled in pain.
Suddenly, the pain stopped. He looked at a hole in his chest. He wearily saw Waspinator devouring his very spark. Silverbolt collapsed and died, whispering, "'Til all are one..."
***
"Silverbolt, do you copy? Silverbolt?"
"Unit Silverbolt has been terminated."
Optimus gasped.
"What's wrong, Boss-Monkey? You look like somebody died." Rattrap said, cheerfully walking into the bridge.
Optimus turned to him, saying "Somebody did. Silverbolt. And I think I know who killed him..."
"A slaggin' Pred, no doubt." Rattrap growled.
"The most unlikely one, at that." Optimus looked a Rattrap, who was puzzled.
"Who, Waspy? You gotta be pullin' my servos. Is it April Fool's Day or somethin'?"
"No joke, Rattrap. Waspinator killed Silverbolt."
"Jimminy biscuit!"
"Silverbolt mentioned that Waspinator looked different and--"
"Warning! Base is under attack." Sentinel said.
Primal ran to the main screen. He turned it on, and sure enough, Megatron and his legions were there. Except for Waspinator.
"Rattrap, get Rhinox and Dinobot." Optimus commanded.
"Righto, Mista' Monkey."
"Don't call me that."
***
Megatron grinned. He loved it when he took the Maximals by surprise like this. Expecially when he outnumbered them. His grin grew as he saw Optimus, Rattrap, Rhinox and Dinobot be lowered to the ground on the lift, and running into battle.
"Come to meet their doom, eh?" Megatron laughed.
"So it seems, Royalty! Grah-hahahahahahaaaa!" Inferno cackled, activating his thruster and leaping into the air. He fired off a few shots, taking out autoguns.
Quickstrike fired off a few shots, hitting Dinobot, but before he knew it he had already lost a limb thanks to Rhinox's chain gun.
"Dang varmints!" He screamed.
Dinobot started his assault on Tarantulas, who nimbly dodged his slashes. Dinobot fired off his optic lasers, hitting the arachnid right in the gut. Tarantulas staggered a bit, only to be kicked off the ledge by a chuckling Dinobot.
Blackarachnia was being mowed down by Rhinox as Rattrap shot at Quickstrike. Optimus and Megatron exchanged blows, as Dinobot fired upon Inferno. It was even. Until Rampage rolled in.
"Bwahahahaha!" He laughed. He fired off a few shots, the transformed to robot mode. He continued laughing and firing at every Maximal he saw, knocking them to the ground.
"Excellent, Rampage, yes!" Megatron shouted. Inferno growled in jealousy. "Now, the Axalon is ours!"
"Why wazzn't Wazzpinator invited to party?"
Everyone turned to look at Waspinator. He had grown to Inferno's size and was sporting a nice set of razor-sharp teeth. His insectine stripes had been replaced by somewhat jagged black spots against yellow. He spread his now grayed wings; they were almost bird-like.
"It appears you've changed since the last time we met, Waspinator!" Megatron said. "Both in looks and in personality!"
"Wazzpinator get by." Waspinator chuckled, more arrogant than usual. "Wazzpinator not know what happening to him," Waspinator sneered. "But Wazzpinator likezz it!"
"He's startin' to remind me of Cheetor," Rattrap mumbled to Rhinox. "A more...'evil' Cheetor."
"Waspy's changed alright. Look at his wings." Rhinox said. "Remind you of someone?"
Before Rattrap could answer, Waspinator shot a devious look toward Rampage. Here was a challenge. Rampage rarely acknowledged pain, and had a thing for raw power.
"Wazzpinator like what he zzeezz!"
Waspinator lunged for Rampage, mandibles spread. Rampage roared and swung a punch at him. Waspinator flew backward, landing with a thud.
"Fool! You're no match for me! But I could always use a new playmate!" Rampage taunted. Waspinator rubbed his aching chin.
"Wazzpinator get Crab-bot yet!" He screamed. He drew his guass rifle, and took aim. Rampage cackled and aimed his rocket launcher. Waspinator let loose a stream of sharp, strangely feather-like quills. Rampage merely laughed as they bounced off his red chest. Rampage unleashed the full fury of his powerful cannon towards Waspinator who just stood there, grinning. Waspinator leaped up, letting the rockets hit the Maximal base as he dove for Rampage once more.
As the battle raged on, the Maximals began their strike. Rhinox fired away at a damaged Quickstrike as Rattrap shot Blackarachnia. Dinobot continued blasting at a surprisingly quick Inferno.
But Optimus and Megatron just stood there, exchanging menacing looks. Then it happened. Rampage shrieked in pain.
Everyone turned to look. Waspinator had latched himself to Rampage, ripping into his spark chamber. He grabbed the half-spark with his mouth, downing it with ease. He leaped off of Rampage, cackling in a maniacal manner.
Rampage fell to the ground, twitching in agony. He needed a spark to live. His optics flickered as he shut down.
"Predacons, retreat!" Megatron barked. As the beaten Predacons made their escape, Megatron turned to Optimus, grinning. "It seems for once we share an enemy, Primal! Good luck!"
The Maximals turned to Waspinator, or so they thought. He had made his escape.
"A hideous creature, he is." Dinobot said. "A once noble--but acciden-prone--warrior has been corrupted by his own power."
"Geez, he ate Rampage's spark! He must have some digestion system!" Rattrap sneered.
"His head's a spark extractor..." Rhinox mumbled. "And I don't think he's eating the sparks."
"What's your take, Rhinox?" Optimus asked.
"I think he's assimilating them." Rhinox replied.
"And he got ol' Crabcake's spark, which means--"
"It means we are in grave danger, vermin." Dinobot shuddered. "The horror of it all..."
***
"How long until his next mutation, Tarantulas?" Megatron asked.
"An estimated five megacycles." Tarantulas replied.
"Slag. We haven't enough time." Megatron sighed. "Join Blackarachnia and Inferno in the reconstruction of the capsule."
"What about me, Boss-bot?" Quickstrike asked.
Megatron tapped a few buttons on his console and brought up a screen He grabbed the smaller Predacon off of his hoverboard and shoved Quickstrike's face into the screen.
"That, Quickstrike, is a new stasis pod. Because Inferno is busy building a more durable capsule, your duty is to get that pod."
"Yipee-kye-yay! I'm gonna get me that thar stasis pod!" Quickstrike shouted with joy. He jumped onto his hoverboard. "I'll get that pod, don't you worry!" With that, he flew out. Megatron shook his head.
"I must be mad."
***
"Man, ol' Waspy's probably gonna show up any cycle now!"
Rattrap sped along the trail, alone. "I don't wanna be assimilated!"
He was looking for the stasis pod, hoping he didn't find Waspinator along the way. He was nervous. Very nervous. He saw what happened to Rampage, and knew what happened to Silverbolt and Cheetor. He wanted his spark to be his, not Waspinator's.
He stopped. These were the coordinates, weren't they? He didn't see a pod anywhere. "Nada...zip...bupkus!"
"Hey, up here, varmint!"
Rattrap looked up. He saw Quickstrike--and a new Predacon!
"Rattrap, maximize!" Rattrap shouted. He transformed to robot mode, drawing his gun.
"Quickstrike, terrorize!" Quickstrike shifted body parts here and there, and got to robot mode--only to be blasted by Rattrap. He fell backward. "Slag! Show 'im what ya got, Sugar-bot!"
The shadowy figure leaped off of the small hill to the ground.
"A giant ant? Don't you guys already have one of those?!" Rattrap shrieked.
"Antagony, terrorize!" It yelled. It reared up on its hind legs, swinging the ant head down, and folding ant legs to her arms and legs. The end result was a rather sultry Predacon. She aimed her gun, smirking.
"Why do all the attractive ones have to be evil?" Rattrap sighed. The only reply he got was a blast from Antagony's rifle. He went flying.
"Nice shootin', Sugar-bot!" Quickstrike said. "Now lemmie show ya what I got!"
Several blasts of cyber-venom shook Rattrap. His whole body had become infected. He couldn't get up. He couldn't move. He couldn't see it coming.
Quickstrike thrust his cobra head/hand into Rattrap's chest, gnawing away at systems and damaging his fuel pump. "Now, should we leave 'im to wither an' die, Sugar-bot?" Quickstrike clinched his spidery fingers into a fist. "Or do you want to claim the kill?"
"You'll do niether!"
Antagony and Quickstrike both turned, only to get blasted by Optimus Primal. He reverted to vehicle mode, propped Rattrap up on the board, and sped off.
"Dagnabit!" Quickstrike snarled.