Eternal Life

Disclaimer: Beast Wars is property of Hasbro, Mainframe, etc.

Act I

"Oh please, face it Dinobot, you're old technology… obsolete!" gloated Megatron. "What can you possibly do?"

By this time, the light was beginning to flicker in Dinobot's optics. He had given it his best to save the valley of early proto-humans and it had cost him dearly. His life support was on the verge of giving out and there was no more stasis lock which could save him.

Megatron towered over him, after having knocked him down quite easily. The Predacon tyrant had his own plans, to destroy the early humans and prevent the Autobots from ever receiving their assistance in the Great War. It was an ambitious plan, one which would have succeeded had Dinobot not known about it already and rushed into battle to prevent their goals from reaching fruition. He had sustained heavy damages along the way but still, he had stopped the Predacons from carrying out their genocide.

The Predacon leader towered over Dinobot and pointed his weapon at the heavily injured Dinobot.

At the moment, Dinobot saw a sharp stone lying on the ground and knew the exact answer to the question Megatron had asked him.

"Improvise."

Dinobot slammed his stick down on the stone, wedging the piece of rock in to form a makeshift axe, a primitive weapon to be sure but one which could still deal some damage.

With a frantic roar, Dinobot launched himself at Megatron and struck the Predacon, knocking him down. From Megatron's compartments, the golden disc flew out as did the spark of Protoform X.

Reaching down, Dinobot grabbed the golden disc and concentrated every last bit of his firepower towards it, obliterating it with one shot from his eye beam. Then he finally fell.

Not even realizing he had lost the spark of Rampage, Megatron looked on in horror as hundreds of shards of the golden disc fell to the valley's forest floor. The secrets to the disc were lost forever and the humans had been saved. His plan, which he had put so much preparation into, had failed in every conceivable way.

His attention was brought back to reality as several shots from the sky alerted him to the Maximals. Optimus aimed his missiles at Megatron and fired.

"So close…" Megatron cried, transforming to flight mode and flying away. "I was sooooo close!"

Rattrap gasped as he saw Dinobot's body on the floor, heavily damaged and quite notably beyond repair.

The Maximals surrounded the fallen warrior, gathering around him solemnly.

"There's gotta be something we can do," whispered Cheetor.

There was something forming at Rattrap's throat. Dinobot, despite all his pretensions, had pulled through and launched a final heroic sacrifice to save the future… their future. How could he just stand back and allow his friend's life to fade?

Rhinox shook his head sadly. "He's too far gone… even for stasis lock."

No, no! He ain't gone! Chopperface, you're gonna pull through 'dis one! Rattrap bit down. He looked high and low for something… anything which would remedy the situation.

"Well fought my friend," Optimus said softly. "You saved the valley. You saved the lives of those who live here, and of those who are still to come."

A few feet away, Rattrap saw the spark of Protoform X which lay there after it had been knocked off of Megatron.

"Then there is nothing to regret," Dinobot whispered.

"No Dinobot!" Rattrap finally cried. "It isn't over! Not for you! I ain't gonna let you go!"

"Rattrap," Dinobot spoke softly. "My time has come. I have fought with every fiber in my spark for that which served honor. I have no regrets."

"Well don't leave me with my regrets!" Rattrap told him. "Now save your breath!"

He picked up the spark of Protoform X, which everyone immediately saw.

Optimus gasped. "Rattrap, you're not…"

"It's the only way!" Rattrap told them. "This is the only way we save Chopperface."

"But that's the spark of Protoform X," Rhinox pointed out.

"I know," Rattrap replied. "Rampage's spark has a self-healing mechanism. Now stand aside… ya want me to save him or not?"

Optimus and Rhinox looked at each other uneasily. Both Silverbolt and Cheetor stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"What are you—" Dinobot looked up, his optics nearly glazed over. He was on the verge of death.

"Be quiet," Rattrap told Dinobot and opened up his chest cavity to reveal his spark chamber.

Without hesitation, Rattrap took the half of Rampage's spark out of the energon chamber and placed it within the same spark chamber as Dinobot's.

After having done that, an eerie glow pulsed through Dinobot's chest, surrounding his entire body.

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"Incompetents, all of you!" Megatron bellowed in the main halls of the Darkside.

"We're, uh, sorry boss," offered Quickstrike. "But that rascally raptor got the drop on us!"

"No excuses Quickstrike!" Megatron pointed his weapon at the Maximal-turned-Predacon who then trembled. "Our mission was to destroy the early anthropoids and all of you failed."

"My apologies royalty," Inferno groveled. "If it would please you, I could lead another expedition to—"

"That will not be necessary," Megatron told Inferno. "By this point the early humans will have left the valley. It will be impossible to destroy all these scattered bands of apes."

"Then what're you mad at us about?" demanded Blackarachnia. "Didn't Dinobot defeat you as well? Why don't you share some of that blame?"

After holding back for long enough, Blackarachnia felt she had to speak out. Megatron's audacity at blaming her was simply too much to take. It wasn't her fault that the humans had scattered. She did what she could do but in the end, the team was defeated by one turncoat Predacon. Megatron was far too out of line at this point.

Apparently, Megatron felt the same about her being out of line.

"You forget your place," he gave her a dangerous glare.

"All I'm saying is what happened happened," Blackarachnia spat. "Don't blame us just because your plan failed."

"Speak to me in such a tone again," Megatron warned. "And I'll have you recycled in a most grisly manner. Is that understood?"

Finally, Blackarachnia decided to drop it.

"Yes Megatron," she lowered her head.

"And you!" Megatron glared at Rampage. "You should have been able to destroy Dinobot on the spot but yet you fell!"

"The fossilized lizard got lucky," Rampage grumbled.

"He got lucky, did he?" Megatron growled. "Or perhaps you simply weren't Predacon enough to stop him!"

"I never asked to become a Predacon," Rampage reminded Megatron angrily.

"Then perhaps you need a reminder why you are a designated member of this team," Megatron reached for the spark of Protoform X which he kept in his own compartment.

To his sudden horror, he realized it was not there. The small energon chamber in which he housed Rampage's spark was gone.

He had one thing left to remedy the situation… his quick wits.

"Do you need that reminder, Rampage?" Megatron asked, smiling as confidently as he could.

Finally, a flicker of fear flashed across Rampage's optics as he backed away.

"No…" the behemoth hissed.

"All of you are dismissed!" Megatron ordered the Predacons.

At long last, when all of the Predacons were gone for good, Megatron's knees gave way as he fell to the floor trembling in fear. He no longer had the other spark of Protoform X and he was lucky to even be standing right now, his quick wits having afforded him a few extra hours and possibly days of life. He managed to pull the wool over Rampage's eyes this time but there was no telling if he could keep up this act for long. Sooner or later the deranged psychopath would find out the truth.

And when that happened, he, Megatron, would have nowhere to run or hide.

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"Is… this the Matrix?" Dinobot opened up his eyes.

He saw down on the surgical table, after what seemed like hours of numbing pain. The last thing he recalled was a battle in a valley where the Predacons had staged some sort of assault to try to wipe out some early humans. He also remembered going through all the Predacons before facing Megatron himself. Everything after that was a blank.

"Yo Chopperface," Rattrap said cheerfully. "Glad 'ta have you back online!"

"Yeah, we almost didn't think you'd make it," Rhinox confessed.

"I… I live once more?" Dinobot asked.

"Indeed you do!" Silverbolt grinned. "It is good that you have returned to the land of the living."

"This was a miracle we didn't think would happen," Optimus acknowledged.

"How did I manage to pull through?" asked Dinobot. "I was damaged beyond belief, wasn't I?"

"Well…" Optimus looked down.

For some reason, noted Dinobot, the Maximals were not eager to tell the tale of how he had managed to survive such an ordeal. Was it out of guilt? Fear? Or something else?

"It don't matter!" Rattrap chimed in. "What matters is 'dat you're back with us!"

"I… suppose that would suffice," Dinobot finally smiled at Rattrap.

"For now you need rest," Rhinox told Dinobot. "You should be feeling better in the next few days."

----------------

For the past few hours Blackarachnia waited on the cliff. This had been the meeting spot where she and a certain Maximal had been rendezvousing for the past few weeks.

None of the Predacons knew about this and she was certain that if Megatron knew, he'd have her scrapped for it. And if Tarantulas knew, boy was he in for a world of jealousy.

From the night skies, the Maximal fuzor flew down in front of Blackarachnia and transformed to robot mode.

"If it isn't ball, bright, and chivalrous," commented Blackarachnia.

"Yes, I suppose that would be an apt description," Silverbolt nodded.

"So what's been going on in your side of the fence?" Blackarachnia asked.

"As a matter of fact, I had been meaning to talk to you about that," Silverbolt said, bringing up the topic nervously.

"Yeah? Spit it out," ordered Blackarachnia.

"You see, during the Predacon attack on the Valley, you and the others inflicted near-grievous harm onto Dinobot," explained Silverbolt. "Was it really necessary?"

"Hey, he attacked first," Blackarachnia shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? Sit there and let him scrap me?"

"No, but…" Silverbolt attempted to go on.

"For your information, he didn't have to leap into battle," Blackarachnia pointed an accusing claw at Silverbolt. "It's that dumb saurian's own fault he nearly got slagged trying to protect a bunch of banana-peeling knuckle draggers."

Silverbolt lowered his head in shame.

"Hey, he survived, didn't he?" asked Blackarachnia.

"Yes, but Blackarachnia, you don't understand the implications of what transpired."

"And what would that be?" demanded Blackarachnia.

"Optimus had explained it to all of us," Silverbolt eludicated. "The anthropoids you attacked are going to evolve into humans, the exact same humans who help the Autobots win the Great War."

"So you're saying that if I helped wipe out those apes, it could've affected my existence?" Blackarachnia eyed Silverbolt suspiciously.

"You did come from a Maximal protoform after all," Silverbolt reminded her.

"Point taken," Blackarachnia ran a claw down Silverbolt's chest. "But what's done is done. Now if you don't mind, let's talk about something more interesting…"

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"No… no!" Dinobot ran down the deep valley.

"You cannot escape your destiny," a voice called out.

"To the Pit with you!" Dinobot cried. "You know nothing about my destiny!"

"Then why do you run from it?" the voice demanded. "Do you fear it?"

Finally, Dinobot stopped running.

"I fear nothing," he turned around the told the voice defiantly.

"Then are you prepared for what is to come?" demanded the voice.

A flash of light blinded Dinobot. By the time the ray disappeared he was standing before a battlefield with the broken and scattered bodies of the Maximals.

"What… what is this?" demanded Dinobot.

"This is the future you are witnessing," the voice said again.

"Who did this to them?!" Dinobot drew his sword.

"Do you not understand? The voice asked. "You are the one who has caused this."

"No…" Dinobot was taken affront. "You lie!"

"This is the truth," the voice replied. "Your life was saved… at a heavy price which all of your friends will pay."

"Silence!" Dinobot growled at the voice. "This will not come to pass! I will not allow it!"

"You have little say in the matter. The saving of your life will bear terrible consequences."

Finally, Dinobot woke.

He looked around frantically, half-expecting his Maximal teammates to be dead on the floor, but they were not.

He had been having these prophetic dreams for the past few days. Every one of them involved an ominous scenario of some sort. Many involved him standing over the bodies of his friends, but some occasionally had him see the bodies of the Predacons lying on the ground.

Frankly, Dinobot did not even know what to make of these dreams or whether or not he should share them with his friends.

"Hey, you feeling alright?" Rattrap entered into the room, followed up by Optimus, Cheetor, and Rhinox.

Dinobot turned around. Ever since he had come back, his relationship with the Maximals had been better than ever. All had been forgiven and his friendship with them was repaired. And in all honestly, he could not have asked for more.

"Yes, I believe I have made a full recovery," Dinobot told them.

"Careful now," Rhinox instructed. "You might feel a bit of disorientation after I take off these tubes."

Slowly, Rhinox removed the medical tubes from Dinobot and helped the Maximal raptor to stand up.

"Yes, good as new," Dinobot stretched out his hand.

"We'll be out in a little while with Silverbolt for a daily patrol," Optimus told Dinobot. "You're welcome to come if you'd like."

"I believe I will," Dinobot smiled. "It has been some time since I have been out to test my abilities."

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"So, it appears Dinobot is feeling better," Megatron commented as he watched the screen through his spy camera.

"After all that damage he took, you'd think the varmint would keel over and die!" said Quickstrike as his cobra hand hissed.

"How he managed to survive all that is the real question," Blackarachnia said thoughtfully.

"Yes, considering the fact that he had overridden stasis lock," Megatron agreed. "I was there to hear it."

"Shall we go and dispose of him, Royalty?" asked Inferno eagerly.

Megatron put a hand on his chin and contemplated briefly. Dinobot had been responsible for one of the biggest setbacks in his plan and it was only fair to pay the turncoat back. After all, if Dinobot could take such a brutal punishment and survive, there was always an even more sadistic punishment he, Megatron, could inflict on the traitor.

"Yes, we shall," Megatron got up. "Dinobot will not be so lucky a second time!"

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"Hey Dinoboob," Rattrap jabbed at Dinobot with his tail sword. "You gonna lighten up now that you're back?"

"Oh, I shall," Dinobot snarled at Rattrap. "Right after I pick the rat morsels from my teeth."

"I'm real scared," Rattrap taunted. "You gonna back that up or what?"

Narrowly, Rattrap leaped out of the way as the raptor's jaw clamped down on where his hand was.

"He's back," Optimus looked at Cheetor who nodded.

"No, they're back," Cheetor pointed towards the bickering Dinobot and Rattrap.

"Dinobot's made a full recovery," Rhinox informed Optimus, along with Cheetor and Silverbolt. "He should be as fit as a fiddle now."

"Tell me," Dinobot walked up to Rhinox. "Were there any adverse effects with my spark?"

"Surprisingly no," Rhinox replied. "Your spark has also made a full recovery despite the stress placed on it."

"It does seem strange however," Dinobot admitted. "That long after stasis lock was no longer an option, I would wake up fully recovered."

"After I'm through with you traitor, you won't even have enough time to override stasis lock," a voice from above told them.

"Megatron!" Optimus looked up.

At the very top of the canyon stood Megatron and the Predacon forces. Rampage, Blackarachnia, Waspinator, Quickstrike, and Inferno were there. The only member missing was Tarantulas since he had previously decided to quit the team, being tired of taking orders from Megatron.

Megatron charged up his cannon and fired. The shot hit the ground in the center of the Maximal ring, causing them all to scatter. All the rest of the Predacons followed suite and began firing upon the hapless Maximals.

"Predacons attack!" shouted Megatron.

All the Predacons, sans Rampage, rushed down to attack the Maximals. Something was holding Rampage there, preventing him from attacking.

The behemoth looked down curiously. Something strange was going on with Dinobot who had made a full recovery.

He felt something almost immediately. Dinobot's spark was subconsciously responding to his own for some reason. Almost as if the spark of that lizard was calling for him.

"Interesting," muttered Rampage.

Megatron fired two shots at Optimus who rolled behind a rock. Optimus took out his gun and returned fire, catching Megatron in the shoulder with a blast. Angered, Megatron's shoulder cannons appeared and blasted the rocks above Optimus, sending them crashing down on the Maximal commander.

For good measure, charged up his cannon and fired another shot at Optimus, who had now been pinned down.

From out of the air, Dinobot leaped in front of the blast and took it straight in the chest, being knocked down in the process.

Megatron smiled. Perhaps he could take out two birds with one stone on the same day.

But suddenly, almost inexplicably, Dinobot leaped back on both feet, snarling angrily as he drew his weapon.

"You want to prolong your death?" Megatron grinned widely. "Good… as do I!"

Meanwhile Inferno fired several blasts at the Maximals, scattering them further.

From behind Rattrap, Quickstrike came up and tackled the Maximal.

"Hey, leggo, ya ugly bug!" Rattrap held on to Quickstrike's cobra hand to prevent the injection of cyber-venom.

Rhinox finally got out of the rock he was hiding underneath and fired several machine gun spurts back at Inferno. Cheetor also fired back at Waspinator, exchanging firepower. Only Silverbolt was the one not engaged in a firefight.

Blackarachnia kicked at him but Silverbolt caught the kick and wrapped his arm around her neck.

"I do not want to hurt you," he whispered.

"You won't," she winked. "Now be a good boy and play along."

Blackarachnia stomped her foot down on Silverbolt. The fuzor howled in pain but Blackarachnia turned around and kicked him across the jaw.

Both Megatron and Dinobot faced each other, not making a move. They stared off, searching for any sign of weakness in the other.

Finally they ran across the ground, adjacent from each other until Dinobot made the first move by blasting at Megatron with his optic lasers.

Megatron raised his cutlass cannon and blocked the lasers but left himself open. Dinobot moved in on the Predacon, raising a hand and driving it into Megatron's stomach. Megatron coughed and stumbled back. He did not expect a non-Transmetal to hurt him so much in just one attack.

The next thing Megatron knew, a sword came swinging down at his head. Quickly he raised his cutlass blaster and blocked the swing. With a powerful kick to Dinobot's solar plexus, Megatron sent Dinobot falling back.

"Hmph, same old technology," Megatron smiled. "Same old trash."

"Believe me," Dinobot beckoned with an open hand. "I'm just getting started."

Something in Dinobot's tone infuriated Megatron even further. In a rage, Megatron bellowed and charged. Dinobot raised his sword and did the same.

Megatron brought up his cutlass blaster and brought it down on Dinobot who blocked it. Again, Megatron swung down his cutlass blaster only for Dinobot to step-side him. Dinobot angled his sword and brought it up, slashing right across Megatron's chest.

"Agh!" Megatron clutched his wound in pain.

Dinobot snarled and tackled Megatron. The two rolled on the ground before Megatron kicked Dinobot off forcefully.

Dinobot fell back, his spinal column crashing against a boulder. Before he could recover, Megatron slammed into him, pinning him to the floor.

Megatron punched Dinobot again and again, taking cruel satisfaction in doing so.

"I'll send you to the grave permanently!" Megatron snarled, raising his cutlass blaster in the air to deliver the final blow.

Sparks flew from the damage Dinobot had taken across the helmet from Megatron's blows. He ignored the pain, however, and unleashed an even more powerful optic blast, this one striking Megatron in the face.

"Raaaaah!" shouted Megatron, flinging wildly.

Taking the opportunity, Dinobot wriggled his arm free from underneath Megatron's knee and grabbed his sword, plunging it deep into Megatron's stomach.

Megatron sputtered, coughing up mech fluid. At seeing this, Dinobot sadistically twisted and jammed the sword in deeper until Megatron fell off of him.

"I'll finish you…" Megatron spat, getting up and aiming his blaster at Dinobot despite the fact that his strength was already leaving him.

Dinobot moved in quickly, grabbing the cutlass blaster and yanking it from Megatron's arm, then turning around and slamming the blunt end of the tail into Megatron's face to knock him back.

Megatron had had enough by now. He turned on his jet engines and began to fly off. Dinobot saw this, however, and threw his own sword, jamming it into Megatron's propellers and preventing takeoff.

"No…" Megatron realized.

The tyrant turned around to see Dinobot standing there with his very own weapon pointed at him.

Dinobot clasped the weapon tightly and fired a powerful round right into the open wound on Megatron's stomach. Sparks and mechanical parts flew out everywhere in the explosion as the Predacon leader collapsed on the spot.

Walking over to Megatron's body, Dinobot kicked it over callously.

The rest of the Maximals and Predacons stopped their fighting to see what was going on. As Quickstrike looked up, Rattrap kneed him in the groin and threw the anguishing fuzor off of him.

"Now you will know what it's like to be at the mercy of another," he told the now unconscious Megatron.

With that he raised his sword.

"Dinobot, what're you doing?"

Dinobot turned around to see Optimus standing there.

"I am ending this," he told his leader.

"Dinobot, you're a Maximal now," Optimus reminded him. "You know this isn't how we do things."

"Hmm, yes you're right," Dinobot put away his sword. "But I ask you Optimus, how do we contain him?"

Optimus placed a hand on his chin before coming to a decision.

"We take him prisoner," Optimus said firmly.

"I'm outta here," Blackarachnia leaped off the ledge of a cliff and swung with one of her spider-webs.

"Waspinator gone too!" the Predacon scout flew away as quick as he could.

"What? No!" shouted Inferno. "How dare you abandon the Royalty?"

"You want to join him?" Rhinox asked as the Maximals surrounded Inferno.

"I will not go down without a fight!" declared Inferno who took out one of his guns.

Immediately, two bright green lasers struck him and knocked him down.

"You just did," Dinobot grinned.

"Nice one chopperface!"complimented Rattrap. "High five!"

The two Maximals slapped their hands another.

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"You think this will hold me, Primal?" demanded Megatron.

The purple tyrant was surrounded from all sides with energy bars, one of the makeshift holding cells in the Axalon. Inferno was in a second cell opposite to him.

"Yes, soon we will be free of your wretched bars and watch as you and your Maximals burn!" Inferno threatened.

Optimus rolled his eyes. "This should hold you two until we make contact with Cybertron."

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" asked Dinobot. "Megatron has been known to be slippery."

"We can only hope to contain him for now," Optimus said uneasily. "A few days or weeks' time is all we need."

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Dinobot tossed and turned in his sleep. Right now he was in beast mode but something was amiss despite his current state of rest.

Growling in a low tone, he fumbled with his claws, scratching at the walls next to him. He then flipped around to his other side, snarling as he did.

"Unleash it, all of it!" the voice encouraged. "Let loose the bestial savagery which lurks within you!"

"Silence!" Dinobot growled, clutching his head. "Leave and bother me no more!"

"I am here to stay Dinobot," the voice replied. "I am a part of you and you will learn to appreciate that cold, hard fact."

"Whoever you are," threatened Dinobot, "you will not have the pleasure of twisting my core for your perverse agenda!"

Flames surrounded Dinobot from all sides at the low voice began laughing ominously.

"My dear lizard, you've lost the moment you returned from the dead."

Suddenly, Dinobot opened his eyes, now glowing a dark shade of red. Frantically, he turned towards his door and silently left without another word.

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"Glad you could meet me here," Blackarachnia turned to the sky as Silverbolt flew down.

"It is my honor," Silverbolt greeted her.

"Now that old grapeface has been captured, I'm running out of options," Blackarachnia informed Silverbolt.

"You are correct," Silverbolt acknowledged. "But perhaps the loss dealt to the Predacons can be turned into an opportunity."

"What kind of opportunity?" asked Blackarachnia.

The wide smile on Silverbolt's face told her all that she needed to know.

"Okay, forget I asked," Blackarachnia shook her head. "I like you and all, but I don't think I want to be a Maximal."

Silverbolt sighed. "Very well… but you did just say that you liked me, correct?"

"Hah!" Blackarachnia walked over towards Silverbolt and draped her arms over him. "Why else would I keep meeting you in private like this?"

Before Silverbolt could reply, she embraced him and connected her lips with his. The two savored their moment before something crashed through the undergrowth.

Dinobot stood before them in robot mode, eyes glowing red and teeth shining in the moonlight.

Normally Silverbolt would have been concerned about being caught in the act of fraternizing with the Predacon Blackarachnia but this time he could tell that something was amiss. There was something clearly wrong here.

"Dinobot, is that you?" he asked.

"What's with him?" demanded Blackarachnia.

Oil began leaking down Dinobot's chin, lending him a deranged and almost savage look. In his hand was the neck of a deer he had just slain, blood splattering everywhere.

"Is… something the matter?" asked Silverbolt again.

Dinobot unleashed a bloodcurdling roar and charged.