Cheator's Wild Ride

By: Tom Servo 2.0

It had been unusually dark and dreary that day for the Beast Warriors. Though it had stopped raining recently, the sky was still very overcast and there seamed to be a threat of more fireworks to come.

Cheator had been sent out with Rattrap to see if there had been any landscape changes do to flooding or land slides. Both were in beast mode checking out a particularly steep slope of a cliff near the base. "Ya know, Rattrap," said Cheator, turning to look at him," I get the feeling that I'm in the way here, that I shouldn't have come on this mission."

Rattrap scoffed. "Are you kidding me, spots?" he said gazing back at him, " I know, for a fact, that you've pulled my pastrami and rye out of the fire more than once.

"I know its' just that—"

Suddenly the ground gave way under where Cheator was standing, and down he fell into the deep, dark crevasse.

Rattrap could only gape in mute disbelief as to what just happened. For about three seconds. The next thing he knew, he was blown backwards by an explosion at his feet. When he looked up, there were Terrorsaur and Waspinator flying about fifty feet overhead.

This is just great, he thought, just what I don't need and at the wrong time too.

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"I got'm! I got'm!" screeched Terrorsaur with enthusiastic glee. " No, Wazzpinator made shot.

Wazzpinator get thankze from Megatron." buzzed the wasp like creature.

" Then your sensors must be in backwards, you buzzing ball of barf! I made that shot."

" Who you calling barf, beak for brainze?" retorted the wasp.

Terrorsaur would have attacked Waspinator thin and there, but something happened that would change the balance of power in the Beast Wars forever.

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After Rattrap had seen the two Predicons he had quickly ducked behind a nearby bolder and transformed to his robot form. Then pulling out a miniature explosive and set the timer thinking I know I haven't had time to try this before, but there's a first time for everything and for a moment he hoped Cheator was o.k. Then he threw the bomb between the two combatants.

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The fall seamed impossibly long for Cheator, though it was only about ten seconds, but when he finally hit bottom he knew something was wrong. He was lying on his back in robot mode (strange, because he couldn't remember transforming) and a large spike of enerjon was sticking through his chest! He knew that this might be it. That he may never see the others again. That's when the enerjon bolt of lightning streaked down through the clouds passed through Rattrap's explosive, causing it to detonate (causing the Predicons to be blown away, literally), streaking down into the ravine and striking the enerjon spike that was in Cheator's chest.

Part 2

Later rattrap couldn't remember just how big the explosion was. All he knew was that immediately after the bolt of enerjon charged lightning darted down into the ravine their was an enormous explosion of noise and light which must have been incredibly strong. When he came to, Rattrap saw his buddy Rhinox standing over him in robot form.

"Rhinox? How did you get here so fast?" mumbled the dazed rodent warrior, from a laying position at Rhinox feet, " we must wave been ten clicks away form the base at least."

Rhinox laughed in his deep voice, but it was a worried laugh. He bent down to help rattrap to his feat and said, "You mean you were. Look."

Rattrap saw that over Rhinoxs shoulder, there was the Maximal base. Over the past few months Rattrap had gotten to know every peace of metal in the hundred-foot length of the ship. He knew just about everything about that sleek, gray, running shoe shaped ship. There it was sitting just as it had since they had crash-landed on this desolate planet, precariously balanced thirty feet above a raging river that plunged over a waterfall to crash onto rocks two hundred feet below.

" That's where you were." Rhinox said pointing at the mountain range in front of him.

Rattrap turned and gasped. The entire mountainside was blown to bits!

" Slagin' hellfire!" screeched the ravaged rat, " That must have been one heck of an explosion! I'm surprised that I'm not blown to bits."

" Any closer and you would be"

"Oh no, Cheator!"

"You go in and get in the restoration chamber. You may not have blown up but you are defiantly damaged goods, Rattrap. Don't worry about Cheator, I'll find him"

Rattrap launched into this big argument about how Cheator was his responsibility since they had been together, and how Rinox would have to nock him unconscious to get him to stay at the base.

Rinox had calmly stated that Rattrap need time in the CR chamber and that he was going to use it or Rinox was going to drag him inside and force him into it himself.

Rattrap finally agreed. As he turned on his heals to go into the base he called over his shoulder to Rinox," Be careful! Those two dingbats of Predicons might still be up there!" Rinox gave a nod, transformed into his beast mode, and took off for the blasted mountain. As Rattrap got onto the lift he prayed that Cheetor was all right.

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Right then Cheetor felt far from all right. When the lightning had hit, Cheetor thought for sure that he had died, but when he opened his eyes he found he was in a large cave. He was standing on what appeared to be a bridge of some sort. That would have been odd enough, but in front of Cheetor was one of the oddest things he had ever seen. It appeared to be a gateway that was perfectly round and about a hundred feet tall; at the moment it was filled with what appeared to be luminescent water.

Then the silence was broken. " You have arrived at last Cheetor," said a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Who are you," shouted Cheetor, " and what am I doing here?"

" I am The Oracle," said the voice," and you are here, Cheetor, to learn of the gifts that have been awarded to you."

Cheetor was unable to speak for a few moments. When he finally found his voice he uttered, "Then I'm not dead?"

" No, " replied The Oracle, " your mind has just been separated from your body."

At that moment the cloudy surface of the water-like substance cleared. Cheetor saw himself lying in, what appeared to be several hundred peaces on the table on the bridge of the Axilon. His friends were crowded close looking mournful. " Ah," said the Oracle, " the fist of your gifts has shown itself." Puzzled Cheetor looked closer and saw that each part of his body was slowly fixing itself and he was, literally, pulling himself together. His friends had noticed as well and had pulled back a little to watch as the process was completed.

" It's time for you to go Cheetor," said The Oracle, "the only thing you need to know about your gifts is that you need only to wish for them to work." Cheetor was puzzled but didn't have a chance to ask what The Oracle had meant, because the next thing he knew he had fallen through the gate and everything started to go black. As he lost consciousness Cheetor heard The Oracle say, "Remember, if you so wish, there are those who will come to help you and your cause."

Then everything went black.

Next: New arrivals and a secret revealed