*note: This takes place during The Big Capture of 1999/2006
Return of the Dweller
Perceptor was working in the control room on Cybertron, setting up more accurate long-range scanners. Both Decepticons and Autobots were in there, working together, anticipating the Quintessons' next move against them.
"Alright, that should do it," Perceptor said, as he pressed a few buttons. Immediately the proximity alert began sounding. "Hm, what's this?" The Autobot scientist pushed a few buttons and transferred the data to the monitor.
Optimus Prime walked towards the monitor. "What is it, Perceptor?"
"Something has been captured by Cybertron's gravity, and it is being pulled in. I anticipate it will crash somewhere on the north-eastern quadrant," the Scientist replied.
"What is it?" Megatron wanted to know, "Perhaps we should destroy it, before it crashes."
"It appears to be a small derelict craft of a design I'm not familiar with," Perceptor replied, "I'm detecting one faint life sign."
"If there is a life sign, we shouldn't be so quick to blow it out of the sky," Optimus Prime said, "Continue monitoring it."
"Wait a minute," Perceptor said suddenly, "I'm no longer detecting any life sign. Whatever it is must have just perished."
"Can you get a visual?" Optimus Prime wondered.
"Affirmative," Perceptor stated, and with a few button pushes, the image of the vessel came into view. It was a rounded, cone-shaped white craft with what appeared to be a black bulge at the bottom.
It was then that Galvatron entered the room. He took one look at the image on the monitor and a panicked expression crossed his face. "We must destroy that vessel at once!" he exclaimed.
"Do you know what it is, Galvatron?" Perceptor wondered.
"It is a Quintesson ship," Galvatron replied, "In fact I believe it is the very same vessel that visited Chaar some time ago, and the Quintessons on it promised to give us directions to a power core on Cybertron. But instead of the power core, the path they told us to take led us to where some very strange organic creatures were being stored—one of which nearly destroyed us all."
The image of the craft got larger as the vessel continued to approach, drifting closer. It was then they could see a large wormlike creature on top.
"Oh, no! Is that what I think that is?" Arcee wondered.
"Indeed, and it is headed straight for us," Perceptor stated, "Above all, we must not let it land."
"So then we agree it has to be destroyed?" Megatron wondered.
"Agreed," Optimus Prime said.
"I'll have Astrotrain blow it out of the sky!" Megatron said.
***xxx***
"What are you doing, Autobot? I can handle this myself!" Astrotrain complained, as he flew into Cybertron's orbit, in pursuit of the derelict Quintesson ship.
"Nevertheless, Optimus Prime thought it prudent that I join you," Sky Lynx replied, "Apparently the creature perched atop that ship is extremely dangerous."
"Tch, fine," Astrotrain grumbled, "There it is! Let's BLAST it!" He opened fire with his dual laser cannons mounted in recesses near his wings.
Sky Lynx transformed to prehistoric bird mode and fired at the small Quintesson vessel with the blasters inside his mouth. After successive runs at the derelict, an explosion was triggered, vaporizing the craft. However, the monstrosity that had been clinging to it didn't appear damaged in the slightest. Worse still, it began falling towards Cybertron, faster than the drifting vessel it had been riding on.
"Uh-oh, now what do we do? My blasters aren't even making it flinch!" Astrotrain said.
The wormlike monstrosity had been dormant, but the energy from the laser blasts suddenly awakened it, its eyes glowing bright sparkly yellow. It fired a net towards Astrotrain with its mouth. The net made contact, and a pulse of green light moved along the net from Astrotrain towards the creature.
"AAAAAAAAGH!" Astrotrain screamed, "It's draining my energy!"
"Hold on, I'll get you free!" Sky Lynx replied, firing his blasters at the net and shearing it off, so that it no longer connected Astrotrain with the creature.
"Phew," Astrotrain said, transforming and rubbing his head as he recovered from the sudden power drain, "You know, maybe having you around wasn't such a bad idea."
***xxx**
"Sky Lynx to Optimus Prime. Astrotrain and I have destroyed the vessel, but our blasters have no effect on the creature. I am afraid we can't prevent it from achieving landfall," Sky Lynx reported.
"What exactly is this creature capable of?" Megatron wanted to know.
"It is a living energy siphon, and can even absorb the energy of most of our weapons," Perceptor explained, "If it drains a Transformer's energy completely, that Transformer becomes an energy vampire, and can infect others to becoming energy vampires as well."
"Perhaps Starfire and Sheba will know what to do," Megatron said.
***xxx***
"Megatron to Starscream. Acknowledge," came Megatron's voice over the comm.
"Starscream here. What is it, Megatron?" Starscream said, only letting a hint of the annoyance at being disturbed slip into his voice. He was leaning against Sheba, who was curled up around him and purring as he idly stroked her head and shoulders.
"A strange and very dangerous creature is about to crash-land. It's some kind of energy leech, and we will need Sheba's expertise to deal with it. Our weapons apparently won't be able to destroy it," Megatron replied.
Sheba opened one eye and groaned. "Energy leech?" she wondered, "Hmmmm. Alright, let's get out there and see what we can do." She got up, which forced Starscream to rise as well, and she shook herself, resettling her wings against her sides. "Let's go."
***xxx***
"Where is Starfire, anyway?" Optimus Prime wondered. Megatron had paused to contact his Guardian telepathically, but she hadn't shown up yet.
"She is….in the middle of something," Megatron said, "But she will come as soon as she's able. I think Sheba can handle it in the meantime, however."
"Are you sure?" Galvatron wondered, "That creature could very easily destroy her!"
"What makes you think that?" Megatron wanted to know.
"When the creature first appeared, it had absorbed the energy of some strange organic creatures that appeared to be cyborgs. Their organic bodies vanished, as if completely vaporized, leaving only the metallic components," Galvatron said.
Megatron's expression changed to one of complete shock. "I always tell her she should be in her robotic form, but she never listens," he said.
"If she wishes to face this beast and survive, I think she'll listen this time," Galvatron said.
***xxx***
"Attention, Autobots," Optimus Prime broadcasted over the comm channel, "There is a dangerous energy leech that is about to land on Cybertron. Do not let it touch you, and do not use energy weapons against it. It is capable of turning anyone it touches into an energy vampire."
Megatron broadcast a similar message to the Decepticons, but with an addition. "Starscream, is Sheba still with you?"
"Affirmative," Starscream replied.
"Tell her she MUST transform to her robotic form immediately. The creature may be able to destroy her very quickly if she's in organic form."
"Oh, GREAT," Sheba complained, "Alright, fine." In a flash of light, she converted to her robotic body.
***xxx***
The Energy Leech fell, landing on the surface of Cybertron and creating quite an impact crater. However, it did not appear to be damaged in any way. Some of the Autobots and Decepticons nearby had set up a containment perimeter, though Ultra Magnus doubted they'd be able to keep the beast penned in.
"How are we going to fight it?" Cyclonus wondered.
"I don't know, but I don't want to go near it!" Scourge exclaimed.
"Hmph! This is simple! I'll just use my Glass Gas!" Cliffjumper said, as he rushed towards the Dweller. He fired at the monster, but hit the organic part of it. It didn't seem to do much, and in retaliation the Dweller fired its net, enveloping the small red Autobot. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" Cliffjumper screamed, and seconds later, his color was gone and he was a dark grey. His optics glowed bright red.
"Oh no, he's been turned into an energy vampire!" Kup exclaimed, "Whatever you do, don't let him touch you!"
"If that thing really is a leech, I'm betting it doesn't like fire all that much!" Thundercracker said, aiming his weapon and shooting a fire blast at the creature. It backed off, but it didn't seem to be damaged very much.
Starscream and Sheba arrived just then.
"Starscream, try your null ray!" Sheba suggested.
The Decepticon Air Commander pointed his null ray and fired. The monster was hit, and seemed to go limp for a moment.
"Do you think that did it?" Scourge wondered.
Suddenly the creature stirred again, and rose up, slithering towards the group.
"I think you'd better scan it," Starscream suggested to Sheba.
"On it!" Sheba replied, "SCAN!" She didn't like using Magic in her robotic body, but Scan was equally effective regardless of her form. The spell told her that the monster was weak against ice and water, absorbed electric and thunder, and was barely affected by fire. There was another strange reading in the scan spell that Sheba couldn't make sense of. "It seems to be partially Undead," she stated, "But that doesn't make any sense."
Energy-vampire Cliffjumper approached them, and Sheba cast Esuna, to no effect.
"Why didn't it work?" Starscream wanted to know.
Sheba scanned Cliffjumper. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh, what?" Starscream wanted to know.
"We've got a serious problem. This is exactly like the Magitek version of Zombie," Sheba replied, "Remedy and Esuna won't work! Only a Revivify or a Holy Water will cure it! Worse still, in this state Cliffjumper doesn't have any hit points. We won't be able to knock him out, and he won't take any damage."
"So now what do we do?" Thundercracker wanted to know.
"The only thing I can, for now," Sheba said, "STOP!" A wavy green circle appeared at her feet, and blue-tinged white orbs rose up in a spiral around her. A clock face appeared over zombie Cliffjumper's head, and the hands moved around the clock face once and the clock shattered. The energy-vampire Autobot was rendered unable to move. She then transferred Shiva to Starscream, and Leviathan to Thundercracker. "Keep summoning those Guardian Forces on the Energy Leech," she told them.
"DIAMOND DUST!" Starscream shouted, and green orbs with red centers spun up around him in a circle and flew off in all directions. He and the other Transformers in the area vanished, and four white beams spiralled into a focal point on the ground. A large chunk of ice then erupted from that focal point, containing the Guardian Force Shiva. She shattered the ice that contained her, then drew back her hand as a ball of white energy formed in it and grew. Yellow and blue beams focussed into this ball, and then Shiva threw the energy ball forward with both hands. The Dweller found itself encased in ice, which then shattered, doing full allowable damage. It roared and backed off again, while Thundercracker summoned Leviathan. The water-based attack didn't do as much as Shiva's Diamond Dust, but it was fairly high damage nonetheless.
"Skywarp, keep that thing busy!" Sheba shouted, as the black and purple seeker arrived, "Use your teleportation to keep luring it away from us!"
"Gotcha," Skywarp said. He teleported near the Dweller, and when it sensed his energy it fired its net at him. Quickly he teleported out of the way, the net missing him completely.
"What if he accidentally gets caught and drained?" Starscream wanted to know.
"Yeah, that's a problem. If that thing drains someone else, or finds a power source, it'll restore its hitpoints," Sheba realized.
It was then that the leaders arrived.
"Have you formulated a plan yet?" Optimus Prime asked Sheba.
"Well, I found out that it's weak against ice and water, but I have yet to try to figure out how to keep it from draining us," Sheba replied, "I can't cure Cliffjumper's zombie-energy-vampire status effect. I need Magitek–based Revivify or Holy water for that, and I don't have any on hand." She paused for a moment, then a lightbulb seemed to go on over her head. "Wait. I think I know how to keep it from draining us," she said suddenly, "If Undead monsters are drained, the drain direction is reversed. So we just have to give ourselves undead status, and we should be not only immune to its attack, but also its own Zombiefication effect."
"How?" Optimus Prime wanted to know.
Sheba noticed that the Dweller was getting a little too close to Springer. "ZOMBIE!" she shouted, and the wavy green energy appeared around her legs, and the blue-tinged white orbs spiralled up around her. A swirling bright yellow light surrounded by dark shadows surrounded Springer, and was absorbed. The Autobot Triple Changer's main color changed immediately to a more khaki dark green, and all his lighter features became a lighter shade of green, indicating the Zombie status effect.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Springer wondered. The monster leech tried firing a net at Springer, but when it tried to initiate the energy drain, it found its power was being forcibly absorbed by its victim, instead of the other way around. It screeched and let go of Springer.
"Saving your life!" Sheba replied, and quickly summoned Cerberus. The green-red orbs spun around and flew off, and the background melted away as the party disappeared, revealing the gates of Hades. The gates swung open and the three-headed, almost reptilian dog Cerberus charged through, bright lights forming in each mouth. All three heads howled up at the sky, three energy beams lancing the clouds in the process. The moment Cerberus vanished, the others reappeared, and everyone was put in Double and Triple. Sheba cast triple Zombie, first on herself, then Starscream, then Thundercracker. "Start casting Zombie on everyone, and HURRY!" she told them. They quickly complied.
"Amazing! It didn't turn Springer into an energy vampire," Kup said.
"So, this will make us immune to the creature?" Scourge wondered, as Zombie was cast upon him by Thundercracker.
"Yup, and I was betting that the stocked Guardian Force Zombie effect would prevent the creature from inflicting its own Zombie status effect. Once everybody's been Zombied, then we can think about attacking it," Sheba replied, "Everybody who's under Zombie, surround that thing! Don't let it get away!"
"I have an idea," Megatron said, "Sheba, I need you to cast Zombie on the Combaticons as quickly as possible." He activated his communicator. "Combaticons, report to my location at once!"
"Acknowledged," Onslaught's voice replied over the communicator.
"Okay," Sheba agreed.
The Combaticons arrived in short order.
"Megatron, you look strange," Onslaught said, as he gazed at the strange greenish color the Decepticon Leader had taken on due to the Zombie status.
"Never mind that," Megatron said, "Sheba, do it."
"TRIPLE ZOMBIE!" Sheba shouted, casting the spell on Onslaught, Brawl, and Vortex.
"HEY!" Onslaught objected.
"Relax, there's a very good reason for it," Megatron told him.
"DOUBLE ZOMBIE!" Sheba continued, finishing the casting on Swindle and Blast Off.
"I look positively dreadful!" Blast Off stated, "Are you sure this is necessary?"
"Yes, of course it is," Megatron replied, "Now, Combaticons, Merge and form BRUTICUS!"
The giant combiner formed and roared.
"Now, Bruticus, grab that creature! Don't let it get away!" Megatron ordered.
"Rahhhr, Bruticus stop monster," the Combaticon combiner said, and charged at the energy leech. The monster tried draining him, but the attempt only further depleted its own energy and it halted its attack before it could lose much more. Bruticus grabbed hold of its tentacles and held on so it couldn't escape.
"So, now we can destroy it?" Galvatron asked.
"Yeah, but we have to use water and ice based attacks," Sheba said, "I don't think anything else will work."
"Ice? Why didn't ya say so? I can use mah liquid nitrogen!" Ironhide said. The normally red Autobot looked a particularly gnarly shade of green as he rushed up to the Dweller, which was still pinned by Bruticus, and let loose a blast of the freezing liquid.
"And I got the water," Inferno replied, transforming to a ghastly dark green fire engine and spraying the creature.
"It's too bad I can't use my weapon," Galvatron growled.
"Wait, maybe you can," Sheba realized, "Here, take Ifrit and junction Blizzaga to your elemental attack. Starscream, Thundercracker, the GFs I gave you have Elemental Attack junctions as well. Set Blizzaga to Elemental Attack!"
"Thanks!" Galvatron said, as he set the Junction. He fired at the Dweller, and a blast of freezing energy hit the Dweller, damaging it heavily.
At that moment, Starfire appeared beside Megatron. He panicked. "Quickly, you must convert to robotic form!" he said. Starfire looked at him with a questioning expression, but noticing the level of fear in Megatron's voice, she did as he asked.
"Is there a Guardian Force you can loan to me?" Optimus Prime asked Sheba, "One with an Elemental Attack junction?"
"Yeah, I guess I can let you use Pandemona," Sheba replied, transferring the Guardian Force. Now Optimus Prime was able to fire icy blasts at the Dweller.
Starscream and Thundercracker alternated summoning Guardian Forces with attacking with Blizzaga-enhanced weaponry.
"But what will you do?" Optimus Prime wondered.
"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," Sheba replied, "ICE 2!" A blast of orange and yellow beams emanated from her like a halo, and then a large chunk of ice formed around the Dweller bit by bit. The ice shattered, doing moderate damage.
"That's a Magitek ice spell, isn't it?" Megatron commented.
"Yeah, but there's something stronger I can use," Sheba replied, "FREEZE!" Three concentric circles lit up the ground around her feet, and flakes of snow seemed to form near the Dweller. It converged on the creature, and then an enormous chunk of ice appeared and encased it. The spell did a lot of damage, and had the added effect of causing the creature to be afflicted with the Stop status effect.
Galvatron transformed to Cannon mode, firing icy blasts at the creature repeatedly, as Optimus Prime fired frosty bolts from his laser rifle.
"I think it's working!" Cyclonus remarked.
Starfire joined the battle after casting Zombie on herself. "ICE 3!" she shouted, as orange and yellow beams emanated from around her. A round cylinder of ice formed around the Dweller, with smaller chunks being drawn in towards it. The spell did maximum damage. She cast it a few more times, while Sheba continued to use Ice 2 and Freeze, and Thundercracker and Starscream kept pummeling it with Leviathan and Shiva summons.
Galvatron continued to fire icy blasts in cannon mode.
"Prime, give the Guardian Force and your Blizzaga stock to me," Megatron said, "I think what I have in mind will work better."
"I think I know what your idea is," Optimus Prime said, "Very well." He transferred Pandemona and 100 Blizzaga spells to Megatron, who quickly set the Elemental Attack junction.
"Prime!" Megatron shouted as he transformed, and Optimus Prime caught him. The Autobot Leader aimed at the creature and fired, and a large freezing blast erupted from Megatron's gun mode barrel.
"Keep firing! We've almost got it!" Galvatron shouted, as he continued to blast in Cannon mode.
The monster was still pinned, and the constant cold and water attacks were quickly draining its energy. At last, with one final attack from Megatron's gun mode, the creature roared and keeled over. Once it hit the ground, it began disintegrating. Soon there was nothing left of it. Bruticus then separated back into individual Combaticons.
"We've destroyed it!" Galvatron shouted triumphantly, transforming back to robot mode.
Sheba sighed in relief. "I have to say, that's gotta be one of the trickiest boss battles I've ever fought."
"Uh-oh, I think we'd better do something about Cliffjumper, and fast," Optimus Prime said.
The still-zombied Autobot was moving again thanks to the Stop status effect wearing off.
"Fortunately, I just so happen to have a Holy Water available," Starfire said. She converted to her bipedal robot form, and reached into subspace, retrieving a small vial filled with a sparkly blue liquid. She threw it at Cliffjumper and the vial shattered. The liquid spread over his armor, chasing off the dark coloration and allowing his normal paintjob to reappear. Almost instantly he was back to normal.
"Ohhhh, what happened?" Cliffjumper wondered, rubbing his head, "Where's the monster?"
"We defeated it," Optimus Prime said, as he gently tossed Megatron into the air so the Decepticon Leader could transform.
"But why do you all look so strange?" Cliffjumper wanted to know.
"We needed to be in the Zombie status to fight the monster, otherwise we'd have ended up as energy vampires just like you," Sheba explained, "Fortunately, the stocked Guardian Force version of the Zombie status can easily be cured with Esuna." She cast the status-removing spell on herself, returning to her normal coloration in the process.
Galvatron stared at Sheba in a mixture of amazement and admiration. "I'm impressed. That was the most brilliant strategy I've ever seen," he commented, as he reached out to pat her head. He turned to look at Megatron. "If it weren't for her, we never would have stood a chance against that thing. She's brilliant."
"I know," Megatron said, grinning proudly.
"Eh, I guess I have my moments," Sheba admitted, converting to organic form and blushing, while allowing Galvatron to pat her, "Sometimes I even amaze myself."
Kup went up to Sheba as well. "Who'da thought turning us all into Zombies would keep that monster from making us into energy vampires? I gotta admit, never in a million years would I have thought of that," he said, "Granted, I don't have access to magic on my own, but still."
Eventually everyone was cured of the Zombie status effect.
"I think this calls for a reward," Optimus Prime said, as he turned to walk back to the command center, but paused to look at Sheba. "You can have anything you want."
"Prime, you're going to spoil her," Megatron said.
"Anything?" Sheba asked, smirking.
"Well, within reason," Optimus Prime replied.
"Oh, I think this is one of those times she deserves to be spoiled rotten," Starscream said, grinning, as they all walked back to the Command Center.
"Can I have all the chocolate ice cream in the world I can eat?" Sheba asked.
"I think that can be arranged," Optimus Prime said.
"Far be it from me to let Prime be the only one to reward you," Megatron said to Sheba, "I think I'll make it a surprise, though." He smirked.
Sheba looked up at Starscream. "He's going to get me ener-catnip again, isn't he?"
Megatron chuckled quietly. "You'll see."
THE END!