Beast Machines:
THE FIRE REKINDLED.
Blackarachnia crawled down her webbing, leading the small band of Maximal's down to the depth's of Cybertron in search of a new base.
"Tell me again why we are looking in the depths of this wasteland?" Blackarachnai asked Primal.
"Because, we need a new base. The Surface is crawling with Robo Tanks, Aero Drones, and the Cycles. At least down here we won't be constantly hounded." Primal explained for the umpteenth time. Rattrap groaned as he follows Primal, who was carrying Cheetor on his shoulders.
"Well, at least it beats livin' wit' th' Ark." Rattrap mumbled. Finally Blackarachnia asked to stop, her webbing running low.
"Alright, this is as good a place as any to start looking." Primal said, jumping onto an old Platform. He set cheetor down and watched Rattrap jump next to him. He looked at this particular level of Cybertron's underground. It was old, large buildings with chunks missing, old fashioned mechanical parts and circuitry were strewn everywhere along dozens of useless, broken weapons. Rattrap picked one up and examined it.
"Man, dis stuff is OLD. We couldn't use any of da Circuitry in dese derelicts ta power a Processing unit!" Rattrap sneered, throwing the weapon to the side.
"Hey, at least it's a place to start." Cheetor hissed, walking among the ruins.
"Yeah, if you're looking for that old, torn down, museum decor for a base." Blackarachnia commented. Primal motioned for them to follow as they searched through the ruins. After about thirty minutes, Something that shined dullely caught Primal's eye. He walked over to the spot and cleared away the rubble. It was a human Longsword! It had been dented, rusted, and chipped, but Primal recognized the handywork. He picked it up and looked it over.
"Hey! Fearless leader found a knife!" Blackarachnia insulted, looking the thing over herself.
"Not just anyone's knife, look. This is Cybertronian Metal, but this is the handiwork of an old friend...." He walked back over to Rattrap, who was using his Beast tail to knock away some rubble while Cheetor just pushed it.
"What ya got there Optimus? " Rattrap asked, looking at the sword. He sniffed it, then his eye's widened.
"Is that what I think it is?" Cheetor asked as Primal held it up.
"Yes, this is Firelord's handiwork...This is one of his swords he made during the Beast Wars." Primal said, confirming their suspicions.
"But we ain't seen scale nor hide o' that Megacopy since.....Since before we landed on Cybertron." Rattrap said. Primal nodded as Blackarachnia walked over.
"He must be here.....in this old, abandoned layer of Cybertron."
"Cybertron to Optimus? Those Robo-goons of Megatron's took care of all the Maximal's, remember?" Blackarachnia reminded him.
"Or so we think, there might be a chance he's alive. Remember, his Spark was Immortal like Rampage's."
"An' yet Rampage still died..." Cheetor pointed out.
"Besides, if he had the same virus as us, he'd have gone offline Days ago!"
"Even so, if there is a chance he's alive, we MUST find him! Spread out! Look for anything else that might suggest he's here!" Optimus ordered. They sighed, but separated, searching the debris for any clue that might lead them to their friend, or at least his corpse. Not more than five minutes, Rattrap hollered for everyone to come to him. When they arrived, he pointed to several Robo-tank and Cycle parts, which were all melted to the point of barely recognizable liquid metal.
"Wow...." Cheetor said, looking at the remnants.
"Yep, dat's Matchstick's M.O.! Charrin' his enemies ta pools of Metal goop!" Rattrap laughed, kicking aside a melted Cycle head with his rat foot. Blackarachnia nodded and walked over the corpses, searching for more clues.
"This definintly looks like his handiwork. Come on, keep searching. He has to be here somewhere!" Primal ordered, walking past the corpses. Yet again it didn't take long. They discovered a few of the Aero drones, Various pieces of metal stuck in there bodies. Rattrap grasped one piece of metal and pulled it out.
"It's a Ninja star thing that Firelord makes!" Rattrap announced, showing it to Primal. Primal looked it over, and as dented as it was, he recognized it. He grasped it in his Gorilla paw and examined it closer.
"Yes, we're getting close, I can feel it!" Primal said, throwing the metal back down.
"If this guy was as weak as we were, how could he have fought all these mindless minions?" Blackarachnia wondered, stepping over the Aero Drone.
"Hey, Hello? Da guy was th' size of the Axalon! Dis guy coulda probably taken down da Nemisis if Ol' Megajerk hadn't blown him in half wit' the Fusion cannon." Rattrap pointed out. Blackarachnia just sighed and kept walking. Optimus held out a hand for them to stop, they were at a long drop, overviewing more of the city. Primal gasped, seeing Firelord in his Dragon mode, his head sticking out from above the ground from a large round hole. Primal pointed to him.
"THIS WAY!"
Primal and his band walked over to the dragon transformer, who was breathing raggedly, almost as if he was barely alive. They stood near his giant snout, seeing various parts of him crackle blue.
"Is he...." Rattrap started. Primal shook his head.
"No, but he needs to be reformatted like we were." Primal said. Suddenly he watched Firelord's massive eye open jerkily.
"..Pr...Primal...?" He said hoarsely. Primal nodded and walked up to Firelord's eye so he could see him.
"It's me Firelord. Take it easy..."
"Yo...you've...changed....uhhhhnn.." Firelord twitched as another crackle of blue appeared near his neck. Blackarachnia crawled over, looking down where Firelord was laying.
"He dug a massive cave for himself...."
"Managed...to...after getting....rid of those robo goons..." Firelord took a deep breath.
"Take it easy Firelord, we'll find the Oracle and get you reformatted." Primal assured.
"Oracle?...Uhh....is that...what...happened to you....?" Firelord groaned. Primal nodded as Rattrap and Cheetor jumped onto Firelord, assessing the damage.
"Yes, the Oracle led us to it, and we were reformatted into these new Beast forms...But there's a catch, we have to learn how to transform." Primal explained.
"Learn.....No activation.....Codes? Please.....Tell me how....you do this.." Firelord winced in pain. Primal looked up at Cheetor and Rattrap, who shook their heads sadly.
"You clear you're mind, you concentrate and control you're beast instincts, tame the beast without so to speak." Primal said.
"So......that's...it?"
"No, it takes lots of willpower and concentration to maintain your Robot form. It takes time to get it down, but we'll teach you, don't worry." Primal smiled softly. Firelord nodded barely, then closed his eye, moaning in pain. Cheetor, Blackarachnia, and Rattrap jumped down in front of him.
"Damage assessment?" Rattrap looked down.
"No way he's gonna make it."
"He's too far gone. The virus is somehow disrupting his spark, slowly extinguishing it. Besides, he's taken so much internal circuitry damage..." Blackarachnia stopped. Cheetor looked at Primal hopefully.
"But...He's gotta make it. Optimus, you know where the Oracle is, right?" Cheetor asked, hope in his voice. Primal shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid I don't Cheetor. How long does he have?" Blackarachnia shrugged with her tiny front arms.
"Looks like he's been here about a day, maybe two. He's got about one mega-cycle left till he's a goner." Blackarachnia said, a touch of sadness in her voice. Primal nodded solemnly.
"Alright, Cheetor, you're the fastest, I want you to look around some more, maybe we can find something that will Help Firelord in this mess. The rest of you, scatter around, help Cheetor, I'll stay here with Firelord." Everyone nodded and went their separate way's. Primal walked back over to Firelord, placing his sword next to his head and sat down.
Cheetor dug through some rubble, uncovering even more useless debris. He moaned and kept searching, hoping to find something that would help his friend survive. He knocked away another weapon and turned his head when he heard a loud buzzing. He gasped, six of those Cycle's roaring towards him. He turned and ran back towards Optimus as fast as he could go to warn him.
Optimus sat, sighing and trying to figure out what to do. Sddenly he heard Cheetor and the others come running up.
"Big bot! We got cycles coming in!"
"That's nuthin'! We got Robo tanks, at least ten of'em!"
"Aero Drones, at least twelve." Optimus got to his feet.
"We'll go engage them, keep them away from Firelord. That's why they're probably here. Where are they now?"
"They should meet each other about a few hundred yards away, by that old building." Blackarachnia pointed one lef to a building at least three hundred yards away.
"Alright, let's go!! Wait to Transform until we get there." Optimus ordered. They bounded away, towards an almost hopeless fight they knew. Firelord watched them, wishing for all the world he could help. As they got out of his sight, he took a deep breath, trying to push the pain down far enough, and lifted one of his massive claws out of his dug out cave. He pulled himself halfway out before collapsing.
"Nooo.....I....won't..let it end...like this.." Firelord muttered, trying to summon the strength to move. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive oval that seemed to contain hundreds of stars and Planet,s and Sparks appeared before Firelord.
"Nor shall it. I am the Oracle of Cybertron. Prepare to be reformatted. You have a destiny to help those you call friends, now it is time to restore you're destiny to it's rightful position, prepare to be reformatted Firelord." Firelord lifted his head as a bright white light surrounded him, them collapsed in a heap.
"Alright Maximal's! TRANSFORM!" Primal cried, concentrating on releasing his Robot form. Immediately he managed to trasnform as his comrades did.
"Alright, Rattrap, you take the Cycles, Blackarachnia the aero drones are yours. Cheetor and I will handle the Tanks." Primal ordered as he saw the Vehicons slowly come into view. They were all wrong, there were more Vehicons than they could count at one glance.
"We're outnumbered!" Blackarachnia spat, starting to form a web.
"I know, but we have to keep them away from Firelord." Primal pulled out a few energy Shurikens, ready to throw them at the first sign of Tanks. Rattrap curled his fists and started to rev up, his wheels making screeching sounds as he prepared to engage the Cycle's. Cheetor pulled out his airfoils, ready to rip into the enemy. They waited anxiously, wanting more than anything to go and kick some butt.
"HERE THEY COME!" Primal cried, hurling his shurikens into an oncoming Tank. Rattrap let loose, charging straight into the Cycle's as they started to transform. He dodged their weapons fire and increased his speed, tearing off one of their arms. He swerved around and charged right down the middle of their ranks, smashing into them with the severed arm.
"YAAAHOOOO!" He cried, Blocking a burst of weapons fire with his Shoulder pads. Blackarachnia had managed to entangle an Aero Drone in her web, and was swinging it around, smashing it into any Aero Drone that tried to shoot her. Primal and Cheetor Blocked the Tanks weapons fire, sending it back at them or redirecting it. They were acting as a well oiled machine, battle hardened from the Beast Wars, and fueled by wanting to protect their comrades. But it didn't last. Rattrap failed to consider the delimbed Vehicon, who used it's other arm and shot out one of his wheels, causing him to revert back to Beast mode.
"AW NO NO NO NO! NOT NOW!" He wailed, snapping his tail at the Vehicons. They each tried their best, but each were somehow distracted, whether getting shot or being slammed into the ground, causing them to lose concentration and change back to Beast mode. They kept fighting as best they could, but were slowly starting to lose.
"AHH! He's GOT ME!" Rattrap screamed, the Cycle Grabbing his tail. Primal roared and started to leapt to his comrades aid, only to be knocked down by an Aero Drone.
"OPTIMUS!" Cheetor screeched, using his legs to send the Aero Drone that had tackled him back into the air. They each were backed up till they were at each others back.
"Well, what a nice way to go! Protecting a hunk of dried up scales!" Blackarachnia wailed, shooting another web into an Aero Drone. Suddenly everyone stood stock still as a Large shadow covered them. They looked up at the top of the ancient building, seeings A Giant red, grey, and yellow Monstrosity with two humongous wings with a grey and red pipe running along where the bones would be. It's claws, whcih could easily have slashed the building in half, were yellow claws with red scales. It turned it's grey eyes to the fight below, it's grey and yellow jaw curled back, revealing massive grey teeth. It's tail moved around slowly, revealing a round gray device on the tip, with three massive spikes on it. What was strange was it had no Legs at all, it just curled it's incredibly long tail around the building.
"Ey! IT'S FIRELORD!" Rattrap cried happily. Firelord roared again, uncurling himself from the building and dropping to the ground, curling himself like a snake around his Comrades, makiung them look like beetles compared to Firelord.
"LEAVE OR DIE PREDACON SCUM." Firelord roared, whipping his tail around towards the Enemies. They all looked at each other, then pointed there weapons at Firelord, who curled his wings around him, protecting him from the blasts. He reared back, the blasts barely making a mark against his scales. Firelord opened his jaw and released green flames, burning the Aero Drones to puddles of goo. He looked back at Primal and winked.
"FIRELORD! MAXI......Right Right, I can't do that anymore...." Firelord muttered, rubbing his head. He closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring the blasts that pounded at his wings. Immediately he shrunk down to three times the Size of Blackarachnia in beast mode. His dragon head shrunk down into his body, the face thinning and rounding out to become a sort of mask against his grey face. His claws opened wide and spread back onto his wrist, more humanoid hands taking there place. His wings stuck out form his claws while his dragon chest was replaced by a smoother Red and grey chest, the middle of it still covered in red and yellow scales. Legs seemed to pop out from nowhere, his tail separating and joining with them. The tip of his tail moved to his left arm, becoming something like a shield. He opened his eyes and looked at his new robot form, then grinned.
"Whoa...Check out Firelord..." Cheetor said in awe.
"Impressive." Blackarachnia said simply.
"Now, see, DAT'S the kinda Robot form I want, not some Wheelie wanna-be." Rattrap whined in jealousy. Firelord stomped towards the tanks, pulling on a black handle that had replaced the spikes. Immediately he drew a longsword that glowed blue, pure blue. He jumped onto one of the tanks, blocking blasts from the others, slicing off the tanks gun then driving the blade deep into it.
"Why are we standing around? TAKE THEM DOWN MAXIMALS!" Optimus ordered, grabbing a Cycle and hurling it into an Aero drone. Blackarachnia spread her webbing, nailing two cycles While Rattrap jumped onto an Aero Drone and started gnawing at it with his teeth. Cheetor pounced on a Tank and started trying to rip it apart with his teeth and nails.
"FOR THE MAXIMALS!" Firelord cried, Slicing a tank in half with his blade. He mowed through them, slashing and slicing everything in sight until he stood among the ruins, he paused briefly then jumped onto an Aero drone, Cutting it's guns off.
"GO FLAME BOT!" Cheetor cried, tackling a Cycle. Firelord managed to steer the Aero Drone towards a cycle, jumping off at the last second. He laughed and switched his blade to the other hand, pulling out a second blade from his round shield. He slammed the two blades together at the hilt, then pulled back, revealing a New Staff.
"Ya mean even after da Beast Wars, Scalebelly still has dat staff?" Rattrap smirked, whipping his tail at the Cycles. Firelord just noddded and jumped on an Aero Drone, Plunging the staff into it, causing it to Crash. As he jumped down, A transformed Cycle managed to nail him in the back, causing him to revert back to beast mode when he landed.
"AAAHH! NO!" He roared, watching himself grow and transform back to Beast form. He hissed at the Cycle, smashing it with his tail. He opened his jaws and whipped his head around and chomping on an Aero Drone. He roared at the Vehicons as they Started to Retreat. He looked down at his Fellow maximals and smiled.
"Not quite as dried up as you'd think Blackarachnia." Firelord said, dipping his head down to look at them.
"Firelord! Man is it good ta have ya back online!" Rattrap cheered.
"What happened?"
"Something larg and round, like a portal filled with planets and stuff and Sparks, Came to me and I guess Reformatted me." Firelord explained, looking over his body again.
"That was the Oracle!" Optimus said.
"That's what it was? Well, I got to say, I'm not complaining." Firelord laughed, moving his tail around.
"Why is it dat he gets a mega powered Beast n' Robot form, while all I get is th' Rat and Wheels look again?" Rattrap complained.
"Because he had an actually USEFUL Beast form?" Blackarachnia said, insulting Rattrap.
"Ey! My Other Beast forms had Plentya usefullness!" Rattrap said indignantly.
"Way cool Firelord! You could take on the entire Vehicon army!" Cheetor laughed. Firelord grinned and Looked at Primal.
"So, what do we do now that were done fawning over my...beautiful.....Beast mode." Firelord asked, looking over his wings. Primal smiled and looked around.
"We WERE searching for a base, but I don't think we could use this place, so I think we'd better start searching the other Area's." Primal explained. Firelord nodded, turning his back to them and laying his tail on the ground.
"Climb aboard, I can get us there much faster." Firelord offered. Primal nodded and motioned for everyone to climb aboard. Blackarachnia tentaviley climbed onto Firelord while Cheetor just Jumped on and Ran to his neck, looking around at the view. They settled on by his neck.
"Everyone ready?" Firelord asked, then flapped his wings, easily gaining altitude.
"Head over there, then fly straight down." Primal ordered, pointing towards the area they had enetered from. Firelord nodded and flew towards there, laughing with joy at being able to fly once more.
"I think I'm going to like this new form, It slags pretty well!" Firelord commented, looking over his claws.
"Well quit admirin' yerself AND WATCH WHERE YER GOING!" Rattrap screamed as they nearly hit a building. Firelord laughed and dove downwards into the depths of Cybertron.
END..