"Cerberus."

The big predacon stilled, one clawed hand lifted in the air still. A low rumble reverberated through his thick chest, skeletal-like plates of armor raising and falling like the mechanical beast was breathing. One triangular ear turned towards the hulking frame of Blackout as the mech transformed in the air and dropped to the earth.

A low growl left his throat, but he didn't turn to face the decepticon, even when he stepped towards him with, "You will answer me, beast."

"A beast answers to no one," Cerberus answered, voice low and dangerous, "you risk your life by coming here."

Blackout snorted, "My aft. You forget who you speak to, Cerberus."

"No." Cerberus turned slowly, pouring lethal grace into every movement. He trained large, piercing blood-red optics on the mech. His voice dropped to a near-whisper, "You forget who you speak to."

Blackout hesitated, gaze focusing on his. Cerberus held still, like a stone statue, watching as the mech's resolve nearly crumbled into nothing. Blackout took a step back without seeming to realize it, snarling, "Megatron should have crushed you when he had the chance!"

"Many would say the same."

"Starscream demands your presence."

Cerberus narrowed his optics, allowing his thick black claws to sink into the soft soil, "Starscream is not my master."

"In Megatron's absence he is leader, you are to obey him like the rest of us," Blackout pushed them back on topic, "Barricade has failed. The autobot scout has found the fleshling with the coordinates."

"And so he sent for me."

"You...specialize in this kind of thing. Starscream is sick of taking chances, he wants that useless autobot offline."

"Starscream wouldn't ask for my assistance if he wasn't desperate," Cerberus mused, "Barricade must have really made a fool of himself."

"The autobot tore him apart."

Cerberus tilted his head slightly, just enough so that the moonlight cast menacing highlights on his massive gray fangs. Blackout noticed and took another step back. The energon from Cerberus' last kill still stained his dentals, glowing very faintly. Cerberus moved towards him again, lowering his body into a low-slung crouch. Blackout went rigid, broadening his stance and hand raised to take hold of his propeller blades. He squinted his optics down at him.

Cerberus walked slow circles around the larger mech, "Do you realize how long it's been since I last fed?"

Blackout turned, keeping his front towards the wolf-like predacon the entire time he circled. Cerberus' optics stayed focused on him, calm and steady, "I can hear the energon pumping through your spark..."

He paused long enough to grin maliciously, "It's been too long since I enjoyed a full meal...us predacons need to eat something..."

"Twisted slagging..." Blackout hissed, drawing his main weapon and sliding back a step.

Cerberus chuckled darkly, abruptly lunging forward. He dove under Blackout's blades and hurled his entire body into the mech's chest. His claws locked down around his armor, anchoring him to the mech. Blackout flailed his arms like a moron as he fell flat on his aft. Cerberus lifted a paw and sliced deep into the mech's chest, severing wiring crucial for transmitting battle routines to his limbs, leaving Blackout helpless.

Fear flashed through the larger decepticon's optics, sending a cold thrill through Cerberus' spark. The mechanical wolf leaned forward, bared serrated dentals inches away from the mech's face. Cerberus raised his claws, dripping with Blackout's energon. He said softly, "You should show some respect in the presence of a predacon, Blackout. Contrary to what you common foot soldiers believe, we are not all...'pets'."

He let his claws sink deep into the wound before stepping off of his massive form. He turned his back to Blackout. He knew the mech didn't have the spark to attack him, as very few did. And just as he expected, the mech hauled himself up, moved back, and put away his weapons. Blackout asked, "And what do I tell Starscream?"

Cerberus turned his big red optics to the city far below, lights blinking in the distance like colored stars in a dark sky. In his processor, he sifted through the conversation. It had been years since he had last hunted, years since any mech, Megatron included, had sought him out specifically and assigned him such a task. His spark raged at the thought, burning for an excuse to rip through alloys and shed energon like a heavy rain.

He said, "Tell Starscream that the hunt has begun."

Without another word, the larger of the two shifted forms in a rush and took to the air, flying as fast as he could to get as far away from Cerberus as possible. The predacon remained where he stood, content with quietly planning in his processor and watching the lights of the city blink on and off below. He spent hours standing like that, allowing himself the pleasure of bathing in the cool moonlight.

"Yes," He told himself, "let the hunt begin."

New project.

It's harder to write The Storyteller for some reason, so I think I'm going to take a break and write this little story. It shouldn't be as long as the others, at least I hope not...Just FYI, this one has absolutely no ties to my Guradian series, so it's all new OC's.

If you didn't catch it, Blackout is talking about Bumblebee protecting Sam from Barricade over the 'coordinates', meaning this story takes place in the first movie.

Also, in case I forgot to mention, Cerberus is a wolf-based Predacon.

Cerberus and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.