"Wazzzpinator hate thizzz. Why Wazzzpinator alwayzzz get zzztuck with zzzlag azzzzzzinments? Wazzzpinator izzz GREATEZZZT of Prediconzzz. One day, even Megator zzzay Wazzzpinator izzz TRUE leader of Prediconzzz. Wazzzpi… huh?"
Waspinator broke off in mid-complaint when he saw a flash of silver in the jungle below. He circled for a bit, then headed in for a closer look. He almost crowed with delight at what he found.
"Zzztazzzizzz-pod! Wazzzpinator take back to bazzze then…" Waspinator stopped. He narrowed his optics as a thought occurred to him. (I am NOT writing his thoughts with the buzz!) 'No. Waspinator not need take pod back to base. Waspinator activate here. Maybe new bot become Waspinator's friend.'
Waspinator nodded to himself. "Yezzz, Wazzzpinator make protoform Predicon. Make friend." The giant wasp pulled out of his tight circling and landed next to the stasis-pod. He muttered some more to himself while he pulled off the panel that covered the pod's circuitry. Waspinator reached in and carefully pulled out the Maximal personality chip and tossed it absent-mindedly over his shoulder. Waspinator then pulled a Predicon personality chip out of a sub-space pocket and put it in the place where the Maximal chip had resided.
"There, now Wazzzpinator activate pod. Protoform be Predicon, Wazzzpinator'zzz friend." Waspinator took a deep breath, then reached out and punched the activation sequence on the keyboard.
It worked.
For the first few nanoclicks anyway.
Then it all went haywire.
"What?!? NO!!" Waspinator tapped away desperately at the console, trying to stop the spark's rapid deterioration.
*~ Warning. Protoform's circuitry has been damaged. Download of information required. ~*
Waspinator blinked once or twice before what the computer had just said hit home.
"Download? ..Wazzzpinator can download! Wazzzpinator zzzave zzztazzzizzz-pod! Zzzave Predicon friend!"
Waspinator acted quickly. He pulled some download wires out of ANOTHER sub-space pocket and quickly attached them to himself and the pod's computer (Am I the only one wondering why he had all this stuff?).
"Computer… Download Wazzzpinator."
*~ Downloading. Warning, probable damage to unit high. ~*
"Download Wazzzpiantor!!"
*~ Compliance. ~*
Waspinator felt the download of his systems begin.
Then came the pain.
It overloaded every logic circuit, every data chip. Everything was lost to the pain. Waspinator began to scream.
With an explosion of blue and white sparks it was over. The explosion sent Waspinator flying backwards. He went through one or two trees before he finally skidded to a stop. Waspinator shakily got to his feet and staggered forward, his constant habit of getting blown up making one or two red-wood trees impeding his progress backwards nothing much. Waspinator actually made it all the way back to the stasis-pod before the Energon-surge hit him.
"What? NO! Wazzzpinator… beazzzt-mode!"
Waspinator transformed and buzzed the rest of the way to the stasis-pod. The computer was finishing up the last systems check. When the check was complete, the scanner popped out and the gold light flared, scanning around. The light washed over the clearing, then turned off and the scanner closed down again.
*~ Compatible life form found. Replicating. ~*
"Yezzz! Good! New Predicon!!"
The pod hatch opened and a buzzing drone filled the air as a giant yellow jacket came out of the pod. He spoke in the exact same manner as Waspinator. "Buzz-Zzzaw Terrorize!! I'll blast every Maximal in the eyezzz."
(OH NO!! Please tell me I didn't just do what I think I just did! Please tell me that I don't have TWO Waspys to write! And Buzz-Saw RHYMES?!? HELP!!)
"Buzz-Zzzaw knowzzz you! You Wazzzpinator or Buzz-Zzzaw live in an igloo!"
"Me Wazzzpinator, you Buzz-Zzzaw. Why Buzz-Zzzaw talk in rhyme?"
"Buzz-Zzzaw not know. Where we go?"
"Bazzze. Wazzzpinator want to know why Buzz-Zzzaw know Wazzzpinator's name."
"Wazzzpinator is Buzz-Zzzaw's brother, but we not have zzzame mother."
"Yezzz, Wazzzpinator download, zzzave brother-bot. Brother-bot zzztay with Wazzzpinator?"
"Picture you got. Zzzo fool you not."
The two Predicons buzzed away in the direction of the Predicon base, chatting back and forth like old friends.
Emerging from the bush, a few cycles too late…
Tarantulous stepped into the clearing.
The stasis-pod was there, but like the last two sites, it was empty, and too badly damaged to be of any use.
Tarantulous opened what passed for his mouth to scream in frustration when he heard the bushes crunching off to the other side of the clearing. There was a voice… No! TWO voices coming from that direction.
"Can't you make less noise First Aid?"
"No."
"Why is that YOU'RE the one who doesn't talk much and I'M the one that doesn't make much noise?"
"Maybe because I'm the medic and you're the scout?"
"Well, yeah; but do you have to step on EVERY dry leaf and twig?"
"I'm trying not to."
"'Trying not to'? Could you 'try not to' walk THROUGH every bush? Could you walk AROUND them maybe?"
"You're talking two much for stealth you know."
"With all the noise you're making? I couldn't be stealthy if I… shhhhhh."
"What? Why?"
"There's a clearing up ahead and I smell an ambush."
"Ambush?"
"Shhhhhh."
Tarantulas slid back into the bushes behind him and pulled out his new cyber-venom gun. The other two protoforms had emerged as Maximals and not Predicons like this one. Capturing two Maximals might be a very good way to get him back into good graces with Megator.
Two Maximals in robot-mode walked out of the bushes. One was average height with a mainly light brown body and some black and gray highlights. He had an upside down triangle of black that covered most of his face. The light blue optics cautiously scanned the clearing a few times before the Maximal let the other Maximal leave the dubious safety of the bushes. The second Maximal was probably about Rinox's height. He wasn't nearly as cautious as the first Maximal and he was twice as noisy. Tarantulas smiled wickedly. He would shoot the cautious Maximal first; the second one would be an easy target. What a perfect chance this was to test his new cyber-venom.
This reeked of trouble.
This REALLY reeked of trouble.
This SERIOUSLY reeked of trouble.
That was the last thought to cross Snarl's CPU before something hit his shoulder and sent him spiraling into darkness.
Right then, back at the Drake…
"I think I need a translator."
"Very funny, Street Cat."
"Will you PLEASE call me CHEETOR, Nightwolf?"
"That is not your name."
"Yes, it is."
"Whatever you say, Street Cat."
"Why is it I get no respect?"
Because you don't use your name?"
"Nightwolf…"
"Okay… okay… I'll drop it. Now, why do you need a translator?"
"When was the last time I understood any technical jargon, Nightwolf?"
"Good point. What DO you understand and where did I lose you?"
"Your high opinion flatters me far too much. Will you stop laughing, Skywitch!?! No respect," Cheetor said with a grin. "Anyway, I know that you're trying to explain why my gift didn't work and why it suddenly came back online after all this time."
"Okay, so far so good. So where did I lose you?"
"The beginning?"
Nightwolf sighed. "Okay, let's try this again."
"How about in something besides science jargon this time? Like Common CYBERTRONIAN…"
"Fine. You got hit by a memory virus right?"
"Yeah."
"And Optimus Primal had his CR-chamber repair you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then THAT'S what happened to your 'Sight'!"
"I don't believe this!" Cheetor exploded. "He managed to lose me even when he spoke Common Cybertronian! What does the CR-Chamber and the memory virus have to do with me losing my 'Sight'?!?"
"I'm going to bust something!!" Skywitch managed to gasp out between her laughs.
"No respect," Cheetor said with another smile. "Now, Nightwolf… explain please."
"Okay. When a CR-Chamber fights a memory virus it isolates any unusual circuitry and closes it off because one variation of the memory virus warps circuitry."
"Okay…"
"Well… 'Sight' IS abnormal circuitry created by the Spark. That's why you kept your 'Sight' when you got your Fuzor form."
"Right. So I lost my 'Sight' 'cause the CR-Chamber computer thought it was something caused by the virus?"
"Basically. To put it in layman's terms? It made a shield over your 'Sight'."
"So how did activate, or get out, or, whatever?"
"Well, your 'Sight' is the strongest in the Strike Team. And we have the strongest 'Sights', or we did anyway, on Cybertron. Your 'Sight' pushed on the shield. When you were endangered it would push hard enough to get a bit of a warning out. The thing was, the shield worked like putting a cork in a shaken up battle of human wine. The pressure behind it kept building and building until…"
"Ahhh… Got it. Thanks Nigh…"
His reaction was instantaneous. One nanoclick Cheetor was leaning against the wall, nodding to Nightwolf and pointedly ignoring Skywitch as she sat on the floor on her knees… doubled over in laughter.
The next nanoclick he was jumping up to the Axalon's old command room floor and skidding to a halt behind Rhinox at the Communication station.
Optimus blinked in surprise. Cheetor had always been fast, but now he probably would have left his old self in the dust. Optimus shook his head, then turned to face the communication screen as it came on. Megator's smiling face commanded all attention. "Megator."
*'Optimal Optimus.'*
"What do you want?"
*'Your absolute surrender.'*
"Do you actually believe that WE would surrender to you, Megator?"
*'Yes, Primal. For I have TWO bargaining chips."
"Teth'mcdor!!"
Everyone within hearing distance did a double blink and stared at Cheetor in surprise. Nightwolf held back a curse of his own. If Megator knew what that meant…
*'What does that MEAN, cat?'*
"Maximal Gypsy for Slag it. What are you planning to do with them Megator?"
*'Ohhh, torture, inquires, pain beyond their mere comprehension. The usual. Unless you surrender."
"Well. That's just PRIME."
A few cycles later, in a cage in the crashed Predicon ship 'Inferno'…
Light.
Spinning, spiraling, painfully bright light.
Snarl opened his optics. He closed them almost immediately, groaning. He took a deep breath and opened them again. The floor seemed intent on spinning beneath him. Slowly the sensation stopped. Snarl sat up carefully; he waited for the spinning to hit him again. But except for a rapidly fading headache, he felt nothing abnormal.
"It'll fade away completely in a cycle."
Snarl jumped at the voice to his right. He snapped his head out of his hands and looked in that direction. The first thing that he noticed was that he was in a cage. The second was that the speaker had been First Aid. The third was that First Aid was also caged.
The last was that they were both weaponless.
Don't tell me, let me guess… Ambush?"
"Yes. Predicon scientist – slash – scout as near as I could tell. He hit you first with a type of cyber-venom, then me. I didn't get as big a dose as you, so woke up a little while ago."
"I think that counts as a speech from you F.A. So, why are we here and not in the scrap pile?"
"Well… I overheard some of our host's plans. We're bargaining chips that he's using against the Maximal forces."
"You mean that we're going to be used so that the Maximal team has to surrender?!? That… We need to get out of here!! What am I saying? We're weak, injured, and weaponless… SLAG IT we're helpless!!" Snarl said, his headache making it hard to think.
First Aid started to say something, then paused and frowned in thought. He reached into his sub-space pocket and pulled out his medical case. He opened it up and smiled at what he saw.
"What are you smiling about?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that you can pick a lock with a scalpel."