Chapter 8: An Insecticon's Wrath

"Why... Won't... You... Scream? Beg for mercy? Whimper, at least?!" Quickscope shouted, frustratedly, as he pulled back the blowtorch from Phase-Out's now blackened, charred, and eyeless socket, and shut it off.

"W-wait... You were actually trying?" he replied, gritting his clenched teeth into a smile of defiance.

Growling, Quickscope savagely bashed him across the face with the tank.

Phase-Out spat a glob of energon on the ground, and slowly looked back up, the same smile still there.

Quickscope turned to the tray, and threw the dented tank onto it carelessly. He grabbed the still-stained combat knife he had lying there, and lifted it up to Phase-Out's face.

"How about we just take out that other optic of yours then?" He said, tapping the blade-tip of the knife on Phase-Out's only remaining optic. "How about we let you share the physical perception of the world from a certain friend of mine's point of view... See if your still smiling then?"

"I will be" he replied in an almost startling tone of confidence.

"Heh. We'll see..." Quickscope spoke.

Just before he could make good on his threat, an alarm went off, followed by a red, flashing light. Quickscope immediately stopped his current activity, and stood up, looking to the nearest light.

"Oh goody... I wonder what's happened this time..." He groaned, preparing to sheath his still energon-stained knife back into the strap on his leg.

He suddenly hesitated, and looked back at Phase-Out, whose head had lowered.

"Don't even begin to think this is over" he spoke in a cold tone, lifting his knife's blade to the now single-eyed Shifter's throat. "As far as it appears, this little "therapy session" of ours hasn't even begun. And as a matter of fact..."

Phase-Out held his breath as Quickscope slowly dragged the the blade across his neck, making a wretched screeching noise of metal as it scratched along the surface of it, until it finally slid off.

"...I already have an idea in mind. I'll see you then..."

Backing up, Quickscope kept his orange, emotionless optics on Phase-Out's bowed, but unbroken figure, still bound, suspended in the air by the energon coils, until he got to the end of the cell they were in. Reaching down, he grabbed the rifle he had leaning against the back of the cell's door, and, after a final look, closed the cell door, and headed down the hall.


"Come here, Airachnid! Messy death for you!" Waspinator shouted, as he slashed his claws at Black Spider, right after she triggered the alarm on the wall.

Taking her hand off the alarm button, she dodged back and barely avoided the Insecticon's claws as they raked across the wall, leaving a large gash where the trigger for the alarm used to be.

As she leapt back, Rack and Ruin ran forward, both their weapons out, and began to pummel the slightly taller creature. Ruin pounded his sledgehammer arm into Waspinator's leg, while Rack poked his anvil-shaped arm at his turning face, pushing him back with an angry grunting noise as he cracked it into Waspinator's snout.

"Just shome shpace junk, eh?" Ruin started, turning his helmeted head to Black Spider as they backed up to prepare for another attack.

"No stowaways, eh?" Rack continued, as a roar from the Insecticon heralded him charging.

"Well, sorry for being realistic!" She retorted back, as she began to sift through the footlocker she had nearby.

Waspinator stretched his monstrous green arms out in an attempt to grab at Rack and Ruin in a monstrous bear hug, but fell short by a few scant feet as the conjoined twins bent their knees with unexpected speed, lowering themselves in height.

Bringing both weapons up at once with grunts, Rack and Ruin sandwiched the surprised Insecticon's face in between the flat end of their weapons, instantly breaking his jaws, and crushing his face vertically, sending parts of his teeth flying in the air.

"Take that, ye big green piece'a crap!" Rack shouted, as Waspinator stumbled back, moaning in pain, before crashing into the back of one of the several pods, rocking it on its legs from the impact. "Yer not as tough as ye look!"

Before they could both celebrate further, they watched in somewhat horror as the Insecticon's face somehow began to unbend itself. The mandible-like jaws that were broken began to straighten out, and teeth started to regrow, until it appeared no harm had even been done to the Insecticon.

"Ah, cripe… It's one of those Insecticons..." Rack groaned.

"Stay out of Wazzpinator'zz way, strange two-bodied bot! Wazzpinator trying to kill Airachnid!" Waspinator growled, after his face had fully straitened out.

"Air-who? What in Primush have ye been speak'n of, Insecticon?" Ruin asked.

"Her!" He replied, pointing to Black Spider, who finally found what she was looking for.

"My name isn't "Airachnid"" she said, placing her goggles over her green eyes, and pointing the blaster pistol she had at him. "My name's Black Spider. Just who are you, and what do you want?"

"Wazzpinator kill you, Airachnid!" Was all Waspinator buzzed in return. Huffing, he charged again. Rack and Ruin immediately tried to get in between the rampaging Insecticon and their friend, but as briefly as they did so, Waspinator merely smacked them out of the way, causing both of them to smash their heads on the black ceiling with a grunt of surprise, followed by silence as they crashed onto the ground with great force.

"Rack, Ruin!" Black Spider called out in anguish. She fired her pistol at Waspinator, but was ill-prepared for the claw that came swinging down on her, raking her chest with deep claw-marks.

She let out a gasp of pain as Waspinator grabbed her by the waist, and threw her at the two, unconscious ex-Wreckers, where she landed on them with enough force to knock the wind out of her.

"Now, Wazzpinator will destroy you, forever..." Waspinator growled, slowly stalking toward the now semi-conscious black-and-red fem, murder blaring in his purple optics.

"Hello, intruder!" an instantly-obnoxious voice suddenly greeted from behind him. Waspinator stopped moving, and looked behind himself at the blue-and-orange, one-eyed mech that had managed to sneak up on him, an extremely large blaster in his hands.

"Ooh, Rumble, looks like we've got an Insecticon!" Whirl said as he laid his eye upon the the large, wasp-like creature.

"No, really?" the blue-tinted gun replied, heard only by Whirl, as he hoisted it up to a better grip.

"Let's squash it!"

"Wazzpinator not let one-eyed bot squash Wazzpinator!" The Insecticon shouted back. "Wazzpinator will tear the metal from your body with Wazzpinator'zz teeth!"

"Aw, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it shall be I that will be doing the metal-tearing-from-body with my teeth!" Whirl replied.

"But... One-eyed bot not have mouth" Waspinator replied in a confused tone, pointing out the obvious in Whirl's return threat. Whirl looked as if he was about to reply, but stopped, mid-gesture, and appeared as though he was pondering what to say next.

"I... Er... EAT BLASTER!" He suddenly screeched, raising his weapon again, and pulling at its trigger. Blue blaster fire began to shoot out of one of the weapon's multiple barrels at a rapid speed.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!" Whirl shouted in rhythm of his weapon's output, as each shot zoomed out and hit Waspinator. Unfazed by the barrage of energy, Waspinator raised both his arms and shielded himself as he approached Whirl.

As soon as he was in range, Waspinator threw his servo down upon the ex-Wrecker, but narrowly missed him as the one-eyed mech sidestepped the claw, and immediately proceeded to step on it with one foot after it had impacted on the ground.

Before Waspinator could think of what to do next, Whirl stepped off the Insecticon's servo, and, with a crazed laugh, swung the butt end of his blaster at the Insecticon, bashing it against his face, and forcing him back.

"Hey!" Rumble piped in. "If you's is gonna smack the bug with somethin' that's not insect repellant, then don't go using me, ya numb-nodes!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Rumble..." Whirl spoke in an almost sorrowful voice, as he ran to the back of the hangar, Waspinator hot on his heels.

"Hey, we all make mistakes. Just fuhgeddaboudit and don't go doin' it again, eh?" Rumble replied.

"Who one-eyed bot speaking to?" Waspinator asked, stopping to catch his breath once he had fully cornered Whirl in the back of the hangar.

"Who do you think?"

"Uh... Wazzpinator?" He replied.

"Wrong!" Whirl yelled, raising Rumble.

Just as he started firing again, the wings on Waspinator's back began to flutter, and he flew forward. Before Whirl could react, Waspinator had snatched the weapon out of Whirl's hands, and had flown back, with it, chuckling maliciously.

"H-hey!" Whirl shouted.

"Hah! Wazzpinator now hazz stupid one-eyed bot'zz blazzter!" Waspinator declared, triumphantly, as he held the weapon in his claws. He didn't notice two, knife-like objects pop out of hidden slots on the side of Whirl's hips, and into his hands.

"What will stupid one-eyed bot do n-"

Waspinator was caught off-guard as Whirl, his optic now blaring a red color, lunged at Waspinator with a completely berserk roar, and plunged his two bayonets into both of Waspinator's eyes, before being thrown away from him in reaction.

Instantly forgetting about what he was saying, and dropping the weapon, Waspinator screamed in absolute pain and horror as he pawed at the two bayonets implanted in both his optics. He was blinded.

"Hoo-boy! You, my newest enemy, just made the biggest mistake of your entire life" Whirl spoke, picking up his weapon again, while Waspinator, still crying out, tore the two bayonets out of his eyes and clumsily smashed into the side of a pod, keeling over onto the ground, pathetically, with his back turned.

"You sir, touched my stuff. And not just any stuff, no siree, you just touched RUMBLE!"

Whirl calmly walked up to the now moaning Insecticon, pointing his weapon at him.

"Nobody touches Rumble and gets away with it. Nobody..."

"Whirl, g-get back!" Black Spider's weak-sounding voice suddenly went out, just as Whirl had gotten right next to the Insecticon.

"And why's that?" He asked, turning from Waspinator to her. "I'm about to blast him to little Insecticon chunks!"

"Whirl, th-the Insecticon... It can regenerate!"

"Regenerate? Are you sure?" He asked, unaware of Waspinator slowly, and silently, regaining his footing from behind himself the moment his back turned. "That sounds awfully... Impossible."

"Uh, Whirl, I think it would be in both our best interests if you'd... Turn around now..." Rumble spoke again in his silent voice. Whirl obeyed, and turned back to Waspinator... Then looked up to Waspinator's large figure looking down on him. His optic returned to its blue color, and he slowly lowered Rumble to his side.

"Not to self..." Whirl started, as Waspinator continued to glare at him angrily. "...Listen to teammates first, gloat later."

Lifting his leg, Waspinator kicked Whirl square in the chest, and sent him soaring across the hangar, only to crash into another small starship, his body hitting it with enough force to become lodged in the dent the impact created.

"Wha... I'm alive?" He asked, lifting his head and looking around, bewildered as to where he was. "I'm alive!"

Waspinator's growling made him turn his blue optic forward.

Grunting, Whirl tried to move his body, only to be disappointed to find out he was stuck, as the only things he could move were his hands.

"Uh-oh... " Was all he could mutter, upon realizing his predicament. Lifting his optic up, he saw Waspinator stalking closer toward him, hatred burning in his optics.

Waspinator raised his servo to strike the defenseless ex-Wrecker as he came upon him, but it didn't come down. As he looked at it with an odd expression, the appendage came to life, and began to attack, clawing at its owner.

"What izz happening to Wazzpinator?" The Insecticon cried out, as his arm began to try and grab at his own throat.

"I happened to you" another voice suddenly went out.

Straining to look over his shoulder, Waspinator saw two, new bots standing near the entrance to the hangar. It was Tic and Crash.

"Firzzt, a bot with two bodies... Then bot with one optic... Now bot with no opticzz?" Waspinator asked at the queerness of his day so far, as he struggled to keep his seemingly possessed servo away with his other one. "Too many botzz for Wazzpinator! Not... Fair!"

"You keep him in place, I'll try and sedate him!" Tic said to his blind companion, as his right servo transformed into a long syringe needle, and his feet changing into a pair of wheels.

"Got it" she replied, keeping focus with both her hands lining the side of her head.

He quickly rushed up to the Insecticon with his extreme speed, using the wheels lining his feet as skates. Waspinator tried to kick at the bluish blur coming toward him, but Tic ducked underneath the attack it with little effort, and appeared on the other side of the larger, green mech not even half a second afterword.

Just as he was lining his needle to the Insecticon's leg, Waspinator's servo flew down and grabbed his arm, yanking him into the air. With a shout, Waspinator threw the small, blue Velocitronian away, before resuming his defense against his other arm.

Landing on his feet, Tic ran back toward Crash, preparing for another method of approach.

"I thought you said you had him!" He said to his blind companion.

"I can't get enough control on him!" She replied. "I... I think I need to delve deeper."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Tic asked, a hint of worry in his tone.

"Yes, he doesn't appear to be very smart" she replied.

"Wazzpinator zzmart!" Waspinator retorted. "Wazzpinator show you! Wazzpinator kill you all!"

"I rest my case" she spoke again. She started to get into a more focussed-looking position, biting her lip, and Waspinator howled in pain right after, sending both servos to his head.

"Huh. That's... Strange..." She suddenly spoke.

"What is it?" Tic asked, as he prepared to dive in again.

"He... He wasn't always an Insecticon..." She said again. "Just hurry up and sedate him, I'll tell you after."

Without a second thought, Tic rushed up to Waspinator, and leapt onto his body. He plunged his syringe into Waspinator's neck, and as soon as it was emptied of its contents, leapt back before the Insecticon could do anything.

Releasing control of Waspinator's mind, Waspinator fell to his knees, gasping, and clinging to where the needle went in.

"What did you put in Wazzpinator?" He asked, angrily. Before he could get an answer, he fell, face-first to the ground.

"N-no... Wazzpinator cannot... Cannot lose now..." The Insecticon grumbled, as he began to crawl across the ground, his voice getting weaker. "Wazzpinator will... Wazzpin-ator..."

His head lowered a final time, and the light in his purple eyes vanished as he powered down. Crash sank to her knees and let out several deep breaths of relief.

"A... A little help here" Black Spider spoke in a faint voice. Tic immediately walked up to her, and the unconscious Rack and Ruin.

"You're wounded. You definitely need medical attention, yep-yep" he said, as his servo transformed into a pipe-like object, and began to seal the gashes with a resiny substance.

"H-how are those two?" She asked, motioning to Rack and Ruin.

"They are both very much alive, I assure you" he replied. "You're my primary focus of attention though."

"Hey, what about me?" Whirl cried out, as he continued to try and pull himself out of the indent.

"What is going on here?" Another voice shouted. Tic looked up and saw Lockdown and Quickscope entering through the open doorway. Lockdown's gaze fell upon Tic and Black Spider, before looking with at the giant, green Insecticon lying in the middle of the hangar.

A long silence came between everyone, until Black Spider spoke.

"As these t-two said..." She began in a weak chuckle, patting Rack and Ruin's bodies with one hand.

"...A st-stowaway..."


Vos's Logs

Subject Name: Hun-Grrr

Quote: "Hungry..."

Mental Stability: Unstable, possibly not even sentient.

Mental Issues: Unknown, possibly an eating disorder.

Bio: What I can scrounge up for the past of the bot known as "Hun-Grrr," is that he has a voracious appetite, eats metal instead of energon, and was found when Lockdown met and took in Q. He appears to serve the old coot, and also seems to guard him as well.

Further Notes: Hun-Grrr acts as the ship's watchdog. He seems to have an unquenchable hunger, and spends almost his entire time in the smelting area with Q, eating the metal there. Not much else is left to note about him.