You're all gonna love this one, I just know it. Pokémon is the property of Nintendo, Gamefreak and several other companies, while Beast Wars and all other Transformers related media is the property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. And as always, Enjoy.
Chapter 8: The Odd One Out
Meanwhile, on the desolate and isolated chunk of rock currently known as Darksyde Island, Rudy and his fellow captives were putting their new 'masters' through their paces.
"Okay, Skyfire! Now grab him and don't let go!" the young Gym Leader shouted to his Predacon 'partner', who then promptly locked Terrorsaur in a powerful embrace. "Good! Now fly up about thirty feet and give him a few good spins."
The Charizard Predacon did as instructed and took to the air like a rocket. Soaring up to about thirty or forty feet in the air before performing a series of summersaults until his opponent was good and dizzy.
"Great work! Now divebomb and throw him to the ground!"
Once again, Skyfire followed his 'trainer's' directions and dove straight down at high speed, only to change direction at the last minute and slam Terrorsaur into the cold, hard ground.
Crash!
"Congratulations, Skyfire." Rudy said as the robot Charizard flew back and landed close beside him. "You've just learned Seismic Toss."
"Hmmm… Learned it perhaps, but not mastered it. Not to my satisfaction, anyway." Skyfire replied in that serious, snarling tone the young Gym Leader had come to know him for. "In real combat my foes will not simply stand still and let me grab them. If I am to master this technique, I shall require a more worthy opponent. With Lord Megatron's permission, I would like to do battle with your Rhydon."
Gruff, but otherwise polite. That was the general vibe Skyfire gave off. Which was a welcome change of pace from the rest of the Predacons; at least in Rudy's opinion.
After getting over the initial shock and terror of their situation, the young Gym Leader and his fellow captives were given the lowdown on what was to become of them. Evidently, when these Predacons, these shapeshifting robots from another world, had scanned the Pokémon needed to create their 'Beast Modes' they'd somehow also gained those Pokémon's attacks and abilities as well. And since they were new to this planet they needed someone to teach them how to use them properly; that's where Ruby and the others came in.
Megatron's offer was simple and straightforward. They would help the Predacons master their new powers and in exchange the Predacons would let them live; at least for now. With no other options, the humans accepted and were split up into groups. Being a Gym Leader, Rudy had the distinct 'honor' of training the 'Supreme Leader' himself along with his two officers, while Ritchie and Casey were left to train the grunts. Meanwhile, Todd Snap, not being an actual Pokémon Trainer, was given a somewhat… different assignment.
"Yes… Yes… Oh yes indeed!" Megatron exclaimed giddily as he and Todd flipped through the latest batch of photos the young photog had taken of him. "So regal. So distinguished. And you even caught my good side. Well done, lad."
"T-Thank you, Lord Megatron." Todd replied nervously. "I'm so glad you approve."
"I do, I really do. You have a real talent for this, my boy. I real eye for detail and… No!"
The Predacon leader roared with rage and revulsion as he snatched one of the photos with one of his stubby, clawed hands.
"This one makes me look fat!" he said disgustedly before holding up the offensive picture to his second-in-command. "Burn it!"
Without hesitation, Skyfire let out a quick puff of flame that instantly turned the photo to ash.
"Much better." He said with a toothy smirk before turning his attention back on the young photog; who had turned pale as a sheet. "Now, now, there's no need to be afraid, my young friend. Mistakes will happen, and they are permissible, so long as we learn from them and endeavor not to repeat them. Understand?"
Todd said nothing, but nodded fearfully in response.
"Good." Megatron replied casually before shifting his focus back to his 'trainer'. "So… uh… Rudy, how are we doing so far?"
"Well, Lord Megatron, so far Skyfire seems to be doing the best out of the three of you." The young Gym Leader answered; cold but politely. "In just a few hours, he's already learned Fire Spin, Flamethrower and Seismic Toss. Whereas you've only learned Dragon Tail and Rock Smash. And I haven't even gotten a chance to work with Tarantulus yet."
"Tarantulus is busy with the Trip… er… I mean, he's busy with things that don't concern you." The Predacon leader said, catching himself before he said something he shouldn't. "You'll work with him later."
"Fair enough." Rudy admitted. "But maybe you'd be a little further along if you didn't stop every ten minutes to have your picture taken."
"I'd watch that tone if I were you, boy."
"Hey, I'm just trying to follow your orders. You said you wanted everyone to have at least six moves and a minimum of one hundred hours of battle experience under their belts before moving on to the next phase of your plan. Whatever that is. So don't get mad at me just because you're a lousy student."
Naturally, Megatron growled at such an insolent comment. But after a few moments he calmed back down and started smirking again.
"You don't like me very much, do you?" the Predacon leader asked with a sort of perverse amusement.
"No, I don't." Rudy replied; brave, but perhaps foolishly. "In fact, I hate you. First you interrupted one of the best gym battles I've had in ages, then one of your thugs hurt my little sister, and now you're forcing us to help you take over our planet. To be honest, I'd like nothing better than to push you into the ocean and watch you sink."
"And yet you're still helping me." Megatron interjected, still sounding quite amused with himself. "And being quite professional about it too, I might add. Now why do you suppose that is?"
"It's because I don't wanna die. It's as simple as that."
"Yes… survival is a part of it, but there's something more to it than that. Something much more… primal."
"What do you mean?"
"Permit me to elucidate with a short hypothetical. Ahem. A trainer wanders through a forest and inadvertently stumbles into a wild Pokémon's territory. The Pokémon perceives the human as a threat and attacks, but is ultimately defeated and captured by said human. Now, despite having once been enemies and whatever lingering resentment it might hold, the Pokémon inevitably submits to the whims of its new human master. Do you know why that is?"
"Yes, but I'm sure you have your own theory."
"It's because, if only on a subconscious level, the Pokémon recognizes the human as the superior species and that it has no choice but to submit. And it is the same with you and I. Deep down, you recognize that we Predacons are the superior lifeforms and that you humans must submit to your new and glorious masters."
"You're really sick. You know that, Megatron?"
"That's Lord Megatron, to you, boy. And just what exactly is so sick about it? In nature, the strong dominate the weak. It's what your entire Pokémon Trainer Society is based on. It's been the way of your planet for centuries."
"And just what makes you such an expert on my planet? I thought you guys only crashed here yesterday."
"That's for me to know and for you to never find out, brat."
Before Rudy could even try to come up with a clever retort, a familiar squawking groan pierced the air. It was Terrorsaur, having apparently just now regained consciousness, as he crawled out of the crater caused by Skyfire's Seismic Toss.
"Ugh… Lord Megatron… I don't wanna do this anymore." The phony Fossil Pokémon whined as his eyes continued to spin around cartoonishly. "We've been at this for hours, and all I've learned is a dozen creative new ways to get a headache."
"Perhaps if you'd spent more time training and less time complaining you'd have learned at least one attack by now." The Predacon leader said derisively.
"Well, why do we even need to learn these stupid Pokémon attacks, when our Robot Modes have guns and missiles and laser eyes?" Terrorsaur asked childishly. "Look, we know where the Maximals are and that we have them outnumbered. So let's just storm this Pallet Town place and kill 'em all!"
'Pallet Town?' Rudy thought to himself confusedly. 'Why do I know that name?'
"First of all, dear Terrorsaur, according to Tarantulus, Pallet Town is over 3000 miles away. And since our ship is currently inoperable, we lack a safe means to transport us there. Or have you forgotten that not all of us can fly?" Megatron explained to his subordinate in the most menacing tone he could manage. "Second, we can only stay in our Robot Modes for a few minutes because of the planet's Energon Fields, but if we can learn to fight in our Beast Modes it will give us a distinct advantage over our Maximal foes. So you're going to keep training, whether you like it or not, until I say you're done! Get it?"
"G-Got it."
"Good."
Just then, a loud scream from across the way drew everyone's attention. No one had any idea what it could be about, but it was so shrill and had come on so suddenly that it motivated everyone to run towards the source of the disturbance to see what was going on.
Within moments, they were all on the scene and they quickly realized that the screamer had been their 'dear friend' Clawber, who was supposed to be engaged in a Mock Pokémon Battle with Waspinator, under the supervision of Ritchie and Casey. Only something wasn't quite right. For one thing, Waspinator wasn't in Beast Mode, and he was flying around in circles and shooting his gun off at random.
"De-cepticons! Attack! Attack!" the Predacon flyer said, seemingly out of touch with reality. "Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo~ Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk~ Happy Motoring. Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
"Waspinator? What on Earth are you babbling about?" Megatron asked, sounding both confused and irritated.
"Waspinator? Negative! Negative! Negative! I am Shrapnel. Decepticon her-O-O-O-O~"
"Shrapnel?" Rudy asked aloud bewilderedly.
"It was the name of a famous Decepticon warrior from the Great Wars three centuries ago." Skyfire answered plainly before turning to his leader. "My Lord, it would seem that Waspinator has, as the humans say, fallen off the wagon again."
"Yes… so it would seem." Megatron replied, grinding his teeth with rage.
Moments later, he let out a deafening roar and launched, presumably by accident, a large sphere of turquoise energy straight into a nearby boulder; triggering a massive explosion.
Evidently, he'd just learned Dragon Pulse.
"TARANTULUS!" the Predacon leader roared at the top of his voice; nearly knocking Rudy and the other humans off their feet.
Not long after, Tarantulus came scuttling along at a quickened pace; obviously not wanting to displease his master any more than he apparently already had.
"Here, Lord Megatron!" said the spidery Science Officer as he arrived on the scene. "Is something the matAAAK!"
Megatron wasted no time in expressing his displeasure as he pinned Tarantulus' cephalothorax to the ground with his giant foot.
"Tarantulus, my dear fellow." The Predacon leader said in an unnervingly placid tone. "I realize that it's been a rather hectic week for us all, so perhaps my memory is a bit fuzzy. Please, remind me. Did I or did I not order you to perform a contraband check on the Darksyde while we were laying low in that asteroid belt three days ago?"
"Yes… Lord Megatron." Tarantulus replied, struggling to get the words out. "You did… and I did… cough… I searched the ship from top to bottom… and there wasn't a drop of Nucleon to be found… gak!"
"Interesting… then how, pray tell, do you explain that?" Megatron asked furiously as he gestured towards Waspinator, who was jabbering about 'Grand Poopahs' and 'eliminating the toughest stains'.
"What's Nucleon?" Rudy asked Skyfire in a hushed tone, so as not to disturb Megatron mid-rant.
"It is an element that can be used as an alternative to Energon. Unstable, but very powerful." The false Charizard replied, in an equally hushed voice. "It was originally used in the medical profession as a means of treating Tox-En Poisoning and other Energon related maladies, but it was outlawed several decades ago when bots started using it for… recreational purposes. Our 'friend' Waspinator is a recovering addict."
"Oh… so that's why he talks like that."
"Hold on!" shouted Terrorsaur, interrupting everyone. "I saw that little witch give Waspy something a little while ago. She must've poisoned him!"
"What?" exclaimed Casey as all eyes were suddenly on her. "N-No, it was just a Rare Candy. Honest. He was having trouble learning Poison Sting, so I thought raising his level might help."
"Liar! The sneaky little wench is trying to screw us!" replied the Aerodactyl Predacon accusingly.
"Hold her down, Terrorsaur. I'll get the truth out of her." Clawber said menacingly as he brandished his claws.
"That's enough out of you two!" Skyfire barked authoritatively; causing both Predacons to back off. "The girl is not to blame. She gave me one of her Rare Candies as well some time ago, and as you can see, I am perfectly fine. Whatever is wrong with Waspinator must be his own doing."
"Hmm…" went Megatron as he scratched his chin with his little claw. "Your thoughts, Tarantulus?"
"F-From what I understand… Rare Candies are essentially a harmless form of performance enhancing drugs." The Predacon Scientist choked out. "It's possible… ak… that one of the chemicals contained within… is interacting with the residual Nucleon in his system… cough… causing a chemical imbalance in his cranial fluid."
"What does that mean?" asked Terrorsaur confusedly.
"He means the candies make him go whacko." Answered Clawber, clearly still annoyed that he didn't get to have his 'fun' with Casey.
"Whacko? No~ Wonko. Wonko the Sane!" Waspinator shouted deliriously as he proceeded to repeatedly strike the side of his head with his fist.
By this point, Megatron had clearly grown weary of his underling's antics, so after finally removing his foot from his Science Officer's back, he swung his massive tail around and swatted Waspinator to the ground with the force of a piledriver.
"More than meets the eye…" the robotic junky babbled before finally surrendering to unconsciousness.
"You two!" the Predacon leader barked at Terrrorsaur and Clawber. "Lock him in the CR Chamber until he sobers up!"
"Yes, Lord Megatron!" they both replied with a salute before hastily obeying his orders.
"And as for you!" he said, addressing Casey. "You have exactly one hour to gather every piece of Rare Candy on this island and dump them in the ocean. Got it?"
"Yes, Sir." She replied meekly.
"Good! Waspinator's circuits are scrambled enough as it is."
And with that, Megatron stomped off to parts unknown with Todd in tow. With most of the scary robots gone, Casey began to weep uncontrollably and rushed over to seek comfort from her 'Ritchie Poo'.
"Man, that was a close one." Said Rudy to no one in particular.
"Indeed." Replied Skyfire dryly. "Now then, let us resume our training."
In no mood or position to argue, Rudy followed his 'partner', only to stop once they heard Tarantulus chuckling to himself and making that disgusting sucking noise with his mandibles.
"Have I said something amusing, Tarantulus?" the false Charizard asked annoyedly.
"You liar." The Predacon Doctor replied, still making that awful sucking sound. "That girl never gave you any Rare Candies. You just said that to keep Clawber and Terrorsaur from ripping her apart."
"And what if I did? Your conclusion was still more logical than theirs."
"True. True. But this isn't the first time you've stuck your neck out for one of those little meat bags." Tarantulus said amusedly. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were developing a soft spot for-AAAAAHH!"
Whatever the Science Officer was about to say was cutoff when Skyfire used his mighty tail to sweep his legs; causing him to flip over and land on his back. Then, as if to drive his point home even further, the ruthless Second-in-command pressed his foot hard against his abdomen; causing him to yelp in pain.
"Tell me, Tarantulus. Do I still look like someone with a soft spot?" Skyfire asked menacingly; showing off his many sharp teeth.
"No… of course not." Tarantulus answered with a pitiful wince. "Just an honest mistake."
"Good. But just so you don't make any more mistakes, let me clarify something for you." The Predacon Flame Pokémon said, pressing his foot even harder. "At present, these humans are an essential part of Lord Megatron's plans for this planet, and we cannot afford to keep replacing them every time one of you slag-headed malfunctions gets bored. It was a big enough risk just abducting these four in broad daylight. A risk that wouldn't have been necessary at all if someone hadn't eaten the two we'd already captured!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tarantulus wailed pathetically, before Skyfire finally took his foot off him.
Then without another word, he walked away; using his right wing to push Rudy along with him.
As they left, the young Gym Leader could hear Tarantulus cursing under his breath. He couldn't make out most of it, but he caught one line that, at least to his ears, didn't seem to make much sense. It sounded something like,
"Onyx help us all."
End Notes:
This chapter was surprisingly easy to write. The words just sort of flowed out of me. Also, in case you didn't know, 'Wonko the Sane' is a character from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.
Peace.