Author's Disclaimer: The Sons of Ether and all other related items are property of White Wolf Inc. Bazil, Bane, Robert Braum, Screech, Starstorm, Xavier and all related ideas are mine! ALLLLLLLLLLLLL MMMMMIIIIIINNNNNEEEEE!!!!!
Author's Note: This story is still part of my series, and it may be somewhat difficult to follow at first, but please bare with me.
Ether Amongst Us
By: Xavier (jwhelan@utk.edu)
The sun shines brightly on the warm June day. Robert Braum walks across a burger joint's parking lot in the heart of Chicago. He spies a black Lincoln sedan driving quickly down the crowded street.
"Who in the Seven Hells?" mutters Robert under his breath as he watches the car. Funny, he thinks to himself, the Iteration-X goons aren't supposed to show up for another week. I'd better check this out.
Robert is a Caucasian male in his late twenties with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He is about five foot four, and weighs around one hundred and twenty-three pounds. He is dressed in a loose white lab coat, hiking boots, khaki pants, and a white collared dress shirt. Although his outfit is strange enough, one piece of clothing stands out from the rest. A pair of huge green-tinted, luminescent goggles called ether goggles that he is wearing propped up on his forehead. People stare at his strange attire as he crosses the street in the direction that the sedan went. As he is walking, he brushes past a tightly clad figure on the crowded street and his magik sense goes crazy. He stops and slips his ether goggles over his eyes and looks at the rapidly disappearing figure. Sure enough, its outline is glowing green, which indicates only one thing. A mage.
Now, being a mage himself, Robert isn't surprised to find another of his brethren in the city. What he is surprised about is that he isn't getting a reading on what Sphere of magik the mage specializes in. This can mean only two things; thinks Robert as he begins following the mage, one, he's a more powerful Mage than I am, which is doubtful. The second is that he's Technocracy. Which if true, is really bad! If the Technocrats are making a move, someone should tell the Nine Traditions. Looks like I'm it!
The figure ducks into a small alcove in-between two rundown buildings and disappears. Robert palms the rail-gun hidden in the dimensional pocket in his lab coat. He pauses next to the opening to quickly gather his courage and darts around into the doorway, drawing his rail-gun. He starts in surprise when he sees the room's inhabitant, a six and-a-half-foot tall metallic spider standing over a pile of clothes.
"What in the fuck?" curses the mage as he quickly sets up a force wall over the doorway to keep this thing in and the populace out.
"Don't you mean, 'What in the Matrix?'" asks the spider with a chuckle.
"What the hell are you? Did the Technocracy make you? Tell me or I'll fire!" screams the small human while training his rail-gun on the spider's 'head'.
"The Technocracy? Humph! Those idiots couldn't even comprehend my simplest circuitry!" snorts the spider in disdain while inching over to the far wall.
Robert notices the movement, "Stop tryin' to get away, or I'll blow you to shrapnel."
The spider stops and looks at the human, "Um, I was wondering if I could say something?"
Robert looks at the robot critically for a few moments, then nods. "Very well, what is it?"
"Only two words. Tarantulas, TERRORIZE!"
Robert fires immediately after the spider's transformation is complete. Tarantulas nimbly dodges the charge and dives for the far wall, disappearing in a flash of light when he touches it. Robert grunts with the effort of stopping his fired rail charge with a force bubble before it strikes the wall, and showers burning napalm on everything within twenty feet. He levitates the charge back and reloads it in the bottom of his rail-gun.
"Well, that was interesting." he says to himself while walking over toward the wall the robot had disappeared through. He studies the obviously reactive surface. According to his ether goggles, the wall is practically crawling with a substance called energon. Having just recently been discovered, the limits and properties of energon are largely unknown.
Oh, well. thinks the mage, There's no time like the present for large scientific discoveries! He tentatively reaches his hand toward the wall, and hesitates. Come on, Rob! You can do this! So what if it could blow you to atoms? You're crazy! Or so you were dubbed after mouthing off to the Nagah with the Beast Courts in full strength! Robert gathers his courage and darts his hand forward to touch the wall. He makes contact with the rough surface and instantly regrets it. His body is thrown into spasms of pain, his mind recoiling from the conscious world as one would a plage.
* * *
Screech swoops down along the rough rock of a canyon in Delta Grid. Hmm, nice day for flying. thinks the flamboyant bat. Especially since I've learned how to do it without crashing into everything in sight! She looks longingly over at her 'teacher', who is flying beside her.
"Silverbolt!" she yells over the rushing air.
He looks at her and smiles before replying. "What is it my soul's delight?"
Screech blushes and looks ahead, "I just wanted to ask what exactly we're doing out here."
Silverbolt flies in front of her and grabs her shoulders lightly. "Wha?" she exclaims as he stops flapping, pulling them both into a dive. Being as both are in their beast modes, she can't fee herself from his grasp.
"What the hell are you doing?" she screams at him.
He looks at her face. "Landing." he says as he touches delicately down and releases Screech.
Screech shoots him a venomous look. "Next time, warn me before you do that!" she exclaims as they both maximize.
Silverbolt takes her hands in his and draws her close. She looks at him, "Now don't think that you're going to get anything after you pulled th-" Her further protests are cut off by a firm kiss from Silverbolt.
"Mmmmmmmmm!" groans the bat as she pulls away from her lover. "You sure know how to talk to a girl." she marvels as she kisses the fuzor again, but their union is interrupted by a groan.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, boy! Remind me never to do that again!" exclaims a voice from the bushes.
Silverbolt and Screech pull quickly away from their kiss and draw their weapons.
"Who's there?" calls Silverbolt.
"Me." states a weak voice as a small lynx stumbles out of the brush. He sits down heavily on the soft earth and looks dazedly at the two 'bots.
"Awwwww! It's so cute!" exclaims Screech while holstering her rifle.
"Wha? Oh damn!" exclaimes the cat, "More o' those crazy robots!" He moves his front paws as if to grab something at his waist. "What the? Paws? What the hell happened to me?"
"Calm down!" exclaims Screech, "We're not going to hurt you!"
The lynx looks at her and stands up shakily, "You guys working with that crazy spider?"
"Who, Tarantulas? No! He's our enemy." replies Screech defensively.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaims the small cat while shaking his paws. "Who's we?"
"The Maximals!" cuts in Silverbolt authoritatively.
The cat looks at him critically, "You mean the Maximals?"
"Yes." replies the fuzor proudly.
"WHO THE HELL ARE THE MAXIMALS?" screams the lynx.
"Both of you shut up!" yells Screech. They do. "Good. That's better! First of all, welcome to the Beast Wars!" she says to the cat. "Second of all, you're 'one o' those crazy robots' as well now. Don't ask me how, I don't know. Maybe Rhinox can answer that. Three, your activation code is 'maximize'."
The cat looks at them strangely, then his face lights up. "Wait, it's all coming back to me! My mane is Robert Braum. I'm a human mage, and I was chasing a giant robot spider when I touched a weird wall and blacked out. And now I'm here." He stops, "But wait, if I'm going to be a robot then I'm going to need a new name."
Both Maximals look at him dumbfounded.
"Starstorm, maximize!" screams the newly named 'bot. His small beast mode pulls back to reveal a equally tiny robot mode. "What? Aw hell!" he exclaims while looking down at his new body. Where Silverbolt is well over ten feet tall, Starstorm is still only five-foot-four, just like he was when a human. His beast mode is situated completely on his back. Legs, head, and tail all coiled around each other for maximum space and balance efficiency. He light armor is brown with blue highlights around the muscles. His limbs are covered with plate-like, yet flexible silver armor. His head is silver and surmounted with a pair of bulbous green fluorescent goggles. His magenta colored optics flash as he pulls a familiar object out of his subspace pocket. He holds up the rail-gun, admiring the weapon.
"Now," he exclaims, "lets see if I can still do my magik." He closes his eyes and concentrates. Purple energy begins swirling around his still form as he brings his hands above his head. His optics snap open as he brings his hands down swiftly. The ground directly in front of him splits like a cheap clay pot with a horrendous cracking sound. The fissure is about five feet wide and twenty feet long. "Oh, hell yeah!" I still got it!"
Silverbolt and Screech are staring at him as if he is a ghost. "What the hell you lookin' at?" he asks indignantly.
"Uh," begins Screech, "maybe we should take you to see Optimus. If that's alright with you, of course."
Starstorm smiles inwardly as he allows himself to be lead by the other Maximals. I think I'm going to like this!
* * *
All of the Maximals are gathered around the main control room, lounging in and out of chairs.
The newly recovered Optimus Primal looks at his newest recruit sternly. "So your telling me you can use, magic?"
"Yup." replies Starstorm smugly. "By the way, it's magik with a 'k', not magic with a 'c'."
"It does not matter how we spell it," exclaims Dinobot, "only how we use it!"
"How you use it?" asks Starstorm sarcastically.
"Yes," replies Dinobot, "you can just download the program into our processors."
When he hears this, Starstorm begins laughing loudly. Dinobot shoots a pleading look at Optimus. The transmetal shrugs his shoulders.
When the mage calms down he looks at the disgruntled raptor. "Sorry, sorry. What I wanted to say is that magik can't just be 'downloaded'. It takes years of discipline and hard work to perfect the techniques." He pauses to take a breath, "Anyway, the magik aspect of me is part of my human side, not my robot."
"Oh." is all the defeated former Predacon can say.
"I use something called quintessence energy to power my magik." continues the mage.
Rhinox looks up at the mention of this word, "Quintessence, I've heard that word somewhere before."
Starstorm looks surprised, "Really? It's an old alchemy term, quintessence is believed to be the fifth element, the all-element."
Rhinox nods along with the other, "Yes, I remember now. It's said that quintessence is all of the other elements combined in an ethereal form."
Starstorm is about to elaborate more when Rattrap speaks up, "Enough 'ah 'dis science-talk! If you was a human, then what was yer human name?"
Starstorm looks surprised and somewhat confused by the question, "Uh, it's Robert, Robert Braum."
"Oh, okay Bob. You mind if I call ya Little Bob?" laughs the sarcastic rat.
Starstorm's face contorts into a fearsome grimace as his hands clench and unclench. He turns to Rattrap, "Don't, you, EVER, call me that again! YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
Rattrap is about to answer when he is lifted out of his seat by an invisible hand and slammed against the wall. He is struggling to breath as Starstorm gets up from his chair, his optics glinting in the artificial light and his rail-gun in one hand. The rest of the Maximals are stunned by this sudden outburst of violent temper. Optimus moves to intercept the enraged 'bot, but is thrown violently back against a wall by an unseen force. Starstorm walks up to the struggling Rattrap, who's face is beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen. Starstorm sticks his rail-gun in the rat's face, "Now, are we going to call me that again?" Rattrap shakes his head weakly from side to side. "Good." replies the now calm Starstorm as he releases Rattrap from his magikal grip.
"*cough* What the hell *cough* was that all *cough, hack* about?" yells a wheezing Rattrap from the floor.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away. My worst enemy used to call me that, that's why I got upset." replies the diminutive mage.
"S'ok." assures the still wheezing Rattrap, "My fault."
"Alright," begins Optimus while picking himself up off of the floor, "let's get down to business." All of the Maximals look expectantly at their leader. "First, Rhinox and Rattrap are to stay here and guard the base. Dinobot, Screech," the two look up, "I want you two to patrol Grids Alpha, Zeda, and Beeson IV."
"Understood." replies Dinobot as he walks over toward a lift with Screech in tow.
"Silverbolt," continues the Maximal leader, "I want you to take Starstorm and get him used to the terrain."
"At once Optimus." assures the fuzor while showing Starstorm to the lifts.
"Now," says the gorilla to himself, "to do some file hunting."
* * *
"Slag!" exclaims Bazil, slamming his fist on the rock wall.
"What is it?" inquires Bane who is with Bazil checking out a temporal time vortex that was picked up on their scanners.
"It's gone." states Bazil simply as he transforms into beast mode and begins walking away from the site.
"What's gone?" asks the exasperated wolf.
"The anomaly." replies Bazil.
"Tarantulas?" speculates the wolf while also transforming to beast mode.
"Definitely." replies Bazil matter-of-factly.
"That Tripedacus council reject is getting annoying." complains Bane.
"Well," replies Bazil, "that's a given seeing that he is the only one who knows the location of our base."
"As far as we know all the Predacons could know." offers Bane.
Bazil shudders, "I don't even want to contemplate that!"
"I hear ya!" agrees Bane.
The pair slink off into the forest as they loose themselves in their own private worlds. Bane is reminiscing about his dead mother when Bazil's portable scanner pack beeps noisily.
"Shut that thing up." snarls an annoyed Bane.
Bazil transforms and slings the pack off of his back and looks at the screen. A wide smile appears underneath his faceplate. "Oh, I don't think you want me to do that!" he cries excitedly.
"And why's that?" asks Bane angrily.
"Because," replies Bazil, "it says here that a stasis pod is landing!"
Bane perks up considerably, "Where?"
Bazil studies the screen for a second then looks up in the sky. "Right here!"
"Wha?" Bane looks up in the sky. A stasis pod, heading right for them! "Slag! Scatter!"
Bazil grabs the scanner and runs behind a large boulder while Bane dives underneath a fallen tree trunk. The silvery pod crashes through the trees like a flaming meteorite, slamming into the ground with the impact of an explosion. It skids, bouncing and tumbling, destroying everything in its path for about three hundred yards. It finally comes to rest rather violently against a large cliff face. The pod is huge, much larger than any other pod either of the two Draconians have ever seen.
"Hurry!" screams Bazil as he and Bane spring from their cover and sprint to the landing sight of the pod. The two rebels reach the pod and Bazil immediately activates the control panel. The fox opens his faceplate and grimaces. Bane, being more than twice as tall Bazil is staring at the top of the pod. "Uh, Bazil?"
"What?" asks the fox impatiently while erasing the Maximal programming in the pod and implementing his own.
"Uh, what does it mean if there's a big red 'X' on the top of a pod?"
Bazil stops working and stares at Bane. "What did you say?"
Bane looks at his partner, "The pod, it has a huge 'X' on it."
Bazil smiles widely, "Show me." Bane lifts Bazil up over his head. "Yes!" he cries excitedly.
"What, what is it?" queries Bane as he sets the ecstatic fox down.
"This pod," begins Bazil, again working furiously at the pod's controls, "contains Protoform X!"
Bane smiles, "You mean that 'immortal spark program' that blew up in the face of the Maximal High Council?"
"The very one." replies Bazil.
The Draconian leader types a few more commands into the computer. "There, it's done." he proclaims as he steps back, gun in hand.
"What's that for?" Bane asks his partner.
"Just a precaution." replies Bazil. Bane follows his example and extends the energon-claws on his fingertips.
The pod hums and sputters for a few nanoclicks before growing silent. Bane is about to ask what went wrong when the pod's lid is forcefully ripped off by a huge blood-red claw. The 'bot that steps out of the pod is a horror to behold. It is about the height and build of Rhinox, in beast mode.
"Welcome, friend." states Bazil calmly.
The transmetal crab looks at him and Bane as one would look at a T-bone stake, "Greetings."
"I am Bazil, and this is my partner Bane." continues the fox. "We are members of a rebel faction called the Draconians that is here fighting against the Maximals and Predacons. Will you join us?"
"Hmm." muses the behemoth, "Your offer sounds incising, but why should I accept?"
"Because," begins Bazil with a smirk, "With us, you can mindlessly destroy, pillage, kill, and get paid for it. Not to mention getting your revenge on the Maximals."
"Why don't I just kill on my own, starting with you two?" counters Protoform X.
Bazil smirks, "You're welcome to try."
Bane looks at his father incredulously, "He's welcome to WHAT?"
Protoform X looks at the two Draconians then raises his claws to the heavens, "Rampage, TERRORIZE!"
The mutant pulls out a triple-barreled rocket launcher and points it at the duo. Bane looks about ready to bolt but Bazil places a firm hand on his shoulder. Rampage levels the launcher at a seemingly unconcerned Bazil, "Prepare to die, fox!" When he tries to pull the trigger, Rampage's face contorts more than usual and he looks as if he is struggling with an unseen force. "What...is happening...to...me?" screams an enraged Rampage.
"My, my!" cries Bazil in sarcastic amazement, "It looks as if the blocking program I installed while you were still in your pod does indeed work!"
"What...program?" asks Rampage as he drops his gun and is forced down to one knee.
"Oh, the one that shuts down your motor control center if you try and attack me or my partner." replies Bazil calmly. "So, if you value your continued existence, join us."
"I...cannot...die!" replies a still struggling Rampage.
"True." says Bazil thoughtfully, "But I'm sure an immortal entity such as yourself can imagine a thousand years of constant torment."
Rampage hangs his head in defeat, "I...will join you."
* * *
Starstorm strolls lazily through the forest, admiring the prehistoric beauty. He looks up to see his "guide". Silverbolt is, and has been flying around ever since they drew out of sight of the Axalon. He is obviously avoiding the mage.
The lynx stops and activates his comlink, "Hey, Capn'!"
"Who, me?" replies Silverbolt angrily over the channel.
"No," shoots back Starstorm sarcastically, drawing on the insulting skills of his former life, "the other big bird-dog flyin' around above me. Yes you!" Starstorm hears Silverbolt cut his comlink off right after issuing a stream of curses that could melt ice. "Ouch!" mumbles Starstorm quietly, "He must be really pissed!"
He looks up as a maximized Silverbolt lands heavily a few feet in front of the lynx. "Shit!" he exclaims, jumping back, "What ya trying to do? Kill me?"
"That thought," begins Silverbolt, "had crossed my mind."
Starstorm ignores the fuzor's comment and gets back up to his feet, "So, uh, when exactly were you planning on showin' me around?"
Silverbolt stiffens and turns away from the mage, "Later."
"Um, Silverbolt?" ventures the small 'bot tentatively.
"What?" yells the exasperated Maximal.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
Silverbolt turns, "I'm not..."
"And don't give me that bullshit!" interrupts Starstorm, "You are avoiding me, am I right?"
Silverbolt takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "Yes I am avoiding you."
"Why? Is it because I stopped you and your girlfriend back there when I arrived?"
Silverbolt looks away, "That, may have something to do with it."
Starstorm walks up to the fuzor and pats him on the back (he can't reach his shoulder) and sighs, "Hey, I know how you feel man, I'm sorry."
"No." replies Silverbolt, shrugging off the mage's hand, "I am sorry."
"Ahhh!" yells Starstorm in a dismissive manner, "Don't worry about it!"
Silverbolt turns and looks at the smaller 'bot and smiles his thanks.
"Friends?" asks Starstorm while sticking out his hand.
"Friends." replies Silverbolt as he takes the mage's hand and shakes it vigorously.
The heartwarming acknowledgment of friendship is broken, however, by the angry beeping of Silverbolt's comlink.
"This is Silverbolt."
"Thank the Matrix!" screams a panicked Screech over the comlink. "Dinobot and I were ambushed by Bazil, Bane, and a new friend and are under heavy fire! We need backup immediately!"
"Slag!" curses the fuzor as his conversation is cut off by an explosion. "We must aid them!"
"Right!" agrees Starstorm, "But shouldn't we radio base about this?"
"Can't," replies the fuzor, "we're inside Megatron's jamming zone."
Starstorm turns and pulls out a small datapad, "Hmmm, that does present a problem, doesn't it?" He calls up a map of the surrounding area on the datapad. "What did you say their coordinates were?" he asks Silverbolt.
"32-76, grid Zeda." replies Silverbolt quickly, "What are you doing? We should go aid them!"
Starstorm looks up at the taller Maximals as one would an annoying child, "Be patient, I'm working on it!"
"On what?" screams Silverbolt, "You can sit here if you want to, I'm going to help them!"
"Almost... There!" exclaims the mage as a large circle of pink energy appears in front of him. The portal pulses slowly as Starstorm channels energy into it.
"What in the..." begins an astonished Silverbolt.
"It's a portal." explains Starstorm quickly, "Now get in, I can't hold it open much longer!"
Silverbolt approaches the portal hesitantly.
"Get in!" yells Starstorm as he kicks the fuzor in the rear, and into the portal. He jumps in soon after as it closes with a crackle of energy.
* * *
Screech ducks behind the boulder again as a hail of shots pummel at her protection.
"Slag!" she curses as she slumps up against the rock.
"Dinobot looks at her and growls. He pops his head above the rim of the boulder and fires his eye beams at a huge red 'bot with a rocket launcher.
"Where in the Pitt did he come from?" screams Screech, indicating the monster.
"How the slag should I know?" he snarls back as more shots impact heavily with their cover.
Dinobot fires again while replying, "Maybe a stasis po- Argggh!" His sentence is cut short by one of the behemoth's missiles. He is thrown back against the rock wall behind them, his chest armor and vital circuitry a scorched mess. His optics dim and go out as his head lolls crazily to one side with mech fluid dribbling out of his mouth.
Great, thinks Screech, what else can go wrong? Her question is answered when she sees Bane dash for a rock formation to her right. "Oh, no you don't!" she yells while firing madly at the running 'bot. He dives wildly for the formation and gets to cover a split second before it is pummeled by her fire.
She ducks back behind the rock as Rampage fires again. Damn, she thinks, that big guy is getting really annoying! She looks up at the sound of a bloodcurdling war scream to see Bane charging at her full tilt, energon-claws and all. She again begins firing at him as he nimbly jumps, rolls, ducks and weaves around her shots. He reaches her and rips her gun out of her hands with one sweep of his claws. He looks down on her and smiles sadistically as he raises his free claw and prepares to strike.
His killing stroke is spoiled however, by a point missile that impacts with his back, sending him stumbling into the rock wall with a sickening crunch. Screech looks up to see Silverbolt standing, wingtip launchers smoking. She starts when she looks behind him to see the mage, in robot mode, stepping out of a huge glowing pink portal.
Silverbolt runs over to his fallen love and helps her to her feet. "Are you injured?"
"N-no, I don't think so." she replies while looking over her body.
"Come on!" yells the mage to Silverbolt, "We ain't got all day!"
"Yes, we must hurry." agrees the fuzor. He turns to his love, "Where is Dinobot?"
"Right here." replies the saurian. He is leaning heavily against the rock wall, his arms crossed over his stomach. His scorched circuitry is spilling around the appendages along with seemingly gallons of mech fluid.
"Dinobot!" yells Screech while running over to him. "Help me!" she screams at Silverbolt while supporting him on one side. Silverbolt runs over and get Dinobot's other side. The two lead him quickly toward the portal as Starstorm gives them cover fire with his rail-gun. Screech and Silverbolt throw Dinobot through the portal before quickly following suit. Starstorm backs quickly through while firing at the remaining Draconians. The portal closes with a snap-hiss as the mage passes through.
"SLAG!" screams Bazil as he smashes a small rock in his fury. The others look at him expectantly. He looks down dejectedly, "Return to base."
* * *
Starstorm walks down the dimly lit hallways of the Axalon. He's only been with the Maximals for a few hours now, and is already sensing their gloom.
"Man, stuck on a prehistoric planet, no way off, and fighting a group o' hostiles is not how I would want to spend my vacation!" he says quietly. He rounds a corner and comes upon his destination, Optimus's office. Starstorm knocks softly on the door.
"Come in." replies a tired voice from inside the room as the door opens. Starstorm walks through the portal.
"So, what's up? Why'd you call me?" asks Starstorm conversationally.
Optimus looks at him gravely, "Starstorm, after you left for patrol, I took the liberty of bringing up your historical files."
"And?" he asks expectantly.
"Well, normally I wouldn't expect to find someone such as yourself with a personal Cybertronian file." continues Optimus.
"And?"
"Well, you were no ordinary human." he finishes.
Starstorm gets a rally surprised look on his face and stares at Optimus. "Really?.... Wow...." He pauses and raises and eyebrow at the Maximal leader and beckons him to come closer. He gets right down by Optimus's audio receptors and takes a deep breath. "NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" cries the exasperated Starstorm while throwing his hand up in the air and startling Primal, "I'm a mage remember? I use magik!"
Optimus visibly reigns in his temper and looks at the sarcastic once-human, "What I meant is that you're a significant figure in history."
Starstorm stops his ravings and stares dumbly at the gorilla, "Me? A significant figure in history?"
Optimus nods solemnly.
"What, uh, what'd I do?" stammers the surprised mage.
"You lead a rebel faction of mages to take power of the world by force. You succeed."
"I...do?", says Starstorm slowly, "You mean that stupid plan of mine actually worked?"
Optimus bridges his fingers on his desk and sighs, "Yes, it did. But you are soon after overthrown by one of your closest advisors and murdered."
"Oh." replies Starstorm as the elation leaves his face.
"Starstorm?" ventures Optimus.
"What?"
He looks up, "Uh, when exactly did you come here? Your time."
Starstorm looks slightly surprised, "Umm, Tuesday?"
Optimus rolls his eyes, "What year?"
"Oh, uh, 2000."
"Slag." is all the transmetal says.
"What?" asks Starstorm.
"Your rise to power." begins th gorilla.
"Yeah? What about it?" asks the mage.
"It happens in June of 2002." he states.
"So...."
"Since you left your time before it happens, you changed history." answers Optimus.
"Um, is that bad?" asks the mage.
The Maximal sighs, "Yes. Even though you were murdered, your ideals stayed with the populace of earth for hundreds of years. Not to mention, you exposed the world to the existence of magik."
"Oh, slag. If I don't get back then everything I've been fighting for my entire life will be wasted." whispers the lynx under his breath. Then, he perks up considerably as an idea springs back into his head. "Wait a second!"
Optimus looks up, "What is it?"
"What if after this whole 'Beast Wars' thing is over, you guys build a transwarp portal and send me back to the moment that I left?"
"Hmm." muses the transmetal. "That might actually work! We'd have to run the schematics by Rhinox, but it's worth a shot!"
Starstorm is dismissed from Optimus's office in a considerably worse mood than when he had entered.
"Well, well, well." whispers a small shadow from its vantage point in an air duck, "Isn't that interesting."
* * *
The sun is setting as Starstorm reaches the summit of a small bluff about thirty clicks south of the Maximal base. The small lynx slumps down to the ground at the edge.
I don't know what to do, thinks the mage, knowing that I'm finally going to achieve every Tradition Mages' dream. I'm going to lift the Technocracy's Static Reality! But... I also know that I'm going to die, I *know* what's going to happen! The mage transforms and leans back against a boulder and sighs.
"What's wrong with you?" asks an inquisitive voice behind him. A surprised Starstorm spins around, rail-gun in hand, and comes face-to-face with a maximized Screech.
"Whoa, whoa!" she exclaims, holding up her hands in defense, "Don't shoot, I'm on your side!"
"Sorry," apologizes Starstorm as he holsters his rail-gun and sits back down, "it's a habit."
Screech walks up and sits down next to him, "Hey, don't worry about it. Where did you get reflexes like that anyway?"
Starstorm looks at the sky, "Another life." He sighs and stands up.
Screech stands up with him, "You miss being a human, don't you?"
"No," retorts Starstorm with heavy sarcasm, "I just love being yanked out of my life, from everything I know, pulled through dimensions, plopped into a robot, and forced into a war that I don't really care about! Didn't you know, that's what I do every Sunday!" By this point Starstorm is screaming, and has tears running down his face.
Screech rushes up and puts her arms around the disheveled 'bot. "It's okay, it's okay." she croons as he begins to sob heavily into her shoulder, "Everything's going to be fine."
"You, know what?" stammers Starstorm between sobs.
"What?" asks Screech.
"In human years, I'm only twenty-five." he finishes as he pulls away from her. He looks down at the ground and nervously shuffles his feet.
Screech walks up to him, places her arm around his shoulders good-naturedly, and smiles. "Ya' know what?"
"What?" he asks as they walk back toward the Axalon.
"In human years, I'm twenty-four."
He looks at her dumbfounded, "Really?"
"Yup." she replies.
Starstorm places his arm around her shoulders, "*You* know what? I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." The two new friends stroll lazily back to the Axalon, talking about nothing in particular.
Their happy air, however, is not shared by a shadow crouched in some bushes. The seething gryphon-like creature jumps violently out of its hiding place and takes wing in the direction of the Axalon.