Returning Blaster
By Flyby
(4th in a series)
Flyby
opened her eyes. She had been
pretending that she was unconscious. Blackarachnia had led Dragonite away. Now the falcon opened the compartment in her upper arm and took out a
pick. Turning to the lock on the cage,
she started picking it.
Before
she could get it unlocked, she heard someone enter the room. Spinning around, she charged up her optic
lasers. Flyby relaxed when she saw it
was only Blackarachnia.
"Hey,
B.A., could you get up here and help me get out of this thing?"
Blackarachnia
nodded. Then she threw up a blue cord
that Flyby caught and tied to a bar of the cage. After making sure that the cord was secure, Blackarachnia started
to clime it.
As
soon as she had reached the cage, the females heard a familiar, yet annoying,
voice. "I knew ol' Crab Cakes
couldn't do you in, Sugarbot. Guess
I'll just have to finish the job myself! Ha, ha!" drawled Quickstrike.
Taking
advantage of the fact that the Predacon hadn't noticed that she was conscious,
Flyby picked the lock open and jumped to the floor.
Just
then rocks started to fall from the ceiling.
"What
in tarnation?!" exclaimed the started Predacon.
The
falling boulders caused Blackarachnia to lose her grip on the cage, but she
landed without injury. Quickstrike
brought Optimus's body around and brought his foot down to crush Blackarachnia.
The
female spider spun around and fired at the control devise. Her aim was true and the blast hit the base
of the devise, destroying the link with Optimus, and causing both him and
Quickstrike to fall. The maximal leader
fell on the fuzor, rendering him unconscious.
"Optimus,
are you you again?" Blackarachnia asked as she and Flyby walked up to
their leader.
"Yes,
but we haven't much time. Tarantulas
has betrayed Megatron and gotten control of Telegram One. I don't know what he's planning..."
"But
it isn't good," Blackarachnia said, finishing her leader's sentence. Flyby just nodded her agreement.
____________________________________________________________________
The
three Maximals entered the Ark, looking for Predacon activity.
"Seems
quiet enough," Blackarachnia said. They spun around when they heard a roar.
"Enter
the dragon," said Megatron. He was
in beast mode, flapping his wings.
"By
the Matrix," whispered Optimus, amazed that Megatron was alive.
Suddenly
Megatron tackled Optimus. In between
attacks, the maximal leader managed to gasp out, "Get to Teletran One,
quickly, go!"
As
the two females were running to Teletran One, they heard a shocked Megatron
say, "Primal, it's you again."
____________________________________________________________________
Deep
in space, the two aliens that created the planet known as Earth were holding a
meeting.
"There
has been a disturbance in time said one alien.
"Location?"
asked the other.
"Earth,"
stated the first alien.
"Then
set a course to get us there, Jotta 9," ordered the second.
"Yes
Jotta 2," said Jotta 9.
Ahead
of the alien ship, space rippled like water. The ship soon disappeared as it entered a portal that most people would
call a wormhole.
____________________________________________________________________
"You're
a sneaky one, Tarantulas, but I can play your game, too," Blackarachnia
muttered. She and Flyby were standing
in front of the access panel Tarantulas had used.
"Hey,
let me have a try," Flyby said, hovering over Blackarachnia's shoulder, "I
did spend 12 years in school. Including
two colleges, one of which was in science and technology."
"Fine,"
said the spider, moving over so that Flyby could work at the console.
"Teletran
One, upload and run datatracks Viren," said Flyby. She began to type furiously at the console.
"10
clicks until core implosion," droned the computer. Then, "Core implosion aborted. All systems normal. Have a nice day."
Blackarachnia
looked at Flyby in surprise. She had
never expected the falcon to know how to abort a core implosion.
Flyby
grinned and said, "see what I get from acing all of my classes on
Cybertron."
Suddenly
there was a bright flash and when it faded they turned around and saw an alien
ship hovering behind them.
"What
do you want," demanded Flyby. She
had heard stories about the aliens from almost everyone in the maximal
fleet. As usual Flyby was fearless, but
she still used caution.
"To
know who caused the time disturbance," replied a voice from inside a voice
from inside the vessel.
"We'll
tell you... only if you promise to give something in return," said Flyby.
"What
do you want from us?" asked the alien.
"Tigatron
and Air Razor, ALIVE," said the falcon, emphasizing the last word.
Inside
the ship, the aliens were discussing what to do.
"Should
we give them the test subjects?" Jotta 9.
"Yes. The tests are finished. We no longer need them," replied Jotta
2.
The
two aliens looked at a monitor that was showing Tigatron and Air Razor and
laughed. They were each strapped to a
table, in stasis lock. You could see
sparking circuitry and mech-fluid on their bodies. Their faces were frozen in expressions of fear and extreme pain.
Outside
the ship, the two Maximals were getting impatient when the alien's voice said,
"we accept."
"Megatron
nearly murdered Optimus Prime and Tarantulas just now set a core implosion,
which we aborted," said Blackarachnia.
A
hole appeared in the bottom of the alien ship. The bodies of Tigatron and Air Razor were lowered to the ground and with
a bright flash of blue light, the aliens were gone.
Flyby
and Blackarachnia ran to where their fellow Maximals lay.
"We
need to get them to the med-room. You'll have to carry Tigatron because you're stronger," said
Flyby. She picked up her fellow falcon,
activated her jets, and started toward the med-room.
____________________________________________________________________
Rhinox
was the last one out of the CR chamber, besides Tigatron and Air Razor, of
course.
"How
did you stay conscious?" Leemoun asked Flyby.
"I
used a trick that was taught to me when I was a human incase of a school
shooting since those were getting more common. If you hear a gun go off nearby, act like you were hit even if you
weren't, they'll think that you were hit and pass you by."
"Clever,"
said Rhinox.
"You
guys need to go out there and help Optimus. Megatron seems to have upgraded his form. I think he did it by moving the original Megatron's spark into
his own body, but I'm not sure," said Flyby.
"Sure,
you stay safe in here while we get our butt's slagged," remarked Rattrap.
"Rattrap,
Tigatron and Air Razor need to have surgery before they can be put in the CR
chamber, and I aced all my classes, so I'm the one who knows what to do. They need the surgery soon or they will
die," replied Flyby. "Now get
going!"
____________________________________________________________________
Air
Razor woke up in a CR chamber. The last
thing she remembered was being in pain from the torture that the aliens had put
her through. They must have fixed me so they could torture me some more.
Just
then she heard someone singing. It
sounded like an Earthling song, but she hadn't heard that song before and she
also didn't recognize the voice of the person who was singing it. Curiosity got
the better of her and she stepped out of the chamber. The person she saw was not an alien, but a transformer who's
beast mode appeared to be a bird of some type. Her back was to Air Razor because she was facing a computer. I must
have missed the beginning of the song. Air
Razor started to pay attention to what she was singing.
She
was singing:
"Sam
looks up from his Sunday paper
Says,
boys you're on the wrong track
The
secret of life is there ain't no secret
And
you don't get your money back, hey
The
secret of life is gettin' up early
The
secret of life is stayin' up late
The
secret of life is try not to hurry
But
don't wait
Don't
wait
The
secret of life is a good cup of coffee
The
secret of life is keep your eye on the ball
The
secret of life is to find the right woman
The
secret of life is nothin' at all
Oh,
it's nothin' at all
The
secret of life
Couple
of guys sittin' around drinkin'
Down
at the Starlight Bar
One
of 'em says, you know I've been thinkin'
Other
one says, that won't get you too far
That
won't get you too far"
"That
was nice," complimented Air Razor.
The
unknown person spun around. "Thanks. I see you two are
fully functional," she said with a friendly smile.
Air
Razor looked and saw Tigatron next to her. She smiled at him then turned her attention back to the female in front
of her.
"Who
are you?" Tigatron asked.
"I'm
Flyby. Medic, scientist, and
ex-human."
"Ex-human?"
Air Razor and Tigatron said together, glancing at each other in their
confusion. What was THAT supposed to mean?
"I've
been a transformer for fifteen years and I was a human living in the late 20th
century for thirteen years before that."
"Oh."
"Don't
tell me your names, let's see if I can guess them."
"Okay,"
said Air Razor.
"You're
Air Razor," she said, pointing at Airazor. Then, pointing at Tigatron she said, "And you're Tigatron."
"How
do you know that?" Tigatron asked.
"I've
heard a lot about you two, mostly from Cheetor," answered Flyby. "What had happened to you guys,
anyway? I had to do surgery before I
could put you in the CR chamber." Her right hand reached up and brushed the side of her head until it
reached the center. Then it moved
downwards and across her jaw line.
The
other two Maximals looked at her strangely.
"What?"
she asked.
"What
was that gesture suppose to mean?" Air Razor asked.
"This?"
Flyby said, mimicking what she had done with her hand.
"Yeah."
"I
had a nervous habit of tucking my hair behind my ear when I was a human. I guess I still do it sometimes," Flyby
explained. "Can you answer my
question?"
"Oh,
yeah. The aliens strapped us to tables
and physically tortured us," Air Razor said.
"They
called them tests, but torture is a more accurate word," Tigatron agreed.
"I
noticed something else. Their names
were Jotta 2 and Jotta 9. Jotta 2
always ordered Jotta 9 around," said Air Razor.
"Hmmm. A hierarchy where the lower the number, the
more powerful they are. Just like the
Vissers in that Animorphs book series I like so much," mused Flyby.
"I
think we should go see Rhinox now," said Tigatron.
"I'll
give you a tour of the base on our way there," suggested Flyby.
"But
we already know our way around," protested Air Razor.
Flyby
laughed. "This ain't the Axalon,
girlfriend," she said, talking the way she did when she was a human.
"It's
not?" Tigatron asked, clearly surprised.
"No. The Axalon was destroyed a nearly a year
before I came out stasis," replied Flyby. "Things have changed since you were kidnapped."
"Such
as?" Tigatron asked.
"We
discovered the Ark, we helped Tarantulas and a Decepticon named Ravage arrest
Megatron, but he got them to betray us. Another predacon defected to us, Dinobot died, and Mega-ego made a
transmetal clone of him using part of a freaky guy named Rampage's spark. That's not all that happened, but you'll get
briefed later. Let's get the tour started."
____________________________________________________________________
So
far the tour was going fairly well. They had met up with Rattrap (who ,as normal, had a bad joke and a
sarcastic remark about the aliens ready), Depth Charge (sadly, he was bit rude,
his normal attitude), Starvix and Leemoun (Flyby could tell Air Razor and
Tigatron liked them already). They were
now approaching Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. This is gonna be good, thought
Flyby.
"Air
Razor, Tigatron, this is Silverbolt," said Flyby, motioning to the
fuzor. He shook their hands and
promised friendship to both.
When
it was Blackarachnia's turn, she simply said, "You already know me."
"We
do?" asked Air Razor.
"What,
you don't recognize her? Think, who
does she remind you of?"
"Blackarachnia?"
guessed Tigatron.
"That's
my name," Blackarachnia replied with her usual "bad girl
maximal" attitude.
"But
aren't you a Predacon?" asked Airazor.
"I
was. I defected right after Grape-face
nearly killed Optimus Prime," answered the spider.
"Don't
forget that you were recently reprogrammed," added Flyby.
"Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Who cares?"
Flyby
rolled her eyes in response. "If
you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way," Flyby said, indicating that the
trio should be moving on.
When
they were far enough away, Flyby said, "According to what I've been told,
B.A. switched sides for Silverbolt. I
don't know much about it, but the vermin does. He was a spectator."
They
reached the lift and went up it. Cheetor, Optimus, and Rhinox were in the command room.
"Alright,
you're up and running again," said Cheetor as he rushed up to greet them.
"Cheetor?"
Tigatron asked.
"Yeah,
it's me Big Cat."
"What
happened to you?" asked Air Razor.
"He
became transmetal 2. It's the same
kind of transmetal that Dinobot and Blackarachnia are. Transmetal 2's are a more powerful form of
transmetal than the normal kind, but the don't have a vehicle form unless the
person was already a transmetal," explained Flyby.
"How
did you find that out?" asked Optimus.
"I
did some tests on the driver," replied Flyby.
"Optimus!"
exclaimed Tigatron and Air Razor when they recognized their leader's voice.
"But-but
we thought you were dead," Air Razor choked out through her amazement.
"I
went to the Matrix and retrieved his spark," said Rhinox, speaking up for
the first time since they had entered
the room.
"I'll
give you a briefing and then you can have a tour of the base and get your
quarters," said Optimus.
"Actually,
I've already given them a tour and got them quarters," Flyby told her
leader.
"I
should have known," muttered Optimus.
____________________________________________________________________
Air
Razor walked down the hall, to her's and Tigatron's quarters. They had decided to share since they would
be spending most of their time in the wild. When she passed Flyby's quarters, she heard something that sounded like
music from one instrument. The falcon
knocked on the younger falcon's door.
"Come
in."
Air
Razor entered and saw Flyby holding something in her hands. She was looking at the screen of her
computer. There was what looked like a
bunch of lines with dots on them.
"What
are you doing?" asked the peregrine falcon.
"Well
I'm playing this cyber-bass I made with pieces of my pod."
"What's
a cyber-bass?"
"It's
the Cybertron version of the human instrument called an upright bass."
"Oh. That's all I wanted to know."
"Hey,
before you leave, I've got somethin' to tell you."
"What?"
"I
made it so you can access the songs I downloaded from my datatracks from any
computer."
"Thanks
for letting me know."
"You're
welcome."
____________________________________________________________________
Blackarachnia
entered Silverbolt's quarters. Unlike
what most of the team thought, he didn't keep dogs toys to play with, which she
was thankful for.
"You
know, I was thinking, maybe I could move into here. What do you think, Jo-jo?" she asked the fuzor.
"I
would like it very much if you did, Beloved," he replied. Blackarachnia smiled and kissed him.