Disclaimer: Beast Wars, Beast Machines and all characters related to those series are the property of MainFrame Entertainment and Hasbro Incorporated. The Transformers and all characters related to that series are the property of Hasbro Incorporated. This fan fiction is dedicated to the cast and crew of all three Transformer generations.
The following story, the personal histories of the characters, the history of Cybertron both past and future, and the briefly mentioned character named Valnatron are all my creation.
Special thanks goes out to Ben Yee of www.bwtf.com for the use of his "Cybertroninan Dictionary" and reviews of the episodes in Beast Wars and Beast Machines; to Gemini83 for his persistence in making sure I stayed on my schedule; to the talented voice actors who brought the characters to life and the people who worked behind the scenes to give those voices a frame to dwell in and adventures to endure.
Beast Wars: Basic Program
Chapter 2; Trials and Tribulations
"Okay, lemme try." Rattrap said, looking around the jungle for inspiration "My optical sensor locate sumtin' dat iz...green."
"Could you make it any harder?" Cheetor groaned, looking down at Rattrap
"Hey, you don' like it? Tough. It's my turn."
Cheetor sighed and started running down his list of possibilities "A tree."
"Nope." Rattrap smiled "You'll neva guess."
"I fail to see the point to this..." Dinobot trilled, trying to think of the word "...mental exercise."
"It's not a 'mental exercise'," Cheetor said "it's a game."
"Waste of time." Dinobot snarled
"No, ta pass da time, Choppa-Face." Rattrap explained, then to Cheetor "Givin' up?"
Cheetor narrowed his eyes and looked around, then said "A bush?"
"Nope."
"Moss?"
"Uh-uhh." came the negative
"Grass?"
"Wrong again."
"Ivy?" Tigatron called from the head of the parade
"Who said you could play?" Rattrap demanded "En no, ya wrong. I told ya ya wouldn' get it."
"Well, it's got to be something in the forest." Cheetor said, turning towards Dinobot
"Do not bring me in on your childish endeavors!" Dinobot growled, then added in a low whisper "I don't know either."
"Ya right 'bout it bein' in da jungle, Pussy-Cat, but it ain' wha ya think it is." Rattrap laughed
"Oxidized copper!"
"Where da slag do you see oxidized coppa?"
"Well, did you?"
"No, dat's why I'm askin'."
Cheetor sighed in disgust and said "All right, I give up. What's the answer?"
"Rhinox in robot mode."
Rhinox' ears pricked up and he turned his head towards Rattrap and Cheetor, shocked.
"Errrow! That's cheating!" Cheetor snapped, stopping dead in his tracks
"Is not!" Rattrap snapped back, raising up on his hind legs to stare the furious feline down. Dinobot stopped and watched the verbal spat with narrowed eyes. The others continued on for a few klicks then stopped and waited.
"You have to choose something you SEE!" Cheetor hissed
"Well," Rattrap said, crossing his arms over his chest "I saw Rhinox en jist cuz 'e ain' in robot mode don' mean 'e ain' green!"
"Oh, brother." Rhinox groaned, then asked Optimus "Can't you make them stop?"
"I'm rather enjoying listening to them, aren't you?" Optimus laughed
"I was until they got me involved." Rhinox sighed
"Don't be so glum, Rhinox." Air Razor said "They've used me at least twice."
"Cheater, cheater, cheater!" Cheetor growled
"No, you're da cheetah, I'm a rat." Rattrap smirked
"Stop twisting my words around!"
"Stap actin' like a swore losa en jist take ya turn!"
"All right, I see a two-timing rat who can't play by the rules!"
"Oh, now ya pushin' it, Kiddo!"
"All right, the both of you, knock it~!" Optimus was interrupted by a lazer blast that sent the team flying in two different direction. Smoke filled the air as the Maximals crashed to the ground...or in Dinobot's case, a tree.
When the smoke cleared Megatron was standing in the center of the fallen Maximals, laughing hysterically.
"Megatron!" Optimus gasped "Maximals, Maximize!"
On command the Maximals lept to their feet and transformed into their robot modes. They circled Megatron, weapons raised.
"Hold it right there, Megatron!" Optimus ordered
"So, this is where you Maximals have been hiding." Megatron said with a sly smile "I was a little concerned when no one answered my calls. I was afraid you had gone off line without inviting me to the recycling."
"Talk is a cheap, Megatron." Optimus said "State your business or prepare to be vaporized."
"Ahh, the direct approach. How professional. Very well, I am here to make a request of you fools! Yes."
"A request?" Rhinox asked
"What kind of request?" Air Razor asked sarcastically "That we surrender and bow before your greatness?"
"Well, aren't you a charming little song-bird?" Megatron said "This, actually, has nothing to do with you Maximal scum, no, but rather the Predicon among you."
Dinobot straightened, but his face showed no emotion.
"What do you want with Dinobot?" Cheetor asked
"Simple." Megatron said "A Challenge!"
"Wha?" Rattrap asked
Megatron turned to face Dinobot and spoke the traditional phrase. "I, the Challenger, come before you, the Challenged, in the name of honor and the Predicon Code~"
"Oh gimme a break!" Rattrap groaned
"Don't interrupt me." Megatron snapped, then continued "~in the name of honor and the Predicon Code, to offer you a chance for glory and a place in Silicon Valhan. I, Megatron, challenge you, Dinobot, to the Predicon Challenge!"
"The Predicon Challenge?" Tigatron asked
"He's just making that up!" Air Razor said "There's no such thing."
"No," Dinobot said solemnly "it exists. The Predicon Challenge is a competition held among the Predicons ever Blue Stellar Cycle."
"You speak of the Challenge as though it were nothing more than a game!" Megatron snapped "I had expected more from a Bellator Maximus than a drone's report!"
Dinobot snorted and glared at Megatron.
"By Primus, what are you talking about, Megatron?" Optimus demanded
"I figured Dinobot would be too disgraced by his alliance with you Maximal scum to tell you anything about his past," Megatron continued "but by now you must have realized that he isn't your assembly line Predicon! He happens to be a famous warrior among our ranks, having served both the Tri-Predacus Council and the Maximal Elders in times of war, as well as seven time defending champion of the Predicon Challenge!"
"En me widout my autograph track." Rattrap groaned "Now, kin we blast ya or does dis monologue continue?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Vermin," Megatron snapped "NO, so I would appreciate it if you would keep your trap shut! This is between me and Dinobot! Under the Predicon Code of Honor, Dinobot is obligated to fight me to the bitter end to save what little honor his treachery has left him!"
"Since when do you abide by the Predicon Code of Honor!" Dinobot demanded
"Since a Predicon became a Maximal." Megatron snorted
Optimus narrowed his eyes and looked Megatron over, trying to find some hint as to what the Predicon leader's true intention was. In a war for the future, why dig up the past? Why fight under this pretence now? A battle for honor should have been fought shortly after Dinobot changed sides....if honor was what Megatron was truly fighting for.
Optimus crossed his arms over his chest and asked "What are you trying to pull, Megatron?"
"Pull? My dear Optimus Primal, I intend to 'pull' nothing. I merely wish my proper due. I have challenged. The Traitor must accept."
"HA!" Dinobot laughed "You're main-frame is more corroded than I imaged! It is I who have more right than you. As Bellator Maximus and your elder, I have the right to deny your challenge, declare it null and void, and put your skill in question! What makes you think I would ever accept your challenge?"
"Deny me this battle, Traitor, and when we return to Cybertron not only will I declare you a coward, but also a Maximal sympathizer. I doubt that emblem on your brow will get you a cell in Silicon Valhan after you've been stripped of your honor."
Dinobot snorted, unaffected by the threat "Honor comes to those who follow their Code. My time here has made me realize that emblems, distinguishing symbols, merely state what program was insulted. It has no effect on a warrior's true code~"
"Tell me, Dinobot," Megatron interupted "What do you suppose will become of Valnatron after your spark is extinquishes and your frame vaporized."
Dinobot's face when blank with surprise (an emotion Rattrap never imaged the Pred had in his data banks). Then his eyes began to glow, but not their usual green. It was an intense, burning, almost electrifying blue that lit the Pred's eyes. Dinobot let out a hellish roar and charged at Megatron. Cheetor and Rattrap grabbed the Pred by the arms and managed to pull him to a dead stop...only by using ever ounce of strength they had.
"Put the breaks on, Dinobot!" Cheetor shouted
"Cool it, Choppa-Face!" Rattrap hissed through gritted teeth "Dat bolt'ead's jist tryin' ta bait ya...en it's workin'." He could feel his feet sliding forward, his heels carving a rut two nano-klick deep in the dirt. His grip started to fail.
"Release me!" Dinobot roared, pulling himself free, but he didn't continue his charge at Megatron. Instead, he pointing at Megatron and shouted "I accept your challenge, Megatron! May the winner's spark continue on in glory and the loser face the Pit!"
Megatron grinned.
Had the Maximals taken a click to look Megatron over they would have noticed the strange, pale, blue light engulfing his frame and the burning in his optical sensors. From the teeth of his T-Rex head streamed a bright blue light, for inside sat the energon crystal, glowing and pulsing like a heart.
* * * * *
"One crystal." Waspinator buzzed, picking up one of the energon crystals that littered the river bank. He studied it for a moment, then said "Look like horsy."
Waspinator wished the sudden flock of clouds hadn't blocked the sun. He wanted to reflect the light through the crystal and create a neon rainbow. He like bright colors. He liked them because they were so different. Cybertron was mostly grays and blacks, very depressing if you asked Waspinator. But this planet, this alien planet, had colors for which Waspinator lacked have words. It was so different, so fasinating.
Waspinator looked up at the sky, but the clouds refused to move. Waspinator sighed sadly, he'd just have to wait. He place his crystal in the bucket he carried on one of his bug legs and began to search for another one, unaware that Scorpinok was watching him.
Scorpinok shock his head and looked his surroundings over with a sigh. What Megatron had decided to call the Energon River was actually one of two calm branches of a glowing, raging river that cut the near by jungle in half. One branch, the Energon River, turned back into the forest, where it cut its way through the thick jungle before slowing down along a snow white bank and fed a near by lake. The second branch gently wove its way through a meadow that bordered Maximal territory before it disappeared down a gaping hole in the ground. Scorpinok wasn't sure if it came out of a spring else where or not.
And right now he didn't care.
Scorpinok and Waspinator had been escorted by Inferno and the others to this place and ordered to collect ever energon crystal they could find. The sandy banks were only three klicks long and the crystals were only on one bank, but that was still a lot of work for two bots. Another thing Scorpinok hated was the river kept washing up along the banks and either pulled the crystals back into its depths or deposit more crystals onto the shore.
Scorpinok growled at his bad luck as he scooped up a clawfull of crystals and dumped them in his bucket, which hung from the stinger on his tail. Waspinator looked around at the glittering beach of jewels before picking up another crystal and holding it up to examine it.
"Two crystal," Waspinator said "look like birdie. Three crystal, look like flower. Four crystal, look like...look like....What does Scorpinok think this look like?"
"I don't care!" Scorpinok snapped "Just put them in the bucket so we can get this over with!"
Waspinator looked hurt, then turned his attention back to the crystal and rubbed his chin. "Hmmm. Waspinator think it look like Class 42 Maximal Deep Space Cruiser."
Scorpinok stopped and looked up at Waspinator, eyes wide in amazement.
"Or a bunny!" Waspinator buzzed happily
"STOP IT!" Scorpinok hollered
Waspinator dropped the crystal and cover his head with his bug arms, sniveling "Ooooh, why Scorpinok mad at Waspinator! Waspinator only trying to make best of situation!"
"You're annoying me!" Scorpinok snarled, grabbing the crystal in one of his claws and shaking it at Waspinator "I was the one who found this place, not that blasted ant! I should be leading that group up the river! I should be finding the source of these crystals! I should be the hero of this mission! I should....Hey, this does look like a Class 42 Maximal Deep Space Cruiser."
"Waspinator knows his ships!" Waspinator said, smiling
Scorpinok sighed and placed the crystal in his bucket "Things were so much better before that stupid ant came along with his salutes and colony and 'My Queen' nonsense."
As Scorpinok went back to gathering crystals, Waspinator scratched his head and thought out loud. "Why Antbot called Megatron 'Queen'? Megatron not lady-bot. Antbot have glitch?"
"That bug has more glitches than our ship!" Scorpinok growled "He's defective and useless and we would be better off with out him! Times like this I really wish he had sided with the Maximals or been destroyed or~" Scorpinok dropped the crystal he was holding and transformed into his robot mode, dropping his bucket in the process. He grabbed Waspinator and shock him wildly
"That's it, Waspinator!" he shouted "That's it!
"WWWhhhaaaatttt iiiittttt?????" Waspinator asked
"We'll get rid of Inferno!" Scorpinok said, letting Waspinator go "All we have to do is trap him, delete his program, and extinguish his spark!"
"WWWWWeeeeeee????" Waspinator buzzed, his head still spinning
"Yes, we! Of course we! You don't like him either."
"WWWaassppinnaattorr dddoonn''ttt???" Waspinator asked
"This is brilliant! Why didn't I think of this sooner! Come on! Hurry! As soon as we're finished here we can head up stream and catch Inferno off guard."
Scorpinok changed back into his beast mode and began to work as fast as he could, scooping clawfull after clawfull of crystals into his bucket. Waspinator continued to sway in his dazed state before falling to the ground with a THUD!
"Waspinator not feel well." he moaned
* * * * *
"This is crazy, Dinobot!" Cheetor said as they came to the designated battle field.
The battle site was another unnatural rock formation. A circle of high stones, ten klicks taller than Cheetor decorated with strange markings, in an open field just a few klicks from the jungle's edge. The plot of land the formation surrounded was huge, long enough and wide enough to bury a Decepticon or Autobot. The perimeter was marked by a ring of water that rushed out of an unseen spring and through the field to a lake a few Mega-klicks in the south. Megatron stood in the center of the ring, waiting patiently for Dinobot to enter. The Maximals and Megatron were still in robot mode, since the energon field in this area was the weakest.
"You're not seriously going to fight him, are you?" Cheetor insisted, grabbing Dinobot's arm
Dinobot pulled away, disgusted, and said "I know of no other way, for only an amateur would fight in an asinine manner. I am an accomplished warrior, I fight each battle as though it would be my last."
"You're a slag spoutin' saurian, if ya ask me." Rattrap said, leaning up against a near by boulder "Even if ya are seven time defendin' champ."
"I did not ask for your opinion, Vermin, so your remark goes unnoticed." Dinobot snorted.
Rattrap stuck his tongue out as his reply.
"This just doesn't make sense." Air Razor said
"You question the Challenge." Dinobot said
"I do. Of all of us, why did Megatron choose to battle you?"
Dinobot sighed and shock his head hopelessly. He had to keep reminding himself that the Maximals knew as much about Predicons as he knew about them. "The Challenge is between Predicons! It is a sacred tradition that has existed thousands of stellar cycles before our program was ever created. To challenge a Maximal for Predicon glory would be disgraceful!"
"That answers 'why a Predicon', but not 'why you'!" Air Razor snapped "You know better than any of us how Predicons work so you should see just how warped this challenge is!"
"The Challenge is warped!?" Dinobot roared, insulted.
"Predicons aren't known for holding personal grudges." Optimus said, trying to divert Dinobot's mounting anger "Everything that is done must be done for honor and if, in the course of seeking that honor, you happen to get revenge then more power to you."
Dinobot calmed himself, crossed his arms over his chest and said "Your description of the Predicon program is flawed, Optimus Primal, for as time passed our program deviated from our its original matrix. Were Cybertron a model Utopia we Predicons would still be the honorable warriors you image us to be, but just as the Decepticons fell from grace so did the Predicons." Dinobot grinned darkly and shock his head "When we return to Cybertron I will have to rewrite the history track you down- loaded. It is critically flawed."
"Huh?" Rattrap voiced "Hey, history don' change, Choppa-Face, dat's why it's called 'history'!"
"History does change, Vermin!" Dinobot snarled "For as time passes, information gets lost and rediscovered. Leaders erase volumes of our past to hide the faults of their predecessors. Organizations purge data streams of "corrupted opinions" and new ideas to keep the status quo. Memoirs and personal records are edited so as not to taint a hero's future with misdeeds of the past. Then, when the changes have been accepted, a few who refuse to believe what they are handed begin to search. They dig up the relics of the past and force the truth to the surface, bringing it to light after generations of residing in darkness. History changes...and so do we."
"Both programs have changed over time, I'll admit," Optimus said "but there is still a basic program that governs both programs. It is endowed on us the day we come on-line and stays with us till the bitter end. Megatron is a Predicon and his program still has those basic elements of honor and glory. Doesn't that make his challenge seem a bit odd?"
"No!" Dinobot snarled "His challenge makes perfect sense!"
"Then enlighten us. Why challenge you now? After all this time, why prey on your Predicon heritage? If you can answer those questions, I'll let you fight him."
Dinobot snorted and flashed his evil grin "Like you could stop me."
As Dinobot turned to start towards the battlefield, Optimus asked "Whose Valnatron?"
Dinobot stopped. The question had struck him like a null-ray and there was no escaping the images it recalled. He turned and looked each Maximal over with narrowed eyes before he started in a cold tone of voice "The true nature of this challenge, on both the personal and cultural levels of reason, escapes you, Optimus Primal, for a good cause. If Time were kind and an alley to warriors, I would explain all to you, but kindness is not a trait Time is known for...nor is a Predicon."
Dinobot started towards the battle field, unsheathing his sword as he went.
"Well, can't say it's been nice knowin' ya." Rattrap sighed
"Aren't you going to stop him?" Cheetor asked Optimus
"For once, no." Optimus sighed grimly
"What? Why! He's going to get slagged out there!"
"Dinobot knows what he's doing."
"But, Optimus~"
"Cheetor," Optimus raised one hand "don't start."
"Relax, Spots," Rattrap said "as much as I'd like fa it ta happen, Choppa-Face ain't gonna crash on us. He's a warrior, he's too thick-framed en stubborn ta crash. Jist sit back en enjoy da show."
"This doesn't make sense," Rhinox said to Optimus "even for Megatron. He's up ta somethin'."
"Yes," Optimus sighed, eyes narrowing as he watched Dinobot enter the ring "but the question is 'what'."
"So, we meet again in the Ring of Victory." Megatron said as Dinobot took his stance on his side of the formation "Yes. You, the master, undefeated; I, the challenger, unwilling to lose! Today will mark the beginning of a new era, a new history, a new champion."
"Are you planning on defeating me by boring me to death, Megatron!" Dinobot demanded "Silence your oral wave and fight!"
"With pleasure!" Megatron said with a sly smile, lifting his T-Rex head. As Megatron opened the jaws, Dinobot caught a glimpse into the cannon's mouth. In the back, connected to the out-put port, was...the stable energon crystal. It glowed softly and hummed sweetly.
Megatron opened fire. The lazer refracted through the crystal, changing a bright blue, and raced from the cannon's mouth. Dinobot barely had anytime to react. He crashed to the ground just as the beam closed in for the kill. Dinobot's optical sensors followed the beam as it struck the boulder immediately behind him.
The boulder flashed a bright blue and vanished.
"By the Pit." Dinobot gasped
The Maximals' eyes widened in horror as Megatron began to laugh.
"Yes!" Megatron shouted "Victory is with in my grasp! The universe has a new Galvatron! Prepare yourself, Traitor!"
With that, Megatron opened a rapid round of cannon fire in Dinobot's direction.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two things. (1) A blue stellar cycles is a set of five Cybertronian years [stellar cycles], denoting the amount of time it took the old moons of Cybertron to overlap in the sky. The light reflected off this cluster of moons was blue. (2) The wars Megatron is refering to are wars fought between the Transformers and other races.
The following story, the personal histories of the characters, the history of Cybertron both past and future, and the briefly mentioned character named Valnatron are all my creation.
Special thanks goes out to Ben Yee of www.bwtf.com for the use of his "Cybertroninan Dictionary" and reviews of the episodes in Beast Wars and Beast Machines; to Gemini83 for his persistence in making sure I stayed on my schedule; to the talented voice actors who brought the characters to life and the people who worked behind the scenes to give those voices a frame to dwell in and adventures to endure.
Beast Wars: Basic Program
Chapter 2; Trials and Tribulations
"Okay, lemme try." Rattrap said, looking around the jungle for inspiration "My optical sensor locate sumtin' dat iz...green."
"Could you make it any harder?" Cheetor groaned, looking down at Rattrap
"Hey, you don' like it? Tough. It's my turn."
Cheetor sighed and started running down his list of possibilities "A tree."
"Nope." Rattrap smiled "You'll neva guess."
"I fail to see the point to this..." Dinobot trilled, trying to think of the word "...mental exercise."
"It's not a 'mental exercise'," Cheetor said "it's a game."
"Waste of time." Dinobot snarled
"No, ta pass da time, Choppa-Face." Rattrap explained, then to Cheetor "Givin' up?"
Cheetor narrowed his eyes and looked around, then said "A bush?"
"Nope."
"Moss?"
"Uh-uhh." came the negative
"Grass?"
"Wrong again."
"Ivy?" Tigatron called from the head of the parade
"Who said you could play?" Rattrap demanded "En no, ya wrong. I told ya ya wouldn' get it."
"Well, it's got to be something in the forest." Cheetor said, turning towards Dinobot
"Do not bring me in on your childish endeavors!" Dinobot growled, then added in a low whisper "I don't know either."
"Ya right 'bout it bein' in da jungle, Pussy-Cat, but it ain' wha ya think it is." Rattrap laughed
"Oxidized copper!"
"Where da slag do you see oxidized coppa?"
"Well, did you?"
"No, dat's why I'm askin'."
Cheetor sighed in disgust and said "All right, I give up. What's the answer?"
"Rhinox in robot mode."
Rhinox' ears pricked up and he turned his head towards Rattrap and Cheetor, shocked.
"Errrow! That's cheating!" Cheetor snapped, stopping dead in his tracks
"Is not!" Rattrap snapped back, raising up on his hind legs to stare the furious feline down. Dinobot stopped and watched the verbal spat with narrowed eyes. The others continued on for a few klicks then stopped and waited.
"You have to choose something you SEE!" Cheetor hissed
"Well," Rattrap said, crossing his arms over his chest "I saw Rhinox en jist cuz 'e ain' in robot mode don' mean 'e ain' green!"
"Oh, brother." Rhinox groaned, then asked Optimus "Can't you make them stop?"
"I'm rather enjoying listening to them, aren't you?" Optimus laughed
"I was until they got me involved." Rhinox sighed
"Don't be so glum, Rhinox." Air Razor said "They've used me at least twice."
"Cheater, cheater, cheater!" Cheetor growled
"No, you're da cheetah, I'm a rat." Rattrap smirked
"Stop twisting my words around!"
"Stap actin' like a swore losa en jist take ya turn!"
"All right, I see a two-timing rat who can't play by the rules!"
"Oh, now ya pushin' it, Kiddo!"
"All right, the both of you, knock it~!" Optimus was interrupted by a lazer blast that sent the team flying in two different direction. Smoke filled the air as the Maximals crashed to the ground...or in Dinobot's case, a tree.
When the smoke cleared Megatron was standing in the center of the fallen Maximals, laughing hysterically.
"Megatron!" Optimus gasped "Maximals, Maximize!"
On command the Maximals lept to their feet and transformed into their robot modes. They circled Megatron, weapons raised.
"Hold it right there, Megatron!" Optimus ordered
"So, this is where you Maximals have been hiding." Megatron said with a sly smile "I was a little concerned when no one answered my calls. I was afraid you had gone off line without inviting me to the recycling."
"Talk is a cheap, Megatron." Optimus said "State your business or prepare to be vaporized."
"Ahh, the direct approach. How professional. Very well, I am here to make a request of you fools! Yes."
"A request?" Rhinox asked
"What kind of request?" Air Razor asked sarcastically "That we surrender and bow before your greatness?"
"Well, aren't you a charming little song-bird?" Megatron said "This, actually, has nothing to do with you Maximal scum, no, but rather the Predicon among you."
Dinobot straightened, but his face showed no emotion.
"What do you want with Dinobot?" Cheetor asked
"Simple." Megatron said "A Challenge!"
"Wha?" Rattrap asked
Megatron turned to face Dinobot and spoke the traditional phrase. "I, the Challenger, come before you, the Challenged, in the name of honor and the Predicon Code~"
"Oh gimme a break!" Rattrap groaned
"Don't interrupt me." Megatron snapped, then continued "~in the name of honor and the Predicon Code, to offer you a chance for glory and a place in Silicon Valhan. I, Megatron, challenge you, Dinobot, to the Predicon Challenge!"
"The Predicon Challenge?" Tigatron asked
"He's just making that up!" Air Razor said "There's no such thing."
"No," Dinobot said solemnly "it exists. The Predicon Challenge is a competition held among the Predicons ever Blue Stellar Cycle."
"You speak of the Challenge as though it were nothing more than a game!" Megatron snapped "I had expected more from a Bellator Maximus than a drone's report!"
Dinobot snorted and glared at Megatron.
"By Primus, what are you talking about, Megatron?" Optimus demanded
"I figured Dinobot would be too disgraced by his alliance with you Maximal scum to tell you anything about his past," Megatron continued "but by now you must have realized that he isn't your assembly line Predicon! He happens to be a famous warrior among our ranks, having served both the Tri-Predacus Council and the Maximal Elders in times of war, as well as seven time defending champion of the Predicon Challenge!"
"En me widout my autograph track." Rattrap groaned "Now, kin we blast ya or does dis monologue continue?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Vermin," Megatron snapped "NO, so I would appreciate it if you would keep your trap shut! This is between me and Dinobot! Under the Predicon Code of Honor, Dinobot is obligated to fight me to the bitter end to save what little honor his treachery has left him!"
"Since when do you abide by the Predicon Code of Honor!" Dinobot demanded
"Since a Predicon became a Maximal." Megatron snorted
Optimus narrowed his eyes and looked Megatron over, trying to find some hint as to what the Predicon leader's true intention was. In a war for the future, why dig up the past? Why fight under this pretence now? A battle for honor should have been fought shortly after Dinobot changed sides....if honor was what Megatron was truly fighting for.
Optimus crossed his arms over his chest and asked "What are you trying to pull, Megatron?"
"Pull? My dear Optimus Primal, I intend to 'pull' nothing. I merely wish my proper due. I have challenged. The Traitor must accept."
"HA!" Dinobot laughed "You're main-frame is more corroded than I imaged! It is I who have more right than you. As Bellator Maximus and your elder, I have the right to deny your challenge, declare it null and void, and put your skill in question! What makes you think I would ever accept your challenge?"
"Deny me this battle, Traitor, and when we return to Cybertron not only will I declare you a coward, but also a Maximal sympathizer. I doubt that emblem on your brow will get you a cell in Silicon Valhan after you've been stripped of your honor."
Dinobot snorted, unaffected by the threat "Honor comes to those who follow their Code. My time here has made me realize that emblems, distinguishing symbols, merely state what program was insulted. It has no effect on a warrior's true code~"
"Tell me, Dinobot," Megatron interupted "What do you suppose will become of Valnatron after your spark is extinquishes and your frame vaporized."
Dinobot's face when blank with surprise (an emotion Rattrap never imaged the Pred had in his data banks). Then his eyes began to glow, but not their usual green. It was an intense, burning, almost electrifying blue that lit the Pred's eyes. Dinobot let out a hellish roar and charged at Megatron. Cheetor and Rattrap grabbed the Pred by the arms and managed to pull him to a dead stop...only by using ever ounce of strength they had.
"Put the breaks on, Dinobot!" Cheetor shouted
"Cool it, Choppa-Face!" Rattrap hissed through gritted teeth "Dat bolt'ead's jist tryin' ta bait ya...en it's workin'." He could feel his feet sliding forward, his heels carving a rut two nano-klick deep in the dirt. His grip started to fail.
"Release me!" Dinobot roared, pulling himself free, but he didn't continue his charge at Megatron. Instead, he pointing at Megatron and shouted "I accept your challenge, Megatron! May the winner's spark continue on in glory and the loser face the Pit!"
Megatron grinned.
Had the Maximals taken a click to look Megatron over they would have noticed the strange, pale, blue light engulfing his frame and the burning in his optical sensors. From the teeth of his T-Rex head streamed a bright blue light, for inside sat the energon crystal, glowing and pulsing like a heart.
* * * * *
"One crystal." Waspinator buzzed, picking up one of the energon crystals that littered the river bank. He studied it for a moment, then said "Look like horsy."
Waspinator wished the sudden flock of clouds hadn't blocked the sun. He wanted to reflect the light through the crystal and create a neon rainbow. He like bright colors. He liked them because they were so different. Cybertron was mostly grays and blacks, very depressing if you asked Waspinator. But this planet, this alien planet, had colors for which Waspinator lacked have words. It was so different, so fasinating.
Waspinator looked up at the sky, but the clouds refused to move. Waspinator sighed sadly, he'd just have to wait. He place his crystal in the bucket he carried on one of his bug legs and began to search for another one, unaware that Scorpinok was watching him.
Scorpinok shock his head and looked his surroundings over with a sigh. What Megatron had decided to call the Energon River was actually one of two calm branches of a glowing, raging river that cut the near by jungle in half. One branch, the Energon River, turned back into the forest, where it cut its way through the thick jungle before slowing down along a snow white bank and fed a near by lake. The second branch gently wove its way through a meadow that bordered Maximal territory before it disappeared down a gaping hole in the ground. Scorpinok wasn't sure if it came out of a spring else where or not.
And right now he didn't care.
Scorpinok and Waspinator had been escorted by Inferno and the others to this place and ordered to collect ever energon crystal they could find. The sandy banks were only three klicks long and the crystals were only on one bank, but that was still a lot of work for two bots. Another thing Scorpinok hated was the river kept washing up along the banks and either pulled the crystals back into its depths or deposit more crystals onto the shore.
Scorpinok growled at his bad luck as he scooped up a clawfull of crystals and dumped them in his bucket, which hung from the stinger on his tail. Waspinator looked around at the glittering beach of jewels before picking up another crystal and holding it up to examine it.
"Two crystal," Waspinator said "look like birdie. Three crystal, look like flower. Four crystal, look like...look like....What does Scorpinok think this look like?"
"I don't care!" Scorpinok snapped "Just put them in the bucket so we can get this over with!"
Waspinator looked hurt, then turned his attention back to the crystal and rubbed his chin. "Hmmm. Waspinator think it look like Class 42 Maximal Deep Space Cruiser."
Scorpinok stopped and looked up at Waspinator, eyes wide in amazement.
"Or a bunny!" Waspinator buzzed happily
"STOP IT!" Scorpinok hollered
Waspinator dropped the crystal and cover his head with his bug arms, sniveling "Ooooh, why Scorpinok mad at Waspinator! Waspinator only trying to make best of situation!"
"You're annoying me!" Scorpinok snarled, grabbing the crystal in one of his claws and shaking it at Waspinator "I was the one who found this place, not that blasted ant! I should be leading that group up the river! I should be finding the source of these crystals! I should be the hero of this mission! I should....Hey, this does look like a Class 42 Maximal Deep Space Cruiser."
"Waspinator knows his ships!" Waspinator said, smiling
Scorpinok sighed and placed the crystal in his bucket "Things were so much better before that stupid ant came along with his salutes and colony and 'My Queen' nonsense."
As Scorpinok went back to gathering crystals, Waspinator scratched his head and thought out loud. "Why Antbot called Megatron 'Queen'? Megatron not lady-bot. Antbot have glitch?"
"That bug has more glitches than our ship!" Scorpinok growled "He's defective and useless and we would be better off with out him! Times like this I really wish he had sided with the Maximals or been destroyed or~" Scorpinok dropped the crystal he was holding and transformed into his robot mode, dropping his bucket in the process. He grabbed Waspinator and shock him wildly
"That's it, Waspinator!" he shouted "That's it!
"WWWhhhaaaatttt iiiittttt?????" Waspinator asked
"We'll get rid of Inferno!" Scorpinok said, letting Waspinator go "All we have to do is trap him, delete his program, and extinguish his spark!"
"WWWWWeeeeeee????" Waspinator buzzed, his head still spinning
"Yes, we! Of course we! You don't like him either."
"WWWaassppinnaattorr dddoonn''ttt???" Waspinator asked
"This is brilliant! Why didn't I think of this sooner! Come on! Hurry! As soon as we're finished here we can head up stream and catch Inferno off guard."
Scorpinok changed back into his beast mode and began to work as fast as he could, scooping clawfull after clawfull of crystals into his bucket. Waspinator continued to sway in his dazed state before falling to the ground with a THUD!
"Waspinator not feel well." he moaned
* * * * *
"This is crazy, Dinobot!" Cheetor said as they came to the designated battle field.
The battle site was another unnatural rock formation. A circle of high stones, ten klicks taller than Cheetor decorated with strange markings, in an open field just a few klicks from the jungle's edge. The plot of land the formation surrounded was huge, long enough and wide enough to bury a Decepticon or Autobot. The perimeter was marked by a ring of water that rushed out of an unseen spring and through the field to a lake a few Mega-klicks in the south. Megatron stood in the center of the ring, waiting patiently for Dinobot to enter. The Maximals and Megatron were still in robot mode, since the energon field in this area was the weakest.
"You're not seriously going to fight him, are you?" Cheetor insisted, grabbing Dinobot's arm
Dinobot pulled away, disgusted, and said "I know of no other way, for only an amateur would fight in an asinine manner. I am an accomplished warrior, I fight each battle as though it would be my last."
"You're a slag spoutin' saurian, if ya ask me." Rattrap said, leaning up against a near by boulder "Even if ya are seven time defendin' champ."
"I did not ask for your opinion, Vermin, so your remark goes unnoticed." Dinobot snorted.
Rattrap stuck his tongue out as his reply.
"This just doesn't make sense." Air Razor said
"You question the Challenge." Dinobot said
"I do. Of all of us, why did Megatron choose to battle you?"
Dinobot sighed and shock his head hopelessly. He had to keep reminding himself that the Maximals knew as much about Predicons as he knew about them. "The Challenge is between Predicons! It is a sacred tradition that has existed thousands of stellar cycles before our program was ever created. To challenge a Maximal for Predicon glory would be disgraceful!"
"That answers 'why a Predicon', but not 'why you'!" Air Razor snapped "You know better than any of us how Predicons work so you should see just how warped this challenge is!"
"The Challenge is warped!?" Dinobot roared, insulted.
"Predicons aren't known for holding personal grudges." Optimus said, trying to divert Dinobot's mounting anger "Everything that is done must be done for honor and if, in the course of seeking that honor, you happen to get revenge then more power to you."
Dinobot calmed himself, crossed his arms over his chest and said "Your description of the Predicon program is flawed, Optimus Primal, for as time passed our program deviated from our its original matrix. Were Cybertron a model Utopia we Predicons would still be the honorable warriors you image us to be, but just as the Decepticons fell from grace so did the Predicons." Dinobot grinned darkly and shock his head "When we return to Cybertron I will have to rewrite the history track you down- loaded. It is critically flawed."
"Huh?" Rattrap voiced "Hey, history don' change, Choppa-Face, dat's why it's called 'history'!"
"History does change, Vermin!" Dinobot snarled "For as time passes, information gets lost and rediscovered. Leaders erase volumes of our past to hide the faults of their predecessors. Organizations purge data streams of "corrupted opinions" and new ideas to keep the status quo. Memoirs and personal records are edited so as not to taint a hero's future with misdeeds of the past. Then, when the changes have been accepted, a few who refuse to believe what they are handed begin to search. They dig up the relics of the past and force the truth to the surface, bringing it to light after generations of residing in darkness. History changes...and so do we."
"Both programs have changed over time, I'll admit," Optimus said "but there is still a basic program that governs both programs. It is endowed on us the day we come on-line and stays with us till the bitter end. Megatron is a Predicon and his program still has those basic elements of honor and glory. Doesn't that make his challenge seem a bit odd?"
"No!" Dinobot snarled "His challenge makes perfect sense!"
"Then enlighten us. Why challenge you now? After all this time, why prey on your Predicon heritage? If you can answer those questions, I'll let you fight him."
Dinobot snorted and flashed his evil grin "Like you could stop me."
As Dinobot turned to start towards the battlefield, Optimus asked "Whose Valnatron?"
Dinobot stopped. The question had struck him like a null-ray and there was no escaping the images it recalled. He turned and looked each Maximal over with narrowed eyes before he started in a cold tone of voice "The true nature of this challenge, on both the personal and cultural levels of reason, escapes you, Optimus Primal, for a good cause. If Time were kind and an alley to warriors, I would explain all to you, but kindness is not a trait Time is known for...nor is a Predicon."
Dinobot started towards the battle field, unsheathing his sword as he went.
"Well, can't say it's been nice knowin' ya." Rattrap sighed
"Aren't you going to stop him?" Cheetor asked Optimus
"For once, no." Optimus sighed grimly
"What? Why! He's going to get slagged out there!"
"Dinobot knows what he's doing."
"But, Optimus~"
"Cheetor," Optimus raised one hand "don't start."
"Relax, Spots," Rattrap said "as much as I'd like fa it ta happen, Choppa-Face ain't gonna crash on us. He's a warrior, he's too thick-framed en stubborn ta crash. Jist sit back en enjoy da show."
"This doesn't make sense," Rhinox said to Optimus "even for Megatron. He's up ta somethin'."
"Yes," Optimus sighed, eyes narrowing as he watched Dinobot enter the ring "but the question is 'what'."
"So, we meet again in the Ring of Victory." Megatron said as Dinobot took his stance on his side of the formation "Yes. You, the master, undefeated; I, the challenger, unwilling to lose! Today will mark the beginning of a new era, a new history, a new champion."
"Are you planning on defeating me by boring me to death, Megatron!" Dinobot demanded "Silence your oral wave and fight!"
"With pleasure!" Megatron said with a sly smile, lifting his T-Rex head. As Megatron opened the jaws, Dinobot caught a glimpse into the cannon's mouth. In the back, connected to the out-put port, was...the stable energon crystal. It glowed softly and hummed sweetly.
Megatron opened fire. The lazer refracted through the crystal, changing a bright blue, and raced from the cannon's mouth. Dinobot barely had anytime to react. He crashed to the ground just as the beam closed in for the kill. Dinobot's optical sensors followed the beam as it struck the boulder immediately behind him.
The boulder flashed a bright blue and vanished.
"By the Pit." Dinobot gasped
The Maximals' eyes widened in horror as Megatron began to laugh.
"Yes!" Megatron shouted "Victory is with in my grasp! The universe has a new Galvatron! Prepare yourself, Traitor!"
With that, Megatron opened a rapid round of cannon fire in Dinobot's direction.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two things. (1) A blue stellar cycles is a set of five Cybertronian years [stellar cycles], denoting the amount of time it took the old moons of Cybertron to overlap in the sky. The light reflected off this cluster of moons was blue. (2) The wars Megatron is refering to are wars fought between the Transformers and other races.