Author's Note: Yes, I'm well aware it's been a while, but real life decided to bite me hard. So, my apologies for that.



Chapter 8
Shadowdancer

Stalker was practically growling in frustration. That is, if penguins could growl, it was more of a cross between a caw and a honk. It sounded more like cownk! Cheetor laughed softly as the new Maximal tried to learn how to run The Ark. Now the cocky bot was reduced to humility and his selection of Cybertronian curses. It wasn't as bad as it sounded actually because the harder concepts came easier as soon as he understood the smaller ones.

"Think you can do that?" Cheetor asked.

"I know I can." Stalker scoffed.

"Okay," he replied, unbelieving.

"I haven't done that in years." Paraleasion protested.

"Can you do it?" Rhinox asked.

"Yeah, I think so." she replied, "Why is this so important anyway?"

Paraleasion sighed as soon as the screen went blank. This was one of the last things she ever expected to happen. In the middle of a war someone had actually asked her to come and perform. Supposedly it would boost morale. She hardly believed that, but she was going to humor them anyway. Might as well, she had nothing else to do at the moment.

Paraleasion dug through her stuff, her thoughts meandering. Then she realized that the Predacons had never really approached her. Actually, the only contacts was between Rampage, Dinobot, Inferno, and Waspinator. Sneaking into their base didn't really count as direct contact. Grabbing a sword, dagger and their sheathes, she idly wondered what the Predacons had to offer. Maybe she would pay them a visit after her show, or maybe before.

Paraleasion found the back door to The Ark fairly easily. It was made for smaller bots, and she fit through it without any problem. At the back she found it was hardly guarded at all. This might give her an opportunity later if she ever needed to get in or out secretly. The big green bot had met her like he said, and led her down a corridor.

"Are you sure this is safe?" she asked, uneasily. She wasn't worried about any damage going to her because it would go to Rampage. She was worried about being put back into a containment cell again. If she went back, she would go crazy.

"Fairly." he replied. Paraleasion wasn't completely satisfied but knew what to do. She shifted her wings to a more comfortable position and decided that was the best answer she was going to get. They stopped in a room set up with chairs, and enough room for her to do her act. Paraleasion calmed herself and placed the two ancient weapons on her body. The sword went down her back and the dagger on her thigh. Rhinox was careful not to leave her alone, but gave her the privacy she needed to get ready. She stretched, warming up and tried a few leaps into the air. She went over parts of her routine before shakily turning to the Maximal.

"I'm ready." she said.

Rat Trap was the last one to take his seat in the room. Optimus sat in the back and the door at the side was cracked open. Silverbolt and Black Arachnia sat next to one another, clutching hands and looking about.

"So what's the deal Banana Boy?" Rat Trap asked.

"I'll have Rhinox answer that." Optimus said. Everyone in the room shifted in their seats to get a better look at the rhino.

"It's some entertainment." Rhinox said.

"What sort of...entertainment?" Silverbolt asked.

"It's clean, I can assure you that." he replied. The fuzor relaxed.

"Is it a movie?" Stalker asked.

"No, it's live." he said. He held up his hand to ward off anymore questions and the door opened on cue. Everyone turned to the opened entryway which held the silhouette of a small femme.

"Just don't attack the entertainer," a seductive voice purred. Paraleasion stepped out, or at least they thought it was Paraleasion. She had painted herself white, blue, brown, and gray with black peeking through in some places. Depthcharge stared at the femme, she was almost unrecognizable except for the wings and violet eyes. Her walk promised dark dreams and more. She smiled secretly and drew the dagger, doing simple tricks with it such as twirling and throwing. The sword was the next to appear, doing the same maneuvers as it's smaller cousin. She turned the tricks into a graceful dance of weapons, adding her body as a third. The dance was slightly erotic, but nowhere near a striptease. The shadows seemed to come alive, dancing with her. She went faster and faster until it grew to a feverish pitch, then, suddenly the darkness overcame her. The shadows abruptly returned to their respective corners, revealing that the performer was gone. The Maximals sat in an impressed stupor. Rat Trap laughed at the others reaction, he knew what to expect because he had seen that particular show. Although it was on a stage, and he had thought it was mere illusion. Apparently it wasn't.

"Where did she go?" Cheetor finally asked. Paraleasion slowly appeared from a corner shadow, sheathed her weapons, and walked out the door, throwing her audience a suggestive glance over her shoulder.

"That was...interesting." Optimus said after shaking off the hypnotic effect of the dance.

"Protoform X detected." Depthcharge's internal computer beeped silently. The ray looked around and saw glowing green eyes in the darkness of the other room.

"Predacons." Depthcharge said.

"What?" Silverbolt asked.

"Preds. In the next room." he repeated. Megatron stepped through the door, looking very pleased. He was flanked by Dinobot, Rampage, Inferno, and Quickstrike.

"How did you get in Megatron?" Optimus demanded.

"With a little help of course." Megatron responded.

"Paraleasion." he growled, "I thought I told you not to leave her alone."

"I was with her the whole time." Rhinox protested.

"Oh, it wasn't her." Megatron said, motioning. Dinobot jerked Paraleasion out of the darkness, smiling widely as he raked a claw across her body. Rampage glared at Dinobot as a small scratch appeared on his torsoplate, along with thin line of mech-fluid but it was gone almost immediately as it appeared.

"It was someone in your own ranks." Megatron gloated. His eyes studied each Maximal, lingering on Black Arachnia and Stalker.

"Black Arachnia?" Silverbolt asked, "Did you...?"

"No. I wouldn't work for grape-face and you know that." she replied.

"It's true lover-boy." Stalker drawled, "It wasn't her, it was me."

"Stalker," Cheetor asked, "How could you?"

"Easy." the penguin said, standing. He went over to the captive neutral and grabbed her face, forcing her to look up at him. "He offered me her. You see, she is a very important device. She doesn't really have a right to live. Her existence is only to serve, that is all." He released her to face his former comrades. "That was one thing that you couldn't give me." Paraleasion went limp in Dinobot's grip and he simply dropped her. Stalker, hearing the thump, whirled around and started beating on Rampage.

"What?" Rampage asked, surprised. Paraleasion's body jerked with each blow.

"Get out of him! Get out or I'll kill you both!" Stalker shouted, each word punctuated with another hit. "Get out now!" Even though smaller than Rampage, Stalker still had a lot of force behind his attacks, he caused the larger bot to stagger backwards. Each strike left indentations in the femme's body.

"I'm out." Paraleasion groaned. Mech fluid dribbled from the corner of her mouth but stood anyway, refusing to show any weakness before her enemy. The abuse had caused the paint to fleck from her body, revealing the primer, which was an ugly brown. Stalker had stopped his assault, afraid of retaliation from Rampage but soon he would have nothing to worry about because the Control would be under his command.

"Nobody controls me." Rampage muttered.

"This is a crazy idea Megatron." Optimus said.

"Really? What gave you that idea?" Megatron asked.

"Some of your troops are already insubordinative, that would only add a few more." he said.

"Oh, I think not. I'm going to have her reprogrammed as a loyal Predacon." he said.

"There is such a thing?" Paraleasion muttered. In response Megatron backhanded Rampage in the face, which sent her reeling back into Dinobot's torsoplate.

"I'm wasting my time here." Megatron said, "Don't try anything Maximals, or we scrap a few of you. Such as Pussycat, or maybe the Traitorous Wretch." The Predacons took their captive and themselves out of the Maximal base, no doubt led by Stalker.

"Big Bot, we have to do something." Cheetor said.

"I'm with the kid. If the Preds get her reprogrammed, they'll be unstoppable." Rat Trap said, "With Stalker and Paraleasion on their side, we're outnumbered."

"I agree that something should be done about the sudden power shift but what do you suggest we do?" Optimus said.

"Megatron will sacrifice his troops but he won't chance losing the two." Depthcharge said, "We can't kill Rampage, Dinobot or Paraleasion without harming one of the other two. But we could stand the Predacons losing three of it's main soldiers."

"One of them isn't there by choice." Silverbolt said.

"Make that two," Rat Trap said, "Ol' Megs just brought him back from a protoform. Remember?"

"Then what do we do?" Cheetor asked.

"I've been looking for you for a long time." Stalker said.

"Yeah, so?" Paraleasion asked, "What's your point?" she paused, "There has to be a point, right?"

"No, not always." he said.

"Great, that means I get to listen to you babble." she muttered. He slapped her and Rampage's head snapped back. The crab glowered at the penguin but didn't do anything. If he did, Stalker would beat up on Paraleasion, which would hurt him. The whole concept of the two being linked in any way made his head ache, and was one of the causes of his frustration.

"Stalker." Megatron barked. The traitor jumped and ran up to his leader.

"Yes." Stalker replied.

"Remember what we discussed?"

"Yeah."

"She is to be loyal to me. Not anyone else. Understand?"

"Of course."