Cheetor paced back and forth in his small cell. He wasn't sure if it was his Predacon programming or simply his Cheetah instincts, but Cheetor felt incredibly impatient. But all he could do is pacing back and forth. So that was what he did. But while he was at it, he kept listening to the 'maximals' in the Axalon, thankful for his good hearing. He didn't hear what they had planned for him, and figured that they probably didn't know what to do with him. Or themselves. The other's however.....Were on the Axalon's bridge.................
"So...er......bossbot. What do we 'ere do now were all maxis?" Quickstrike asked inquisitively.
"Maybeezzz Waspinator can go to Zybertron now that Waspinator izz a maximal." Waspintor thought hopefully.
"Idiot!" Megatron snapped. "Just because we're bearing the Maximal insignia doesn't mean the Maximal council won't recognise us as the Predacon criminals we started off as. Noooooo. They will treat us the same as before."
"But what about the beast wars? If we win the war for the predacons, we'll be left out." Tarantulus thought aloud.
"A likely outcome. No doubt the predacons will rather stay banished as they are rather than have a war beaten for them by Maximals...." Megatron agreed. "And if we did win, they will probably reject us, leaving us as the outcasts we originally were as predacons."
"So were stuck on this 'ere dirt ball?" Quickstrike frowned.
"Grrrrr Waspinator zick of thiz ztupid planet!!" Waspinator whined. "Waspinator alwayzz getz blown up here! Waspinator just wantz to give up! But now Waspinator hazz nowhere elzze to go to!"
"Give up? GIVE UP? After all we've been through?" Megatron said incredulously. "What about power? Or glory? We still have plenty of energon; we could still rule Cybertron if we tried!"
"Royalty.........what about the golden disks?" Inferno blurted.
"Why...YES! We're maximals now, in the maximal base. We can finally get the golden disks that traitor stole!" Megatron grinned.
"Bwah ha ha hahahaha!" Tarantulus suddenly laughed.
"And what, pray tell, are you laughing at, you sickening spider?" Megatron frowned.
"HA! If Dinobot's a traitor, what are we?" Tarantulus asked.
"At least we're not maximals by choice!" Megatron snarled, then turned to the Axalon's computer. "Computer. Tell me the location of the golden disks." Megatron demanded.
The computer took a moment, probably confused by the sudden demands from 'unregistered maximals', but eventually gave Megatron an answer.
"Blast! The maximals only have the alien disk!..........Dinobot probably hid the other disk from both sides. But at least we have one for now......" Megatron paused, looking at each of the maximal's faces. "Where's Blackarachnia?" Megatron suddenly demanded.
"Sugah bot!" Quickstrike realised she was missing.
"Computer." Megatron demanded again. "Search map for maximal unit Blackarachnia."
"Maximal unit Blackarachnia located outside of predacon base." The Axalon's more masculine voice replied.
"Hmmmmmmm." Tarantulus thought. "Inferno was swapped with the furball. Blackarachnia probably had her body swapped with some Maximal that was outside, then headed back to her original base."
"All the maxi........predacons are there! What'll happen ta sugah-bot?" Quickstrike asked alarmed.
Megatron frowned. He needed Blackarachnia. He couldn't let her get hurt.
Megatron paused on that thought however. What kind of thinking was that?
/It's because Blackarachnia no doubt has the information that other disk has. Yes, that's it./ Megatron thought to himself.
But Megatron still felt confused. He decided that he should rescue Blackarachnia before anything happened. Then he wouldn't have to worry about the information.
And then?
/And then I'll find a way to win the beast wars, and then rule Cybertron!/ Megatron thought.
And then?
/And then I'll rule! I won't have to worry about the maximal elders OR the tripredacus council! I will be powerful beyond imagination!/
And then?
Megatron hadn't thought about that. /Why....I'd live happily without being slave to anyone!/
And then?
Megatron didn't know the answer to that. The best thing he could come up with was that some other oppressed transformer would rebel and take over his control. He wouldn't be happy then.
And then?
/No, no 'and then', I just want to rule Cybertron!!/
And then?
/Shut up!/ Megatron yelled in his processor.
And then?
/SHUT UP!/
Silence...... Megatron's head was clear for a moment........
AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN!
"Shut up! Shut up!" Megatron yelled, clutching his head.
"My queen! Are you all right!" Inferno asked, alarmed.
"Of course I'm all right! You buffoon!!" Megatron said angrily, due to his newly acquired headache and his hated designation of 'queen'. But one look at Inferno's hurt look made him regret his outburst.
"Sorry. I'm having trouble with this maximal programming." Megatron said. "Let's just go find Blackarachnia."
"Indeed." Tarantulus agreed eyes narrowed at Megatron.
/Maybe I should forget about power. Maybe I should find away to become a predacon again.....Before being a maximal drives me insane!/ But as Megatron looked over that thought, he realised that was wrong. He had been insane before. This......somehow......was different........
And then.........?
Tarantulus stared incredulously at Megatron. Since when did he ever use the word sorry?
But he had other worries. Like Blackarachnia.......was she all right?
And as Tarantulus' own train of thought moved on......... he had to wonder; which ex-maximal ended up in his lair?
It didn't take Rhinox too long to figure out he was a predacon now, which eliminated his idea of returning to the Axalon. With sentinel online, rejecting any predacons, unless the predacon had ample firepower, Rhinox wouldn't have much luck entering. And who knows what his former comrades would do with him? Save him? Well, maybe he didn't want to be saved.
But seeing as he couldn't go back to the Axalon, being a predacon, maybe he should go to the predacon base and see what his new chief wanted. But no, that wasn't right, either.........
Megatron wasn't his chief. No one was chief of Rhinox! Besides, if Megatron was the one to command him after reprogramming, why wasn't he with Megatron? He was in Tarantulus' lair. Logically, Tarantulus must have been the one who reprogrammed him.
/Well, if he's after a loyal subject, he's sorely mistaken/ Rhinox thought to himself. He believed he could handle Tarantulus, and decided that he should stay in his lair. When Tarantulus returned, Rhinox will show him who's boss, then move on....... To the predacon base! And rule the predacons!
Blackarachnia trudged away along the ashes from the red-hot lava that surrounded the Darkside, trying to figure out what to do. She was a maximal now. But war and behold, all the maximals were predacons! The former predacons had become maximals, like her, according to what she caught off of the Darkside's computer, and the maximals should be on the Axalon. So, duh! She should head there. But it was a far walk, and Blackarachnia wasn't in the mood for walking.....
She suddenly sensed movement behind her. Arming herself, she looked around the harsh landscape to spot the source of the movement. She relaxed only slightly when she spotted the lithe form of a velociraptor, his bland brown mixing in well with the surroundings. But so did her own colouring......... repainted after her transition to a maximal, instead of being gold and black, she was now red and black.
"You?" Blackarachnia raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"
"Despite the other......... predacons aggression and mistrust, I believe an alliance is required." Dinobot stated.
"Okay........." Blackarachnia replied uneasily, glancing at the hole she had just ran out of.
"Perhaps we should move away from here. Optimus apparently as a predacon is...... excitable. And has a grudge against Megatron. It will not be long until he decides to go against the maximals in their base, and shoot everything in his path......"
"Okay. You wanted to discuss a truce?" Blacarachnia asked, lowering her weapon. Sure she was in a bad mood for walking, but she felt less happy about fighting than walking. "Unto what end?' Blackarachnia asked skeptically.
"To an end where the maximals are maximals and predacons are predacons. The ways things are......... are unnatural."
"Why? What's wrong with a maximal being a predacon? Or vice versa, like yourself?"
"Whatever importance it may be to be in whatever allegiance you choose, it is more important to be yourself." Dinobot snorted.
"Go on." Blackarachnia glared at him.
".....Optimus is now a predacon, as well as the others. They are unfamiliar with predacon emotions. They are out of control. They need to get control."
"Hey! Wait a nano....... I was a maximal. I handled being a predacon just fine!" Blackarachnia frowned.
"That is very good for you, she-spider." Dinobot snorted. "But obviously Optimus will not handle this transition so well."
"And what about the 'maximals'." Blackarachnia asked.
"Should not they, too, be changed back?"
"Maybe." Blackarachnia started. "Although it's possible that the predacons being maximals might be a blessing in disguise to you."
"Really?" Dinobot asked skeptically. "I doubt Megatron will tolerate being a maximal."
"So?"
"It is not my place to decide whom or who not is a predacon or a maximal. Besides Megatron may be insane, but the current situation may very well be worse."
"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, huh?" Blackarachnia shrugged.
She stopped to rest for a moment. Dinobot walked a bit then growled when he realised that she stopped. "What about the new predacons?"
"That will be up to the predacons themselves. I doubt they would want to stay this way, either." Dinobot snorted again.
"Perhaps." Blackarachnia said, looking off into the distance, admiring the scenery. It may have been a desert, but it was not without it's own, dry beauty. Blue sky and the yellow-brown earth fought against each other in a competition of which can be the hottest, while dead looking trees and sparse wildlife desperately clung to whatever moisture it could get. Odd boulders help vary the geology, while the desert appeared loosen up and let more vegetation thrive further off.
/Yes, perhaps./ Blackarachnia thought to herself. The new predacons may want to change back. But she had been a predacon, and she had preferred to stay that way.
"And what if the predacons don't want to change?" Blackarachnia prodded Dinobot.
"Then......we should convince them to gain self-control, at least, before they harm themselves." Dinobot snorted.
"Harm themselves?"
"And I do not necessarily mean in a physical sense. As I said, it is important to be yourself."
Megatron flew in his hover-jet mode, with the fliers following to his right. He didn't think Quickstrike or Tarantulus was required to look for Blackarachnia. But Quickstrike insisted. Tarantulus was left behind to guard Cheetor, even though he was also wanted to go, particularly interested when Blackarachnia disappeared off the scope. Odder was that her signature vanished where Megatron was sure that there was no jamming zone. Besides, Megatron was feeling strangely lenient after the headache he had, but the maximals did have a prisoner. Now he was outside, he scanned the ground, his superior sight allowing him to see quite a bit. But he couldn't see Blackarachnia. He did see some footprints. He began to land to study them further. The other fliers with Quickstrike astride Inferno caught up. On closer inspection, Megatron was certain that a spider made the tracks. He transformed.
"Hmmmm. A spider made these. But they are the wrong size for Blackarachnia's."
"Bzzzzzzzzz Waspinator smellzz Tarantluzzzz."
"Well, obviously that scheming spider has been scurrying around these parts. And built his own personal jamming zone. What is he up to now?" Megatron thought.
"What 'bout sugah bot?" Quickstrike prodded.
"Hmmmmmmm, yes. I'll leave Tarantulus and this place for a more appropriate time. Besides, he's better when he's left to scheme." Megatron then transformed again took off into the air, only to be shot again. He landed hard on the ground, and took his time getting up with his little tyrannosaurus arms. It gave him plenty of time to listen to the shooter yell.
"MEGATRONNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!" Optimus yelled, landing than transforming before arming himself to the full. Silverbolt with Rattrap riding him followed soon after.
"Ah, Optimus. I'm so glad that we finally had a chance to meet!" Megatron grinned.
"Save it." Optimus frowned then took another shot at Megatron. But he maximised then and took shelter behind a rock and began snipering.
Silverbolt and Rattrap were not idol though. Rattrap began shooting at Waspinator, while Silverbolt threw his wing missiles at Inferno.
Inferno laughed and ignored Silverbolt, running over to Megatron's aid. Silverbolt, frustrated, ran after him only to be stung with cybervenom by Quickstrike.
"Now it's just ye an' me, tinhorn!" Quickstrike yelled.
Waspinator barely had time to maximise properly before he was shot out of the sky. Waspintor tried shooting Rattrap from where he lay, but had the gun shot out of his hand. Rattrap smiled then approached the wasp, while poor Waspinator gulped then buzzed in worry........
"What? Nothing to say?" Megatron goaded Optimus from behind his cover. "No speeches? No questions?"
"Yes, one question; want to give up?" Optimus smiled.
Megatron smiled then took a shot. "And what, pray tell, if I don't?"
"Eat lead." Optimus prepared another shot......
"Oh really?"
"For the royalllllltyyyyyyy!!" Inferno flew overhead. Surprised, Optimus looked up only in time to see Inferno's shot come straight for him. Megatron took his chance and also began shooting at Optimus with Inferno until he was down. Inferno floated down as Megatron ran up to check that Optimus was out.
"My queen." Inferno bowed. Megatron growled and grabbed Inferno by the neck.
"DON'T. CALL. ME. THAT." Inferno could only nod in reply, particularly since Megatron was squeezing his voice synthesiser.
Quickstrike had put a good dose of cybervenom into Silverbolt's hand. Silverbolt could only use his other, as the first lay paralysed.
"What 'ave yer done to mah sugah bot?" Quickstrike yelled.
"Oh quit yelling and fight." Silverbolt snarled, then shot missiles at the other fuzor.
"Yer asked fer it, tinhorn!" Quickstrike replied. He shot the wing-missiles with his snakehead, then shot Silverbolt in the head. The reload for his weapon was faster, at any rate. Quickstrike shot him again so that Silverbolt would go down. He then went to see how the other maximals were going.
Rattrap had taken shot after shot at Waspinator, now mostly a pile of random spare parts. Waspintor's mangled head rolled off the top. "Oooooooh, Waspinator has a headache in his whole body!" Rattrap stood over the pile, putting his gun in its holster. "Heh heh! Never knew shooting pre...maxis was so fun!"
He didn't see Megatron sneak up behind him. The ex-predacon touched Rattrap on the shoulder. He turned his head then armed himself again. Not in time to get punched in the face, though.
"Ugh! Yer preds are sick!" Quickstrike shuddered. "Since when did we shoot a downed bot?"
"Your the one that always shot me when downed, drone!" Inferno pointed accusingly.
"Well, er.." Quickstrike scratched the back of his head in shame.
"Enough of this." Megatron snarled. He picked up Rattrap.
"You! Why did you attack us? Where's Blackarachnia?"
"........Like I'm gonna tell you, Mega-jerk" Rattrap looked away.
"Oh, quit it with the predacon audacity and spill it!!" Megatron yelled again, shaking the rat by the shoulders.
"Erk! Okay, okay!....... Webs took off after our 'fearless leader' went berserk on your old base. As for why we attacked you....... We were going to get our furball."
Megatron dropped rattrap. Already injured from battle, the fall didn't do much worse.
"Oh yes.................The pussy cat." Megatron had somehow forgotten that the maximals had Cheetor captive on the Axalon and would motivate the now-aggressive predacons to attack them, berserk as they were Megatron half expected them to not have a reason at all. But then, it seemed that any excuse would do to let a predacon fight.
"Well then..." Megatron looked down at Rattrap, putting his foot down to pin him. "Inferno! Take Waspinator to the maximal base and get him repaired. As for you......" Megatron armed his weapon, and pointed it at Rattraps face. ".... No hard feelings, but I do need to get rid of any possible menace."
There was no mistaking the fear Rattrap had on his face, no matter how he hid it. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. But nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he found that Megatron had changed his mind and instead had a troubled expression on his face, which kept on looking between the Waspinator pieces Inferno was picking up, and Rattrap. Obviously, whatever maximal mercy Optimus and the others once had was lost onto the current maximals.
"Ugh!" Megatron growled finally, and instead hit Rattrap out cold with the side of his tail-gun. "Sometimes I sicken myself."
Leaving the maximals were they lay, he ordered Inferno to activate sentinel since the predacons will be online later. "Quickstrike! You and I still have to find Blackarachnia." The tyrant transformed, and went on foot to look for the she-spider with the fuzor eagerly keeping an eye out.
Blackarachnia had transformed to beast mode, considering she was in Earth's environment. This however did not make her go any faster.
"Grrrrrrr, will you not speed up you detestable widow?" Dinobot snarled behind him.
"Easy with the name calling, would you? And besides, what's the big hurry? Where are you taking me?"
"We are headed towards the maximal base. Like you said, we should not decide who is who. I prefer to see the state of Megatron and his troops and what they plan to do before we do anything. Besides, they might be looking for the same goal. And considering Optimus is no doubt going to attack......."
"Okay, I get the idea. But I can't help it if spiders aaaaiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"
Dinobot looked back in surprise to see Blackarchnia blasted away. Landing behind a rock, Dinobot saw the bullet marks lining Blackarchnia's cover. Alarmed, but ready for battle, Dinobot transformed...... or at least tried to.
"Dinobot! Maximise!"
Nothing happened.
"Slag, I.........." Dinobot didn't get to finish. He was blasted backwards in the same manner as Blackarchnia had just had. The predacon rolled towards the shelter behind the rock with the spider, although it was not easy for a raptor to roll. "Terrorise." Dinobot said weakly. Blackarchnia took a moment to moan a bit before she did likewise.
Dinobot shot his eye lasers at the source of the attack. But as the laser ended, Dinobot spotted the attacker.
"Rhinox?"
Rhinox had been waiting impatiently for hours, and not a single transformer had turned up. The only things that did seem to move was the local wildlife, which by now Rhinox was having a grudge against, and the spider-lamps that Rhinox constantly shot for fun, since the wildlife wisely kept away. Sitting down just outside Tarantulus' cave, in beast mode, Rhinox kept going off-line in the afternoon heat and the sheer boredom of it all. He was interrupted from it when an impala began to charge towards him. As Rhinox watched it leap over the cave entrance and climb away to it's own business, the rhinoceros heard two sets of footsteps move towards him, although not close enough to spot him.
"Rhinox, terrorise!" Rhinox announced, transforming into his big, green guy with chain-guns mode. He hid behind the entrance and kept a watch out from where he hid.
Sure enough, two transformers were walking past Tarantulus' lair, from what he could see was a spider and some other robot approaching. His first thought was
/Aha! Finally I can beat the slag out of Tarantulus!/
And so he hid in the cave, ready for an ambush, and when he was sure that his prey was close enough, and went out chain-guns blaring and all. But then he noticed the spider was a female. He wasn't surprised. Where there was Tarantulus, Blackarchnia was soon to follow. But He was more surprised to see Dinobot, side by side with the widow. Wondering what was going on, he decided to shoot first, and ask questions later.
Dinobot shouldn't have been surprised, after all, the big giant had to turn up somewhere, and the Darkside's computer didn't really tell anyone where he was. He growled in thought, while Blackarchnia's arm-legs crawled along the side of the rock, and used them as a snipering machine gun. This did not work, considering that the arm-legs where shot off of her arm. Frowning at her lost appendages, she turned to Dinobot. "Hey, can I borrow that?" She pointed to Dinobot's tail-shield.
Soon after, Blackarchnia was approaching Rhinox behind Dinobot's tail shield. The spinning thing still let in a few bullets, but it wasn't that serious. This allowed her to get up close to Rhinox. But the ex-maximal grabbed her over the shield by the neck and pinned her against the wall, slowly strangling her. Blackarchnia, in response, threw the tail shield at him, and used the momentary distraction to knee Rhinox in the stomach. The guy was tough enough she had to knee him again, harder. Clutching his stomach typically gave Blackarchnia a chance to get out of Rhinox's grip, and she took this moment to inject Rhinox with an appropriate amount of cybervenom. Dinobot came running up, while Blackarachnia collapsed on her knees, apparently lacking breath. He stared at the downed Rhinox. "Did I say that I wanted him off-line?" Dinobot growled.
"Oh gee, Blackarchnia thanks for saving our butts." Blackarchnia scowled.
"What are you expecting? A trophy?....."
"Yeah...... and this might do." Blackarchnia smiled, kneeling down for Rhinox's chain gun. Dinobot growled at the widow and snatched the gun, and dropped it next to Rhinox in a 'leave Rhinox alone' gesture. Blakarachnia backed off a bit but still kept on smiling. Dinobot went to pick up his tail-shield, while Blackarachnia looked around the cave.
"Wait a minute! I think I remember this place!"
Cheetor was still pacing in his cell. He could hear Tarantulus cackle away on the Axalon computer. But the humour seemed directed mostly by some technological inadequacy of the previous maximals; Apparently Megatron had taken the disk with him, so the spider was trying to learn whatever the previous maximals had learnt of the disk, from the ship's computer. This didn't turn out to be much. Cheetor growled in his cage annoyed at the constant laughter, wondering what could be worse, and afraid to find out, for that was probably in store for him. Frustrated at this thought, Cheetor decided to try escaping. He looked up and down the laser beams and set his mind to work on devising a way out...........
Wow. This chapter took a moment. Too busy Xmas shopping and working. I tried to avoid any moral arguments, but they ended up popping up anyway. And yes, I just couldn't help but use a joke from 'dude, where's my car?' (The 'and then's in Megatron's head). Any hoo, please review! Input is always helpful, even if it is a flame. Happy Xmas!! ^_^
"So...er......bossbot. What do we 'ere do now were all maxis?" Quickstrike asked inquisitively.
"Maybeezzz Waspinator can go to Zybertron now that Waspinator izz a maximal." Waspintor thought hopefully.
"Idiot!" Megatron snapped. "Just because we're bearing the Maximal insignia doesn't mean the Maximal council won't recognise us as the Predacon criminals we started off as. Noooooo. They will treat us the same as before."
"But what about the beast wars? If we win the war for the predacons, we'll be left out." Tarantulus thought aloud.
"A likely outcome. No doubt the predacons will rather stay banished as they are rather than have a war beaten for them by Maximals...." Megatron agreed. "And if we did win, they will probably reject us, leaving us as the outcasts we originally were as predacons."
"So were stuck on this 'ere dirt ball?" Quickstrike frowned.
"Grrrrr Waspinator zick of thiz ztupid planet!!" Waspinator whined. "Waspinator alwayzz getz blown up here! Waspinator just wantz to give up! But now Waspinator hazz nowhere elzze to go to!"
"Give up? GIVE UP? After all we've been through?" Megatron said incredulously. "What about power? Or glory? We still have plenty of energon; we could still rule Cybertron if we tried!"
"Royalty.........what about the golden disks?" Inferno blurted.
"Why...YES! We're maximals now, in the maximal base. We can finally get the golden disks that traitor stole!" Megatron grinned.
"Bwah ha ha hahahaha!" Tarantulus suddenly laughed.
"And what, pray tell, are you laughing at, you sickening spider?" Megatron frowned.
"HA! If Dinobot's a traitor, what are we?" Tarantulus asked.
"At least we're not maximals by choice!" Megatron snarled, then turned to the Axalon's computer. "Computer. Tell me the location of the golden disks." Megatron demanded.
The computer took a moment, probably confused by the sudden demands from 'unregistered maximals', but eventually gave Megatron an answer.
"Blast! The maximals only have the alien disk!..........Dinobot probably hid the other disk from both sides. But at least we have one for now......" Megatron paused, looking at each of the maximal's faces. "Where's Blackarachnia?" Megatron suddenly demanded.
"Sugah bot!" Quickstrike realised she was missing.
"Computer." Megatron demanded again. "Search map for maximal unit Blackarachnia."
"Maximal unit Blackarachnia located outside of predacon base." The Axalon's more masculine voice replied.
"Hmmmmmmm." Tarantulus thought. "Inferno was swapped with the furball. Blackarachnia probably had her body swapped with some Maximal that was outside, then headed back to her original base."
"All the maxi........predacons are there! What'll happen ta sugah-bot?" Quickstrike asked alarmed.
Megatron frowned. He needed Blackarachnia. He couldn't let her get hurt.
Megatron paused on that thought however. What kind of thinking was that?
/It's because Blackarachnia no doubt has the information that other disk has. Yes, that's it./ Megatron thought to himself.
But Megatron still felt confused. He decided that he should rescue Blackarachnia before anything happened. Then he wouldn't have to worry about the information.
And then?
/And then I'll find a way to win the beast wars, and then rule Cybertron!/ Megatron thought.
And then?
/And then I'll rule! I won't have to worry about the maximal elders OR the tripredacus council! I will be powerful beyond imagination!/
And then?
Megatron hadn't thought about that. /Why....I'd live happily without being slave to anyone!/
And then?
Megatron didn't know the answer to that. The best thing he could come up with was that some other oppressed transformer would rebel and take over his control. He wouldn't be happy then.
And then?
/No, no 'and then', I just want to rule Cybertron!!/
And then?
/Shut up!/ Megatron yelled in his processor.
And then?
/SHUT UP!/
Silence...... Megatron's head was clear for a moment........
AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN! AND THEN!
"Shut up! Shut up!" Megatron yelled, clutching his head.
"My queen! Are you all right!" Inferno asked, alarmed.
"Of course I'm all right! You buffoon!!" Megatron said angrily, due to his newly acquired headache and his hated designation of 'queen'. But one look at Inferno's hurt look made him regret his outburst.
"Sorry. I'm having trouble with this maximal programming." Megatron said. "Let's just go find Blackarachnia."
"Indeed." Tarantulus agreed eyes narrowed at Megatron.
/Maybe I should forget about power. Maybe I should find away to become a predacon again.....Before being a maximal drives me insane!/ But as Megatron looked over that thought, he realised that was wrong. He had been insane before. This......somehow......was different........
And then.........?
Tarantulus stared incredulously at Megatron. Since when did he ever use the word sorry?
But he had other worries. Like Blackarachnia.......was she all right?
And as Tarantulus' own train of thought moved on......... he had to wonder; which ex-maximal ended up in his lair?
It didn't take Rhinox too long to figure out he was a predacon now, which eliminated his idea of returning to the Axalon. With sentinel online, rejecting any predacons, unless the predacon had ample firepower, Rhinox wouldn't have much luck entering. And who knows what his former comrades would do with him? Save him? Well, maybe he didn't want to be saved.
But seeing as he couldn't go back to the Axalon, being a predacon, maybe he should go to the predacon base and see what his new chief wanted. But no, that wasn't right, either.........
Megatron wasn't his chief. No one was chief of Rhinox! Besides, if Megatron was the one to command him after reprogramming, why wasn't he with Megatron? He was in Tarantulus' lair. Logically, Tarantulus must have been the one who reprogrammed him.
/Well, if he's after a loyal subject, he's sorely mistaken/ Rhinox thought to himself. He believed he could handle Tarantulus, and decided that he should stay in his lair. When Tarantulus returned, Rhinox will show him who's boss, then move on....... To the predacon base! And rule the predacons!
Blackarachnia trudged away along the ashes from the red-hot lava that surrounded the Darkside, trying to figure out what to do. She was a maximal now. But war and behold, all the maximals were predacons! The former predacons had become maximals, like her, according to what she caught off of the Darkside's computer, and the maximals should be on the Axalon. So, duh! She should head there. But it was a far walk, and Blackarachnia wasn't in the mood for walking.....
She suddenly sensed movement behind her. Arming herself, she looked around the harsh landscape to spot the source of the movement. She relaxed only slightly when she spotted the lithe form of a velociraptor, his bland brown mixing in well with the surroundings. But so did her own colouring......... repainted after her transition to a maximal, instead of being gold and black, she was now red and black.
"You?" Blackarachnia raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"
"Despite the other......... predacons aggression and mistrust, I believe an alliance is required." Dinobot stated.
"Okay........." Blackarachnia replied uneasily, glancing at the hole she had just ran out of.
"Perhaps we should move away from here. Optimus apparently as a predacon is...... excitable. And has a grudge against Megatron. It will not be long until he decides to go against the maximals in their base, and shoot everything in his path......"
"Okay. You wanted to discuss a truce?" Blacarachnia asked, lowering her weapon. Sure she was in a bad mood for walking, but she felt less happy about fighting than walking. "Unto what end?' Blackarachnia asked skeptically.
"To an end where the maximals are maximals and predacons are predacons. The ways things are......... are unnatural."
"Why? What's wrong with a maximal being a predacon? Or vice versa, like yourself?"
"Whatever importance it may be to be in whatever allegiance you choose, it is more important to be yourself." Dinobot snorted.
"Go on." Blackarachnia glared at him.
".....Optimus is now a predacon, as well as the others. They are unfamiliar with predacon emotions. They are out of control. They need to get control."
"Hey! Wait a nano....... I was a maximal. I handled being a predacon just fine!" Blackarachnia frowned.
"That is very good for you, she-spider." Dinobot snorted. "But obviously Optimus will not handle this transition so well."
"And what about the 'maximals'." Blackarachnia asked.
"Should not they, too, be changed back?"
"Maybe." Blackarachnia started. "Although it's possible that the predacons being maximals might be a blessing in disguise to you."
"Really?" Dinobot asked skeptically. "I doubt Megatron will tolerate being a maximal."
"So?"
"It is not my place to decide whom or who not is a predacon or a maximal. Besides Megatron may be insane, but the current situation may very well be worse."
"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, huh?" Blackarachnia shrugged.
She stopped to rest for a moment. Dinobot walked a bit then growled when he realised that she stopped. "What about the new predacons?"
"That will be up to the predacons themselves. I doubt they would want to stay this way, either." Dinobot snorted again.
"Perhaps." Blackarachnia said, looking off into the distance, admiring the scenery. It may have been a desert, but it was not without it's own, dry beauty. Blue sky and the yellow-brown earth fought against each other in a competition of which can be the hottest, while dead looking trees and sparse wildlife desperately clung to whatever moisture it could get. Odd boulders help vary the geology, while the desert appeared loosen up and let more vegetation thrive further off.
/Yes, perhaps./ Blackarachnia thought to herself. The new predacons may want to change back. But she had been a predacon, and she had preferred to stay that way.
"And what if the predacons don't want to change?" Blackarachnia prodded Dinobot.
"Then......we should convince them to gain self-control, at least, before they harm themselves." Dinobot snorted.
"Harm themselves?"
"And I do not necessarily mean in a physical sense. As I said, it is important to be yourself."
Megatron flew in his hover-jet mode, with the fliers following to his right. He didn't think Quickstrike or Tarantulus was required to look for Blackarachnia. But Quickstrike insisted. Tarantulus was left behind to guard Cheetor, even though he was also wanted to go, particularly interested when Blackarachnia disappeared off the scope. Odder was that her signature vanished where Megatron was sure that there was no jamming zone. Besides, Megatron was feeling strangely lenient after the headache he had, but the maximals did have a prisoner. Now he was outside, he scanned the ground, his superior sight allowing him to see quite a bit. But he couldn't see Blackarachnia. He did see some footprints. He began to land to study them further. The other fliers with Quickstrike astride Inferno caught up. On closer inspection, Megatron was certain that a spider made the tracks. He transformed.
"Hmmmm. A spider made these. But they are the wrong size for Blackarachnia's."
"Bzzzzzzzzz Waspinator smellzz Tarantluzzzz."
"Well, obviously that scheming spider has been scurrying around these parts. And built his own personal jamming zone. What is he up to now?" Megatron thought.
"What 'bout sugah bot?" Quickstrike prodded.
"Hmmmmmmm, yes. I'll leave Tarantulus and this place for a more appropriate time. Besides, he's better when he's left to scheme." Megatron then transformed again took off into the air, only to be shot again. He landed hard on the ground, and took his time getting up with his little tyrannosaurus arms. It gave him plenty of time to listen to the shooter yell.
"MEGATRONNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!" Optimus yelled, landing than transforming before arming himself to the full. Silverbolt with Rattrap riding him followed soon after.
"Ah, Optimus. I'm so glad that we finally had a chance to meet!" Megatron grinned.
"Save it." Optimus frowned then took another shot at Megatron. But he maximised then and took shelter behind a rock and began snipering.
Silverbolt and Rattrap were not idol though. Rattrap began shooting at Waspinator, while Silverbolt threw his wing missiles at Inferno.
Inferno laughed and ignored Silverbolt, running over to Megatron's aid. Silverbolt, frustrated, ran after him only to be stung with cybervenom by Quickstrike.
"Now it's just ye an' me, tinhorn!" Quickstrike yelled.
Waspinator barely had time to maximise properly before he was shot out of the sky. Waspintor tried shooting Rattrap from where he lay, but had the gun shot out of his hand. Rattrap smiled then approached the wasp, while poor Waspinator gulped then buzzed in worry........
"What? Nothing to say?" Megatron goaded Optimus from behind his cover. "No speeches? No questions?"
"Yes, one question; want to give up?" Optimus smiled.
Megatron smiled then took a shot. "And what, pray tell, if I don't?"
"Eat lead." Optimus prepared another shot......
"Oh really?"
"For the royalllllltyyyyyyy!!" Inferno flew overhead. Surprised, Optimus looked up only in time to see Inferno's shot come straight for him. Megatron took his chance and also began shooting at Optimus with Inferno until he was down. Inferno floated down as Megatron ran up to check that Optimus was out.
"My queen." Inferno bowed. Megatron growled and grabbed Inferno by the neck.
"DON'T. CALL. ME. THAT." Inferno could only nod in reply, particularly since Megatron was squeezing his voice synthesiser.
Quickstrike had put a good dose of cybervenom into Silverbolt's hand. Silverbolt could only use his other, as the first lay paralysed.
"What 'ave yer done to mah sugah bot?" Quickstrike yelled.
"Oh quit yelling and fight." Silverbolt snarled, then shot missiles at the other fuzor.
"Yer asked fer it, tinhorn!" Quickstrike replied. He shot the wing-missiles with his snakehead, then shot Silverbolt in the head. The reload for his weapon was faster, at any rate. Quickstrike shot him again so that Silverbolt would go down. He then went to see how the other maximals were going.
Rattrap had taken shot after shot at Waspinator, now mostly a pile of random spare parts. Waspintor's mangled head rolled off the top. "Oooooooh, Waspinator has a headache in his whole body!" Rattrap stood over the pile, putting his gun in its holster. "Heh heh! Never knew shooting pre...maxis was so fun!"
He didn't see Megatron sneak up behind him. The ex-predacon touched Rattrap on the shoulder. He turned his head then armed himself again. Not in time to get punched in the face, though.
"Ugh! Yer preds are sick!" Quickstrike shuddered. "Since when did we shoot a downed bot?"
"Your the one that always shot me when downed, drone!" Inferno pointed accusingly.
"Well, er.." Quickstrike scratched the back of his head in shame.
"Enough of this." Megatron snarled. He picked up Rattrap.
"You! Why did you attack us? Where's Blackarachnia?"
"........Like I'm gonna tell you, Mega-jerk" Rattrap looked away.
"Oh, quit it with the predacon audacity and spill it!!" Megatron yelled again, shaking the rat by the shoulders.
"Erk! Okay, okay!....... Webs took off after our 'fearless leader' went berserk on your old base. As for why we attacked you....... We were going to get our furball."
Megatron dropped rattrap. Already injured from battle, the fall didn't do much worse.
"Oh yes.................The pussy cat." Megatron had somehow forgotten that the maximals had Cheetor captive on the Axalon and would motivate the now-aggressive predacons to attack them, berserk as they were Megatron half expected them to not have a reason at all. But then, it seemed that any excuse would do to let a predacon fight.
"Well then..." Megatron looked down at Rattrap, putting his foot down to pin him. "Inferno! Take Waspinator to the maximal base and get him repaired. As for you......" Megatron armed his weapon, and pointed it at Rattraps face. ".... No hard feelings, but I do need to get rid of any possible menace."
There was no mistaking the fear Rattrap had on his face, no matter how he hid it. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. But nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he found that Megatron had changed his mind and instead had a troubled expression on his face, which kept on looking between the Waspinator pieces Inferno was picking up, and Rattrap. Obviously, whatever maximal mercy Optimus and the others once had was lost onto the current maximals.
"Ugh!" Megatron growled finally, and instead hit Rattrap out cold with the side of his tail-gun. "Sometimes I sicken myself."
Leaving the maximals were they lay, he ordered Inferno to activate sentinel since the predacons will be online later. "Quickstrike! You and I still have to find Blackarachnia." The tyrant transformed, and went on foot to look for the she-spider with the fuzor eagerly keeping an eye out.
Blackarachnia had transformed to beast mode, considering she was in Earth's environment. This however did not make her go any faster.
"Grrrrrrr, will you not speed up you detestable widow?" Dinobot snarled behind him.
"Easy with the name calling, would you? And besides, what's the big hurry? Where are you taking me?"
"We are headed towards the maximal base. Like you said, we should not decide who is who. I prefer to see the state of Megatron and his troops and what they plan to do before we do anything. Besides, they might be looking for the same goal. And considering Optimus is no doubt going to attack......."
"Okay, I get the idea. But I can't help it if spiders aaaaiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"
Dinobot looked back in surprise to see Blackarchnia blasted away. Landing behind a rock, Dinobot saw the bullet marks lining Blackarchnia's cover. Alarmed, but ready for battle, Dinobot transformed...... or at least tried to.
"Dinobot! Maximise!"
Nothing happened.
"Slag, I.........." Dinobot didn't get to finish. He was blasted backwards in the same manner as Blackarchnia had just had. The predacon rolled towards the shelter behind the rock with the spider, although it was not easy for a raptor to roll. "Terrorise." Dinobot said weakly. Blackarchnia took a moment to moan a bit before she did likewise.
Dinobot shot his eye lasers at the source of the attack. But as the laser ended, Dinobot spotted the attacker.
"Rhinox?"
Rhinox had been waiting impatiently for hours, and not a single transformer had turned up. The only things that did seem to move was the local wildlife, which by now Rhinox was having a grudge against, and the spider-lamps that Rhinox constantly shot for fun, since the wildlife wisely kept away. Sitting down just outside Tarantulus' cave, in beast mode, Rhinox kept going off-line in the afternoon heat and the sheer boredom of it all. He was interrupted from it when an impala began to charge towards him. As Rhinox watched it leap over the cave entrance and climb away to it's own business, the rhinoceros heard two sets of footsteps move towards him, although not close enough to spot him.
"Rhinox, terrorise!" Rhinox announced, transforming into his big, green guy with chain-guns mode. He hid behind the entrance and kept a watch out from where he hid.
Sure enough, two transformers were walking past Tarantulus' lair, from what he could see was a spider and some other robot approaching. His first thought was
/Aha! Finally I can beat the slag out of Tarantulus!/
And so he hid in the cave, ready for an ambush, and when he was sure that his prey was close enough, and went out chain-guns blaring and all. But then he noticed the spider was a female. He wasn't surprised. Where there was Tarantulus, Blackarchnia was soon to follow. But He was more surprised to see Dinobot, side by side with the widow. Wondering what was going on, he decided to shoot first, and ask questions later.
Dinobot shouldn't have been surprised, after all, the big giant had to turn up somewhere, and the Darkside's computer didn't really tell anyone where he was. He growled in thought, while Blackarchnia's arm-legs crawled along the side of the rock, and used them as a snipering machine gun. This did not work, considering that the arm-legs where shot off of her arm. Frowning at her lost appendages, she turned to Dinobot. "Hey, can I borrow that?" She pointed to Dinobot's tail-shield.
Soon after, Blackarchnia was approaching Rhinox behind Dinobot's tail shield. The spinning thing still let in a few bullets, but it wasn't that serious. This allowed her to get up close to Rhinox. But the ex-maximal grabbed her over the shield by the neck and pinned her against the wall, slowly strangling her. Blackarchnia, in response, threw the tail shield at him, and used the momentary distraction to knee Rhinox in the stomach. The guy was tough enough she had to knee him again, harder. Clutching his stomach typically gave Blackarchnia a chance to get out of Rhinox's grip, and she took this moment to inject Rhinox with an appropriate amount of cybervenom. Dinobot came running up, while Blackarachnia collapsed on her knees, apparently lacking breath. He stared at the downed Rhinox. "Did I say that I wanted him off-line?" Dinobot growled.
"Oh gee, Blackarchnia thanks for saving our butts." Blackarchnia scowled.
"What are you expecting? A trophy?....."
"Yeah...... and this might do." Blackarchnia smiled, kneeling down for Rhinox's chain gun. Dinobot growled at the widow and snatched the gun, and dropped it next to Rhinox in a 'leave Rhinox alone' gesture. Blakarachnia backed off a bit but still kept on smiling. Dinobot went to pick up his tail-shield, while Blackarachnia looked around the cave.
"Wait a minute! I think I remember this place!"
Cheetor was still pacing in his cell. He could hear Tarantulus cackle away on the Axalon computer. But the humour seemed directed mostly by some technological inadequacy of the previous maximals; Apparently Megatron had taken the disk with him, so the spider was trying to learn whatever the previous maximals had learnt of the disk, from the ship's computer. This didn't turn out to be much. Cheetor growled in his cage annoyed at the constant laughter, wondering what could be worse, and afraid to find out, for that was probably in store for him. Frustrated at this thought, Cheetor decided to try escaping. He looked up and down the laser beams and set his mind to work on devising a way out...........
Wow. This chapter took a moment. Too busy Xmas shopping and working. I tried to avoid any moral arguments, but they ended up popping up anyway. And yes, I just couldn't help but use a joke from 'dude, where's my car?' (The 'and then's in Megatron's head). Any hoo, please review! Input is always helpful, even if it is a flame. Happy Xmas!! ^_^