Beast Wars and all related characters belong to Hasbro and Mainframe. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.
Author's note: This story takes place just after season 1 episode 'The Spark'.
Clashing Tides
By nightdragon0
When a spark goes online, there is great joy. When one is extinguished, the universe weeps.
That phrase came back into Cheetor's thoughts, just as it had for the past few weeks. It was a particularly significant line to him, for a few reasons.
Part of the events that had led to the birth of the new Maximal, Airazor.
It had been a desperate struggle to bring her online and her spark had nearly faded then. Through the combined efforts of Rhinox and himself, Airazor had survived to see the light of day.
When Cheetor had gone offline to donate some of his circuitry to help save Airazor, Rhinox had spoken that line in his dream. Much to his surprise, Rhinox had actually said those lines later on. In reminded him of one of his earliest tangles with Tarantulas, where he had sort of, dreamt of his future.
Naturally, he had questioned Rhinox about it. He could sense that Rhinox didn't really believe it. But Rhinox, being himself, tried not to be impolite about it and replied by saying that it was interesting, but probably just a fragment of his imagination. Tigatron had been more believing, saying that 'perhaps it was fate's way of expressing itself'.
Then something had given him the urge to tell Nightfire about it.
Generally, Nightfire wasn't the talking sort. Even through he could work well enough with others, he always chose to remain away and isolated, keeping to himself.
Like Tigatron, Nightfire never stayed around the base for long. He mostly remained outside in beast mode, patrolling the wilderness.
Anyway, Cheetor had managed to catch up with him when he came in to give Optimus a report. He'd told Nightfire his story, not expecting to get a reply from the silent bot. Nightfire had a puzzled look on his face for a while and surprisingly, gave Cheetor an answer: "Maybe you can see in more than just one perspective."
Not like he'd understood, but Nightfire had disappeared before Cheetor could ask him anything else.
"Cheetor…"
The young Maximal jumped, snapping out of his daydream. He was supposed to be on monitor duty and had almost fallen asleep again.
"Oh, hi Airazor!"
Here was the lady herself. Even through she hadn't been around for very long yet, Cheetor already felt close to her. It wasn't love, definitely, but rather more like a brother-sister bond.
"So," Cheetor continued, striking up a conversation, "you like the place?"
"Oh yes. The natural beauty of this planet is amazing." She glanced out the window at the outside landscape, then turned back to Cheetor.
"And by the way," she asked, "may I know where I can find the guy in black?"
"I assume you're asking about Nightfire. I know he doesn't stay around here much, but I guess that isn't much help."
"I see. I've been trying to get to know everybody, but there are just so many faces to remember. Besides, I wanted to thank him for tuning up my weapons."
She showed Cheetor her wrist-guns. He didn't see any difference, but he knew that where guns and Nightfire are involved, there's always some major work being done.
"I can help." Came another female voice.
Cheetor saw a light brown and black striped velociraptor entering the control room.
"Haven't seen him for a while." Syndrea grinned, showing off the rows of her dinosaur teeth. "Besides, we ladies should stick out for each other, right?"
"Right." Airazor gave her a thumbs-up. "Cheetor, we'll see you later!"
Staring dreamily off into space as the girls left, Cheetor wondered how the next girl would be like.
"This is the place?" Airazor asked, looking around the mountainous landscape, "Sure not one neighborhood I'd want to walk to."
"Yup. The guy likes these high mountains and open skies. Rather caught up in his wings if you ask me."
With both of them in robot mode, Airazor was easily able to carry Syndrea on her back.
"Over there, at that antenna-like thing. That's the communication device Nightfire uses to keep in touch with the rest of the fleet." Syndrea pointed to a metal tower toped by a miniature satellite dish several hundred feet away, down below on a cliff edge.
They landed near the site and reverted back to beast mode. Syndrea gestured to a partially concealed cave in the side of the mountain.
"This is his little hideout when he's not out on patrol." Syndrea explained. A soft blue light could be seen emitting from the darkness of the cave.
"And it looks like he's home."
The cave was more or less horizontally level and not very deep. Airazor didn't have to step in very far.
There also wasn't much to see. A couple of storage shelves, a small weapon rack, a 'nest' made out of various types of wood, a small stream passing through the cave and Nightfire himself.
The dragon's long body and tail were curled around a table, which held the laptop computer that he was working on.
His head instinctively jerked up at the flutter of Airazor's wings.
"Oh, it's you." he said, surprised, "Airazor, wasn't it?"
"I came along to say 'hi'." Airazor saw a colorful diagram on the computer screen, but she couldn't really make out what it was.
"How'd you find me? This place isn't easy to get to."
"She had some help." Syndrea stepped into view.
"Syndrea…Eh…hi! Been a while, hasn't it?" Nightfire staggered. He obviously hadn't been expecting Syndrea to drop by for a visit. With his tail, he hurriedly closed the laptop and hid it behind his back.
"You're not hiding something from me, are you?"
"Me? Don't ask dumb questions."
"Coming up with another dozen dirty tricks to add to the notebook?"
"Nah, just three this…dammit!" Nightfire slapped a claw over his mouth.
"Let me see!"
"Hey, no way!"
Syndrea kicked his left hind leg, not with her killer claw of course, and caused him to stumble. At the same time, she reached around him and pulled the laptop from the grasp of his tail.
"Hmmm, interesting." Syndrea muttered, staring at the screen.
"That's how she is," Airazor smiled, "can't take no for an answer."
"Yeah, well…" Nightfire sighed.
"And another thing," Syndrea said, putting the laptop down, "it's been quite a while since I last saw you. The last time was just after that adventure we had in the ghost ship."
"I've been busy."
"Busy trying to avoid me?"
"It's my nature. I thought you knew me well."
"Look, I sincerely believe that you shouldn't spend your entire life keeping others away from yourself."
Nightfire was taken aback. He thought for a while, then answered.
"You never fail to surprise me Syndrea. But you don't expect me to answer that immediately, do you?"
"No, of course not. But, it couldn't hurt to come see me once in a while. And the others too. Contrary to what you've experienced before, there are bots who care about you."
Nightfire had nothing else to say on that topic. He could only give a confirmation nod of his head.
"Syndrea, I'd like to know," he asked, quickly changing the subject, "did you guys get anything out of that journal you got from the ghost ship?"
"Sadly, nope. All the information had been deleted when I accessed it. Probably pre-programmed into it."
"Must've been a mega bummer, huh?"
Beep! Beep! Beep! The miniature communications antenna outside sounded.
"What's that?" Airazor asked.
"Base is sending me a message." Nightfire flew over to it and tapped a few buttons.
There was a lot of static, but eventually Rhinox's voice could be heard.
"Nightfire," Rhinox said over the radio, "we have an incoming stasis pod at grid Delta. Do you copy?"
"Message received." Nightfire replied, "Got the two ladies here with me and ready to go! Details?"
"We'll need you to take your group to coordinates 5-3-8 and recover one of the pods. Optimus is on his way now to retrieve another one that seemingly turned up out of nowhere. Got that?"
"Will do. Over and out." Nightfire turned to the girls. "Heard that?"
Both nodded.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Airazor said, "Let's hit the wind!"
"I'll go by foot." Syndrea said, "It'll slow you both down if you have to carry me."
"Ok. We'll meet you there!" Nightfire yelled back as he took off.
"Any tips for a newcomer?" Airazor asked. She spread her wings and flew beside him.
"Just watch the terrain, watch the sky and watch for Preds. That's all I can say!"
"Yes sir!"
The stasis pod touched down safely. It begun its automated scanning sequence and soon a reddish-brown fox poked her head out.
Where am I? The new Maximal wondered.
The area around her was a mountainous region with nothing other than dozens of canyons, craters and small hills. She noticed a pair of brown foxes scampering away in the distance. No doubt where she'd gotten her new mode from.
"Thank you!" she called after then, even through they wouldn't have been able to understand it.
Hmmm, she looked over herself, agile, quick and looks dependable. Not to mention that lovely brown coat too. Now I just wonder where everyone else is?
In a few light jumps, she climbed to the top of a small hill.
"Hhheeeelllllllllooooo!!" she called out, "Anybody out there?"
"Over here!" a scratchy voice replied out of nowhere.
She was turning her head round trying to find the source of the voice where a missile suddenly blew up the ground in front of her, throwing her face first to the bottom of the hill.
"Aaarrrgghhhh!"
"Such a lovely lady." The voice continued, "It's such a shame I must destroy you."
The Maximal got to her feet, shaking the dust out of her ears. She now saw her attacker, a red and silver bot hovering in the sky above her.
"Predacon!" she realized.
"Oh, no need to shout. Name's Terrorsaur," he introduced himself, "and I'll be delighted to make your first moments, and also you last, extremely painful!"
"Well Mr. Terror-whatever," the Maximal replied, "if you want me, come and get me!! Calico, maximize!!"
Her transformation was similar to the cat bots (Cheetor and Tigatron), except without the beast head on the chest. Her coloring was mainly silver and brown, with some black on the 'helmet'. Her appearance was also similar to the cat bots' robot modes, but with a slimmer body and a feminine face.
Ferocity shone in her sky-blue optics and she pulled a pair of Uzi pistols from her belt compartment and opened fire.
"Hhhaaaaaahhhhh!"
Terrorsaur rolled out of the way and unleashed his own volley of shots. Calico had to duck behind what remained of the hill for cover.
"Slag! This is not my day!"
Not far away, Optimus Primal flew over the desert landscape.
"Rhinox said that this pod seemingly appeared out of nowhere. But if it isn't one of ours, where'd it come from?"
The possibilities seemed endless. Maybe the scanners had failed to pick it up during its planet fall. Or maybe it belonged to another ship and had been buried underground for years. Or even the ghost ship, Hyperion. But the Maximals had confirmed that there hadn't been any survivors and the ship had been completely destroyed, its remains buried under tons of solid rock.
Still…
The sounds of gunfire and explosions abruptly interrupted his thoughts. Optimus increased his speed.
Minutes later, he reached the battlefield. Four Predacons: Megatron, Scorponok, Waspinator and Deathwing, were all firing at a figure that was hopelessly pinned down behind his stasis pod.
And being the all-time good guy that he is, Optimus Primal naturally rushed to help. He fired several shots from the sky, forcing the Predacons to retreat and duck for cover. Dodging more shots from the Predacons, Optimus landed beside the crouched Maximal.
"Are you alright?" Optimus asked as he returned fire to the Predacons.
"Thanks to you!" the new Maximal replied. He was in beast mode, a Black Panther with a shiny coat, deep yellow eyes, sharp claws and fangs.
"I'll call for backup!" Optimus tapped his com-link with one hand while he continued firing. "Optimus to base. Requesting backup at…"
"That won't be necessary!"
Optimus was suddenly slashed in the face. As he howled in pain, he was barged out from his cover into the open and promptly shot by the Predacons. He was thrown back against a stone wall with a smoldering hole in his chest plate.
"What?!" he gasped.
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" the Black Panther sneered, "Shadowflare, terrorize!"
The panther's head split in two and formed his shoulder pads. Legs and arms emerged from the beast's upper and middle body. The Predacon had a dark green and black coloring and had a black, rectangular visor for his eyes, much like Tarantulas.
His weapon was a bow gun, which he loaded and pointed straight at Optimus.
"Oh no…" Optimus muttered.
A flying piece of rock hit Calico at the back of her head, causing her to loose her weapons. Terrorsaur took another shot at her, throwing the dazed Maximal to the floor.
"Ha!" he laughed, "you're finished Maximal!"
"Not if we have anything to do about it!"
"Huh?…OW!" Terrorsaur cried as his gun was shot out of his hand.
Airazor somersaulted from the top of a nearby hill and landed on her feet, wrist weapons armed and ready.
Nightfire descended from the sky, in his huge dragon mode, and landed next to her, spreading his wings and roaring.
"Argh! No fair! I was winning!" Terrorsaur moaned, seeing he was now outnumbered.
Nightfire signaled for Airazor to help Calico up while he taunted Terrorsaur.
"Fair? I thought Predacons don't know the meaning of the word 'fair'."
"Well, that includes you, traitor!" the dactyl screeched. He charged at Nightfire firing his shoulder cannons.
"Indeed." Still in beast mode, Nightfire pulled out the Phoenix Blade, the sword he always kept under his wings. Nightfire held up the awesome weapon. Its handle was molded in the shape of a Phoenix's head and its blade shone with a dazzling green glow of energon.
Swinging the sword, he deflected each one of the shots. He carefully waited till the dactyl was in range, then pounced and grabbed Terrorsaur by the shoulders. He didn't even have time to react was he was suddenly spun round and had his head driven into the rocky floor.
"Mmmmggg…ggmmff…. ggggffffff!" came Terrorsaur's muffled cries, as he comically waved his arms and legs above ground, pathetically struggling to free himself.
"But I know that slow is…" he fired a fireball from his mouth at a large boulder above them, dislodging it.
It fell and squashed Terrorsaur with a loud splat.
"…and you're it!"
Calico was still in a daze. She was barely aware of what was going on around her. She hardly even noticed the female Maximal shaking her and talking to her. She hadn't been able to make out the conversation going on around her. But something about the last phrase the male Maximal had said struck her like a hammer on the head.
But I know what slow is and you're it!
It was so… familiar.
Those were her last thoughts before she passed out.
"Hey! Are you Ok?" Airazor shook the new Maximal again.
"She's fine," Nightfire assured her, "just passed out from shock."
"I assume that's good to hear."
Then the com-link came on.
"Optimus to base. Requesting backup at…aaaaarrrgghhhh!" there was a scream, followed by gunshots and the hiss of static. After which the com-link went dead.
"You'd better get her back to the base," Nightfire pointed to Calico, "I'll go give monkey boy a little help."
Whether it was a command or a suggestion, Airazor didn't have time to ask as Nightfire spread his huge wings open and flapped, throwing up clouds of dust in the process, and flew off.
"Well it's fine with me!" Airazor called after him. She walked over and picked up the unconscious Calico. "Knowing him, he'll be able to manage it." She said to herself.
The other Predacons had now come to join their comrade.
"Ah, hahahahahaha!" Megatron laughed, "you Maximals are soooooo gullible. Yeesssss."
The Predacon commander stepped forward and jabbed his tail weapon at Optimus' chest.
"Any last words, Primal?"
"Aargghh!" Optimus staggered up to one knee, "You'll never succeed, Megatron! The flame of justice cannot be extinguished!"
"In my humble opinion," Shadowflare grinned, "I believe that it shall now be extinguished."
"Ha, you're finished!" Said Scorponok.
"Ooohhh! Wwaasspinator thinks so!"
Deathwing remained silent, but loaded his gunblade with a click.
"Are those your last words?" Megatron sneered, "I'll be sure to put them in my diary."
A huge shadow suddenly blocked out the light.
"Not on my account!" a voice declared.
"WHAT!!"
Megatron was suddenly dive bombed by a black dragon. He fell back and knocked all the other Predacons down as well. The next moment, a smoke bomb was thrown on the floor, releasing a thick white fog, which shrouded the area.
In the midst of it, a pair of talons suddenly grabbed Optimus Primal and carried him by his shoulders.
"Hey boss," Nightfire's neck was bent downwards so his head was upside down when he looked Optimus in the eye, "how bout shedding a few pounds? It would make it easier for both of us!"
"Thanks," Optimus gasped, "but we're not out of the water yet!"
"No kidding!"
The smoke was beginning to clear and Nightfire steered to the top of a nearby cliff. Nightfire cried out in pain as he landed on his left shoulder.
"You never got that shoulder fixed?" Optimus asked, pulling him up. He was referring to the time he'd been stabbed in that spot by Tarantulas a few weeks months ago.
"It's just a minor wound." Nightfire gasped, pressing a claw over the injured shoulder.
"It isn't now!" Yelled Optimus.
Both ducked behind a cluster of boulders as the Predacons spotted them.
"Wwaasspinator zzeess them!"
"Well, start firing!" Megatron said angrily.
The two Maximals covered their heads as small rock fragments and bullets flew everywhere. Nightfire reached his tail under his right wing and pulled out a cylinder roughly the length of his claw. It was translucent, with the two ends covered by silver covers and a glowing yellow substance in it.
"What's that?" Optimus asked as he armed his wrist cannons.
"You'll see." Nightfire answered, then to the Predacons, "You want some? Come on and get it!"
The tossed the cylinder.
All the Predacons looked up.
"What's that?" Scorponok asked, pointing to it.
"You fools!" Deathwing screamed, "It's one of his bombs!"
"Take cover!" Megatron ordered.
But there was nowhere to run. The cylinder hit the floor. A bright light immediately engulfed the whole area. The Predacons slowly uncovered their heads.
"Heeyyy! Waasspinator zzilll in one piece!" Waspinator exclaimed.
"In my humble opinion, it was clearly a energon-powered flash tube designed to emit large amounts of visible electromagnetic spectrum upon contact and cause chaos among our ranks to provide them with a much needed advantage." Shadowflare commented.
All the Predacons stared at him with their mouths opened.
"In my humble opinion," he growled, "IT'S A FLASHBANG, YOU FOOLS!!"
"Ah, yes. I knew that." Megatron quickly said.
"A flashbang?" Deathwing shouted, "Can't you come up with something better than that, Nightfire?"
"How about this?" Nightfire roared as he threw another cylinder. Only this one was filled with a brown substance.
It hit the floor, opened and released a light brown gas.
"Ha, this smoke bomb is defective!" Deathwing made a face.
"Oh, is it?" Nightfire's voice replied.
"Eerrrkk! Ow! Oooh! Aarrgghh!" Scorponok began jumping about and frantically scratching himself with his large pincers.
"What do you think you're doing?" Megatron yelled.
"Arrgghh! It's…eerrkk…. itchy…arrghhh!"
"Wwwwaaahhhh! Waasspinator feel it too! Owowowowow!" Waspinator began scratching himself too.
"Aarrrggghhhh! My body itches! What's happening to me??" Deathwing was next.
"I...in…argh…m…m…my…owow…hu…ow…mble…argh…opini…yargh…nion…" Shadowflare staggered, "Yyyyaagghhhh! It burns!!"
"What's going on around here y…argh! Ow! Yargh! AAArrgghhhh! Not me too! NO! Aarrghhhh!" Even the mighty Megatron joined the fray.
Up above on the cliff, Nightfire viewed the hilarious scene with distinct pleasure. Optimus too, was absolutely stunned.
"Just what did you do, Nightfire?"
Still grinning from cheek to cheek, the dragon reached his tail under his wing and pulled out a small empty bottle. He tossed it to Optimus.
Optimus read the label out loud.
"100 guaranteed-to-work itching powder. Use with caution."
"Something I got out from under Rattrap's bed during my last visit. Man, the things you can find there!"
"You're a real sneaky one aren't you?" Optimus grinned, patting the dragon on the head.
"Indeed."
The pair took a last look at the comical scene and, laughing all the way, flew back to the Maximal base.
Later on, Optimus was discussing some battle strategies with Rhinox when Calico, escorted by Cheetor, walked in. He'd been showing her around the Maximal Base. Optimus stood up and walked over to her.
"Welcome to the crew." He said, shaking her hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Optimus Primal," she replied, "again."
"Erm, again?"
"Surely you haven forgotten your old rival, have you?" Calico made a gun with her fingers and cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh yes, I remember now."
"You know her bigbot?" Cheetor asked.
"We were, well…rivals when we were both in the academy."
"Always competed to be the best in everything." Calico added in, "He even tried asking me out once."
Cheetor's eyes went wide.
"Yes that was, ahem, when I was around your age Cheetor."
"But of course," Calico continued, "I was like 'gimme a break man, you just aren't my type!' "
Rhinox burst out laughing.
"Brings back memories doesn't it?"
"Certainly." Optimus replied, slightly embarrassed.
"At least you've grown into an excellent commander." Calico said. "Proud to serve you."
"You're not too bad yourself." Optimus replied, "But I last heard from you when you were a captain in charge of some exploration ship. How'd you end up here?"
"Well," Calico's expression darkened, "I had an unfortunate accident, but I guess my spark was still functional enough for them to reformat me into a protoform. And so it seems I…"
At that moment, Nightfire happened to enter the room, in robot mode. For the first time, Calico and him got a good look at each other. Calico abruptly stopped talking.
There was complete silence as the two stared at each other. The silence was soon broken.
"YOU!" Calico screamed. She pulled out her melee weapon, a whip, leapt over the table and charged at Nightfire.
The dragon reacted instinctively. As the astonished Maximals watched, he launched a spinning kick, which took the weapon out of Calico's hand. He drew his sword in mid air and ran her through as he landed.
Time seemed to be at a standstill. There was an astonished silence in the room. Nightfire realized his sword was still stuck through Calico's body. He quickly pulled it out and shoved her limp form into the restoration chamber. Hastily, he pushed a few buttons on the control panel.
"Nightfire…" Optimus begun.
"I don't believe it." Nightfire muttered. He thumped his fist on the restoration chamber's door.
"I assume that you know her as well."
"More than just know her," Nightfire's eyes were staring down at the floor, "I'm the one who killed her."
"WHAT!"
"How?"
Astonished gasps came from everyone else in the room.
"Was that the unfortunate accident she was talking about?" Optimus inquired.
"Indeed. And I'm sure she'll be quite willing to tell you about it herself, so…"
"Nightfire, stay here." Optimus reached out and grabbed the dragon by the scruff of his neck before he could run off. Nightfire considered shoving his way out, but decided against that.
"I think this is something all of us have to hear about."
"I'm afraid it's a rather ugly story." Nightfire sighed. He deliberately turned away so Optimus couldn't seen his face. Right at that moment, he could only find comfort in staring down at the cold, metallic floor.
The entire Maximal fleet had gathered in the control room. Even Tigatron had been called back.
Optimus had made sure that Calico and Nightfire were at opposite ends of the room, separated from each other. The two looked ready to spring on each other at any time. Nightfire leaned against the wall and folded his arms while Calico was staring harshly at him.
Optimus spoke up.
"Now that we're all here, I want to know exactly what's going on between you two."
"I'll tell you," Calico pointed an accusing finger at Nightfire, "that Predacon is a deceiving, lying, mass murderer!"
"Oh, how surprising." Rattrap muttered.
"SHUT UP!" Nightfire and Calico yelled at the same time.
Astonished murmurs arose from the rest of the fleet. Optimus banged a fist on the table like a judge.
"Well, I don't mind being called a lying, deceiving, Predacon," Nightfire replied calmly, "but I much prefer the term 'assassin'."
"So you're saying it's true?"
"Yes," Nightfire nodded, "the files you have on me here probably aren't complete. You'll need to access the database back on Cybertron the see my full record."
"Nightfire…" It was Syndrea. The dragon quickly held up a claw to silence her. Last thing he needed now was her distraction, or even worse, her sympathy.
"I'll never forget what he did to me as long as my spark's online!" Rhinox pushed Calico back into her chair and she calmed down a little.
"We'd like to hear the whole thing." Optimus said, eyeing both carefully.
"You want to tell them, vixen," Nightfire shot a scornful glare at Calico, "or should I?"
"You begin, Predacon." Calico growled.
Nightfire cleared his throat.
"Alright then. It was several stellar cycles ago, back on Cybertron…"
(Flashback scene: Cybertron Spaceport.)
Captain Calico looked up at the new, shiny ship on the landing pad in front of her, all ready for departure.
"So this is it."
She basically had the same appearance as her Beast Warrior form, just without the animal parts. Patting her side pouches, she checked her pair of Uzi pistols again.
Fully loaded, fully functional. She always took great pride in the management of her weapons.
She was suddenly knocked to the floor as someone hit her from behind.
"Ooff!"
"Hey, sorry!"
She turned to find a tall, male transformer offering his hand to help her up. She accepted it and was pulled to her feet. Briefly, she assessed the guy. He had the alternate mode of a fighter jet, with its wings on his back and tail behind him. The nose and cockpit of the plane folded down onto his chest plate. His primary color was black with dark blue on the wings. A blue-colored visor covered his eyes, which was in a single, continuos piece.
"Think nothing of it." Calico told him.
"Thanks. Say," he pointed to the parked ship, "I'm looking for the Captain of this vessel."
"Well, you're looking at him."
"Cuse me?" he asked, confused, "Oh!"
He immediately snapped to attention and saluted.
"I'm Lieutenant Phantom. You must be Captain Calico, I presume."
"Expecting a man, weren't you?" Calico returned the salute.
"Yes sir…er ma'am!"
She carefully checked his identification card.
"Your superiors describe you as a hotshot." She remarked.
"Afraid you'll have to live with it, since I'm going to be your second-in-command."
"Let me tell you one thing kid, I don't tolerate any funny business, understood?"
"Completely."
"Good." They shook hands. "Now let's go, before we miss our ride."
So, the ship took off without any trouble. The crew believed they were on a routine supply trip, but only Calico knew the true purpose of their mission.
They were carrying the hexagon key, one of the four keys needed to unlock the storage hold of the sacred golden disc. It was being moved to a more secure location. All seemed to be going perfectly well.
Two days into their trip, Calico walked into the control room. She found the pilot, Raynar, in the chair.
"Raynar," Calico asked, "have you seen Alticus anywhere?"
"Sorry, nope." The pilot raised an eyebrow, "I've been here the whole night. Oh yeah, and Phantom was supposed to have relieved me a mega-cycle ago. I wonder if…"
Phantom came barging through the door.
"Sorry I'm late!" He gasped, "I kinda…overslept. But I'll make up for it! Promise!"
"Well," Calico shot him an annoyed look, "I'll let you off with just a warning this time."
She didn't like having their schedules messed up.
Jeez, Calico thought as they left the room, I'd wish they'd stop sending me these kids.
"Hey, lighten up!" Raynar placed his hand on her shoulder, "He's just a kid."
"Yeah, one who's supposed to be second in charge of this ship."
"He'll learn. Just give em' time. Come on, drinks on me!"
Calico and Raynar were in the cafeteria when she got a call from Phantom on the bridge.
"Captain," Phantom's voice came over the com-link, "the maintenance crew down at section 12 found Alticus."
"Good. I want to know where's he's been all this time."
"Unfortunately, you can't."
"And why not?"
"Cause he's dead."
"What?!"
"They've got his body at the medical bay, I think they can tell you more."
"Shot three times at point blank range," the medic reported, "probably never had the chance to defend himself."
Calico looked down at the soldier's lifeless form.
"Where'd you find him?"
"His body was stuffed in one of the maintenance lockers at section 12."
Grimly, Calico contacted Phantom in the control room.
"Phantom, I need you to check for any breakages in the hull, the shields, or other anyway someone could've gotten in or out."
"Scanning…" The beeping of the ship's computer could be heard over the com-link, "Negative. Everything's up and fully functional. No breakages, no nothing."
"Then the murderer may be one of us."
"Oh, that's just great!"
Two more killings occurred in the next three days. Calico ordered an increase in security measures, but it didn't seemed to have much effect. Phantom and Raynar spent much of their time taking turns to pilot the ship and watch the security monitors.
When the fourth murder occurred, Calico vowed to bring down the killer at any cost. She spent hours trying to find a connection between the victims, but it wasn't until a week later that she got a hunch.
The answer had been so frighteningly obvious.
Two of the four had access to the storage room where the hexagon key was kept. A quick check of their quarters confirmed her suspicion.
She was the only other crewmember to have access to the hexagon key. The killer already had access to their precious cargo, so he probably wouldn't waste anymore time. He was just looking for an opportunity to escape with his loot. Only problem was that she had no particular suspect in mind.
She'd known most of the crew for a long time and had made sure to keep a watchful eye on the newer ones. It was clear that everyone was troubled by the recent events, but none seemed even a bit guilty of the crimes.
She was in her quarters the next day when Phantom reported a power loss in one of the engine rooms. She barely had time to make it to the bridge before the lights suddenly went out.
"What the?!" Phantom gasped, "Should I have the maintenance team check it out."
"Do it."
Fortunately, the com-links were still functional. Calico listened to the clangs of the crewmen's footsteps on the ladder leading down.
"Whoa! Looks like a major problem!" one crewman said.
"Yeah, let's not waste anymore time."
Calico waited and listened to the comments.
"Captain," one reported, "it seems that some of the main wires were cut!"
"Can you give me more details?" Calico asked.
"Hold on, we're opening the main power generator now and…slag! Get outta here now! Be…"
"It's a bomb!!"
"Too late!"
The loud screams were followed by an even louder explosion.
"Hello?" Calico desperately tapped the com-link, "come in!!"
Phantom shook his head sadly. A second explosion rocked the bridge.
"I'm going to organize the crew! You keep watch here!"
"Yes ma'am!"
The killer has chosen to strike now, Calico was sure of it.
With her Uzi in hand, she raced for the heavily secured room that held the key to the golden disc. She was racing past her quarters when a large pipe, jarred loose by the explosion, fell and knocked her out.
She came to with her ears still ringing. Remembering the situation, she forced herself to her feet and sprinted for the storage room. Calico was horrified to find the room empty and Raynar lying outside with a gaping wound in his chest.
"Raynar!" Calico ran to his side, "Hang on there!"
"He's…" Raynar gasped weakly, "…trai…tor…" his voice faded out in a strangled cough as he pointed down the corridor.
"Raynar!!"
Her friend was dead. Howling with rage, Calico ran round the corridor--just as a body flew and hit her. It was another crewmember. Calico was sickened by the loss of yet another friend, but she'd heard the gunshot. The murder had to be close. And she'd make him pay dearly for this.
She heard footsteps coming from behind one of the doors. She immediately barged through it…and came face to face with Phantom. Clutched in his fist, was the hexagon key, its bright color shimmering in the darkness.
For a moment, neither one could speak.
"So, it's been you all along." Calico finally managed to find her voice.
"Took ya this long to figure out? Jeez, you're pitiful!" Phantom sneered. Something about him had so suddenly changed. It wasn't just his tone of voice.
Earlier on, he'd been an ally, a friend you could trust. Now, he seemed like a completely different personality. Like a dark aura had surrounded him; like a person who you could feel was evil on first sight.
"You won't get away!" Calico clutched the handle of her pistol.
"So, stop me. You're welcomed to try." Phantom was doing the same. "But believe me or not, I'm justified in doing this. We all have to survive, one way or another."
"After what you've done? You don't know the meaning of the word!"
"Maybe not…"
In a split second, Calico's gun was in her hand. She fired as the same time that Phantom twisted his body sideways and launched his own attack.
Calico barely even felt the pain. Next thing she knew, she was lying face down on the floor.
"…but I know what slow is, and you're it. My regards."
Her vision was going blur now, her senses cloudy. The blackness of the other side was beginning to engulf her.
…no…c…can't…
Phantom didn't stick around. He knew his foe was down for good and the detonator he'd planted was going to go off any moment now, erasing all traces of the ship…and its crew.
All lost in an unfortunate engine malfunction.
Making sure the key was securely placed in his sub-space pocket, he threw open the outer doors. Ignoring the blaring alarms, he stared out into the black vastness of space for only a second before he leapt.
Swiftly transforming into his fighter jet mode, he rocketed away just as the ship exploded in a huge ball of crimson flames.
A Predacon ship then appeared out of transwarp space, just on the edge of his radars.
My ride, and right on time too. Phantom grinned inwardly as he flew, hmmm…I'll make sure to demand a raise, especially for this mission.
(Back to present time)
"So that's the way it went." Nightfire finished. He shot a glance at Calico, who'd also told the story from her point of view.
"But if you killed her then," Tigatron spoke up, "then how…"
"Embarrassing as it is," Nightfire cut in, "I believe I missed hitting her spark and blew her fluid pump instead. It was enough to destroy her body, but her spark had a chance of survival."
"And apparently it did," Rhinox concluded, "it must've been recovered from the wreckage and reformatted into a protoform transformer."
"Grrr! I still want a piece of 'em!" Calico growled, "I'll never forgive what you've done!"
"And I'd be quite happy to rectify the mistake I made of not blasting your spark to the Pitt!"
Both jumped up onto the table with their melee weapons out. Airazor managed to jump between them in time.
"Hey! Stop it…oof!"
She was accidentally shoved and lost her balance. Tigatron 'accidentally' caught her as she fell.
"STAND DOWN! BOTH OF YOU!" Optimus ordered.
The two soldiers unhappily kept their weapons and stepped off the table, eyeing each other the whole time.
"Nightfire, I want you to return to your patrol on the outer perimeter. You'll stay positioned there as a permanent scout unless called for. Calico, you'll stay around the base and the areas around it. Is that clear?"
"Fine, as long as I don't have to see her." Nightfire growled. He transformed to his huge dragon mode and flew off through the room hatch.
"Nightfire!" Syndrea called after him. As usual, he ignored it and disappeared into the distance.
"I'm going to my quarters." Calico said as she left the room.
One by one, Cheetor, Rattrap and Syndrea choose to quietly leave the room.
"You know that it won't be a permanent solution." Rhinox said.
"I know," Optimus replied.
"Hey, err," Airazor smiled, "thanks stripes."
"Anytime, m'lady."
"Tigatron, I need to ask a favor of you." Optimus called the white tiger over.
"What is it Optimus?"
"Try to keep an eye on Nightfire for a while and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Consider it done." Tigatron saluted, "beast mode."
He got onto the elevator. It started to move but was abruptly halted halfway.
"Huh?"
"Sorry, mind if I tag along?" Airazor stood the top with a warm smile, "beast mode."
"Errm…Well…" Tigatron considered it as the elevator continued its descent.
"Well?"
"Only if you can keep up!" The white tiger playfully shoved her to the floor and started running.
"If I can keep up?! Just watch me!" Airazor spread her wings and took to the skies, flying after him.
Meanwhile, Optimus noticed Dinobot standing in a corner, lost in thought. The other ex-Predacon in their group had not uttered a single word throughout the entire story.
"Nothing to say Dinobot?"
"Nothing Optimus Primal, except that I foresee many problems between those two."
"Well that's just Prime…"
In the weeks that followed, tension could clearly be seen being built up between the two. Two enemies now ironically forced to the same side.
It was an unstable bond, ready to break at any moment. And it was also an opportunity that would not be unnoticed by the Predacons.
By chance, their patrol routes happened to clash in a forest on the outskirts of Maximal territory. Each one suspected an enemy was nearby. Readying themselves for battle, each transformed and drew their weapons. At the chosen moment, each one sprang out, only to find their weapons pointed at each other.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Oh, it's just you." Nightfire finally spoke up. There was a distinctively scornful way in which he had said 'you'. And it was something Calico wouldn't stand for.
"Get out of my way dragon." She growled.
"Why don't you get out of mine first?"
The two soldiers stood facing each other in a staring competition. Calico knew that her anger was showing on her face, but Nightfire hid his emotions well. Neither could be sure who threw the first punch, but when that happened, there wasn't any stopping.
A punching and shoving match broke out. Nightfire, however, had an advantage because he was bigger and stronger. He shoved Calico into a tree. Gritting her teeth, she whipped out her Uzi's and fired. Nightfire had to dive to avoid the bullets and landed with a thud on the forest floor.
"Filthy beast!" she cursed.
"Grrr…I'll show you a beast!" With a thunderous roar, Nightfire returned to his dragon mode. Dozens of forest animals were sent fleeing at the sound of his roar.
Calico was the least intimidated, letting loose with bursts of Uzi rounds. Nightfire roared furiously as he blocked the shots with his wings. Rage overtook his logical thinking and he begun spewing flames everywhere, forgetting that they were in a forest. More small animals were sent fleeing from the flames.
Ignoring her burns, Calico dropped her guns and pulled out her whip, making its end into a curved loop.
Nightfire charged at her, head lowered. In one swift motion, she dodged to one side and threw the lasso around his heck. The loop hooked just below his lower jaw, where the head met the neck.
Calico pulled the lasso taunt, choking the dragon was causing him to fall. Nightfire sprang up and in a furious bound, attacked again. Calico repeated the stunt, jumping aside and pulling the lasso taunt. This time the dragon pulled back, dragging Calico off her feet. She was instantaneously head butted into the nearest tree.
She didn't even have time to recover when Nightfire pounced, pinning her back to the ground. The dragon stared her in the eye, growling.
He's completely lost to his beast instincts! Calico realized.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do as his jaws moved in for the kill. A shot rang out from nowhere, throwing Nightfire off her and leaving his jaws frozen in a cube of ice.
Tigatron stood nearby, weapon raised, with an angry scowl on his face.
"I must insist that you both stop this foolishness at once!" he shouted. Now seeing Tigatron in that kind of angry mood was very uncommon. But if he were, then he really meant business.
Seeing the small fires and blackened forest around them, Calico momentarily felt ashamed. Tigatron sprayed a cloud of mist from his weapon, dousing the flames.
"I apologize." She said softly.
"You should save it for him." Tigatron said. Nightfire was just getting up and shaking the ice off his jaws. "His beast instincts are completely out of control. That's a threat until we can calm him down."
As if on cue, the dragon lunged.
Tigatron grabbed his jaws, struggling against the immense power of the berserked dragon. Deciding she had to help, Calico jumped onto his back and held the dragon's wings down. Nightfire wasn't very large, she noticed, just his huge wings, long neck and tail made him look that way. But he was certainly very strong. Calico doubted that she would have been able to fend him off alone.
Meanwhile, Tigatron was almost thrown off once or twice, but managed to hold on. Twisting and turning until he had Nightfire's head clasped under his left arm.
"Calm yourself," he coaxed, "we are your friends. Tame the beast within and cast out your anger."
Slowly, his breathing relaxed. His struggling lessened until it finally stopped. Tigatron let go and gestured for Calico to do the same.
Nightfire blinked, as if snapping out of a trance. He looked up, staring hard first at Tigatron, then at Calico.
"Fine start blaming me! Everything's always my fault!"
Tigatron opened his mouth to answer, but he never got the words out.
"Attack! NOW!" a shout rang out.
Tigatron was sent flying into the forest as a shot hit him squarely in the chest.
"Aaarrrrrgghhhhh!"
"Stripes!" Calico yelled.
Nightfire barged into the vixen as a shot made a blackened hole in the spot she'd been standing on. Both ducked behind a cluster of boulders and more shots were fired.
"Let's worry about ourselves first!" Nightfire said.
"That's one thing we agree on." Calico took a quick look. They had the entire Predacon force firing at them, bar Tarantulas and Scorponok.
"I would've detected em' earlier if you hadn't been distracting me." Calico muttered as she fired.
"Well excuse me, I believe it was you who was distracting me!"
"Says who?"
"Me!"
A grenade landed between them and exploded before either had a chance to do anything. The blast knocked the pair of Maximals offline. Then, all the Predacons vanished, leaving only Terrorsaur and Shadowflare.
"The wonders of a holo-projector." Said Shadowflare proudly. The Black Panther twirled the small device in his hand.
"Huh, not bad for a science geek." Terrorsaur muttered. "But that was my grenade. Surely you must've noticed my superior battle skills."
"In my humble opinion, this is the fifth time this mega-cycle you're informed me of that fact." The panther answered, rather annoyed. He almost regretted teaming up with the featherless freak. "And another point, how should we deal with these unconscious Maximals?"
"Hmmm, let's see. We could get the pleasure of scrapping em' right here and now. Or we could bring them back to Megatron and get into the fool's favor. And even get rewarded for it!"
"In my humble opinion, I suggest we do it quickly." Shadowflare looked down at his wrist computer, "For I detect more Maximals approaching this location."
Airazor has been flying on her patrol route when she picked up a bunch of Pred signatures. She'd arrived on the scene only to find Tigatron trapped under a fallen tree. After much pushing and shoving, she managed to move the huge piece of wood off him.
"Ow!" Tigatron moaned, dusting the mud off his face, "I feel like I got hit by a tree."
"It was an oak tree to be precise."
"The Predacons! Calico and Nightfire!"
"Hey, relax. There's no one here but you."
"The Predacons must've taken them hostage." Tigatron staggered to his feet, "We have to follow them!"
Airazor nodded. "But can you make it?"
"I may…require some assistance for a while."
Airazor placed his hand over her shoulder and supported him as they begun walking.
"Which way?"
"The Predacon base." Tigatron said, "It's the most obvious place."
"Shouldn't we get the others?"
"No time. But we might be able to catch up if we hurry."
Moaning, Calico drowsily opened her eyes. And found herself locked in a cage. Nightfire, still in beast mode, was in another cage next to her. The cages were suspended above a lake of molten lava, making the temperature unbearably hot.
"Awake at last," He smiled, "welcome to Pred central."
"Great! In more trouble than before."
"Hey, chill." Nightfire stood up and stuck his tail through the bars of his cage.
"What are you doing?"
Nightfire didn't answer as he carefully placed the flexible tip of his tail into the lock on Calico's cage.
Seconds later, she heard a click and the cage door swung open.
"Hmmm. Impressive."
"See that vent there? Just go through and follow it to the end. Up two levels and you'll be able to get out." Nightfire suddenly flopped back down on the floor of the cage. Calico saw mech-fluid leaking out of a wound at his stomach."
"You're hurt!"
"I…might not make it. You'd better get out of here while you can."
Calico was stunned. The damage looked serious, but from her point of view, there was no way to examine its extent
"There's no way I'm leaving without you!"
"Ironic, a mega-cycle ago, you wanted me dead."
"Well that's a pleasure I'm reserving for myself and not some stinking Preds." She dug into her sub-space pouch and found one of her Uzis still there. She was pulling it out when Nightfire stopped her.
"Don't. See that blue light at the lock of my cage?" he pointed, "Do anything to break open the cage and every alarm in this base goes off." He grinned for a second, "Must be my wonderful reputation."
"Is there a way to turn it off?"
"There's a room just above this one. Blow the controls there and the alarms go offline. With just about anything else in here."
"So it's a generator room?"
"One of them, anyway."
"Ok. I'll be back soon." Calico said, returning to beast mode. "Just stay here."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
With a graceful leap, the fox cleared the space between her cage and the air vent in the wall. It was surprisingly large and she was able to maneuver without much restriction.
Great, helping out my enemy. I amaze even myself sometimes.
Her journey was rather uneventful. Several times, she'd heard voices coming from the floors above but encountered no great obstacles other than the slippery air vents.
It was sometimes a tight fit, squeezing through the narrower vents and climbing vertically upwards in the more slippery ones. But Calico eventually found her way into the generator room.
The ventilation shaft was located on the ceiling of the room. From this position, she surveyed the situation. Just one Predacon, Shadowflare, was in the room. The panther had his back to her as he was working on a computer terminal and muttering something to himself.
Good, this is gonna be easy!
"Calico, maximize. Stealth mode." She transformed and snapped a clip into her Uzi. Then, as noiselessly as she could, slipped down into the room.
Shadowflare heard a light thud and spun around.
"Who's there?"
Taking his bow gun in hand, he walked over to the stack of crates that Calico was crouched behind. Calico waited until he was practically above her, then jumped up and drove an uppercut into the bottom of his chin.
"What?! Ugh!" The Predacon staggered backwards and fell.
Calico used the opportunity to take aim and fire past him, blowing up the computer console behind him.
All the lights in the room went off. In the darkness, Shadowflare got up and fired his bow gun. Calico rolled out of the way of the energon arrows and launched a low kick to his feet. Shadowflare found his face flat on the floor again.
"Interesting. A cat that lands on his face." Calico laughed.
"Grrr. You're beginning to annoy me, lady." Shadowflare growled as he got up and dove to retrieve his bow gun.
Calico jumped onto him and both struggled to get a hold of the weapon. The fox was able to shove the weapon into Shadowflare's chest as the Predacon pulled the trigger. Shadowflare hit the floor with a cry of pain.
Scorponok happened to stumble into the room and witnessed the fight.
"The Maximals have escaped!" he cried.
Calico shot twice with the bow gun, one knocking Scorponok's hand away from his com-link and the other making a black, smoldering hole in his chestplate.
"Yes!" Calico smiled, admiring her handiwork.
Scorponok stumbled back and flopped against a wall. His head hit a huge red button on the wall.
Immediately, alarms begun blaring.
"Warning. Power outage on lower levels." The emotionless computer voice said, "Intruder detected in generator room 4."
"Dammit!" she cursed.
"They're over here!"
"Get them you fool!"
The voices came from just around the corridor. Calico slammed the door shut and threw her weight against it as the Predacons pounded on it from the other side. There was suddenly the sound of a loud crash followed by the sounds of struggling. Then the noises stopped.
Calico cautiously opened the door to find a familiar dragon standing on top of Waspinator and Terrorsaur.
"You've sure done a fine job of sneaking around." He winked. "Here." He tossed over her whip and her second machine gun.
"Nightfire? But you're…"
"Injured? Me?" he indicated the wound at his stomach. The flow of the mech-fluid had stopped. "Superficial, no internals damaged."
"What? Then you were…"
"Acting? Of course! I wasn't too sure that you wouldn't leave me to rust here. So I had to give you some incentive for 'rescuing' me." Nightfire laughed, "Man, I'm so good actor that I could win an Oscar."
Calico slapped him so hard that he fell over.
"Ow!"
"Let's just get the heck out of here before the whole base is on us." Calico muttered.
"Agreed. But DID you have to slap me so hard?" he dashed past her into the room and begun using his claws to pry open one of the floor panels.
Calico followed, but noticed something hooked on Shadowflare's belt.
"A holo-projector." She gasped, snatching it off the fallen Predacon. "And they caught us off guard with it too!"
"Well, go figure it out later!" Nightfire ripped open the panel and slipped down the hole.
Tucking the holo-projector into her sub-space compartment, Calico followed.
"Don't you ever bother transforming?" Calico asked as she struggled to keep pace.
"Only if I want to frag em' instead of burn."
"Forget it. Anyway, where is this place?" The sounds of the alarms had begun to die down. They were now running in a narrow, dark passage. The ceiling, however, was rather high.
"It's a secret passage out. Fastest way I can remember from all my previous tangles around here." Nightfire turned his head back to speak, "the only thing you're gotta watch out for it…yyyaaaarrggghhh!"
The dragon crashed into a sticky, blue web, and entangled himself in it.
"Hehehe!" came a sinister laugh, "Look who stumbled into my web today. Tarantulas, terrorize!"
The spider dropped down from the ceiling, laughing his trademark laugh.
Calico's guns were out in an instant and blasting away. Tarantulas sidestepped and returned fire with his spider-leg machine guns. As they traded shots, Nightfire was still tangled in the web and pressed his body as low to the ground as possible to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
There was much jumping and firing in the narrow passage until Calico ducked behind Nightfire and pulled up one of his wings as a shield.
"Ow! Hey, my wings can't take that kind of abuse for long!"
"I know! I know!"
"Hehehehe! Surrender now, Maximals!" Tarantulas sneered.
An explosion suddenly rocked the passage.
"Huh?" Tarantulas looked up, only to see a huge rock coming down. "Doh' no."
BAM!
"Man," Nightfire grimaced, "that has got to hurt."
"Hey! Over here!"
Light streamed into the tunnel through a hole in the ceiling. Above ground were two figures waving at them.
"Airazor! Tigatron! Jeez, am I glad to see you." Calico yelled back.
"Catch!" Tigatron tossed them a rope.
Megatron watched the screen as it showed four Maximal signatures leaving the area. Furious, he banged his fist on the arms of his chair.
"That child is proving to be an extreme annoyance. Yes."
"That's how he earned his reputation." Said Deathwing, coming up behind Megatron. "I see why you hired him to help you with the 'steal the golden disc' operation."
"He had such potential. A prodigy." Megatron sighed, "Such a waste of where his loyalties lie."
"That cage didn't hold him for long." Deathwing flicked through several screens, showing the empty holding cages and the damaged Predacons.
"I should never have listened to Terrorsaur's babbling. That fool will personally answer to me."
"Well," Deathwing said thoughtfully, "as his rival, I know his weaknesses. One, in particular, could easily be exploited against him. And, it could also be used to cause some chaos among the other members of the Maximal fleet. "
"You obviously bear a distinct grudge against him. But inform me of your 'plan'. "
Grinning, Deathwing leaned closer to Megatron and whispered something into his ear. As the Predacon leader listened, he broke into a smile, then an evil grin, then a laugh.
"A deliciously, evil, insidious scheme. One worthy of even my complements. Perhaps there are actually other Predacons around here with logic circuits." Megatron turned back to the monitor, "Go and get the other Predacons repaired. I have much planning to do."
"As you wish." Deathwing's footsteps died down into the darkness.
Megatron opened a compartment on the side of his chair and stared gleefully at the object within.
"Over-confidence has always been your weakness, my boy," he said to himself, "now it will be your downfall. Yours and the entire Maximal fleet. Haha!"
The four Maximals walked on in silence until Nightfire suddenly stopped and transformed into robot mode. It stood up to around the same height as Tigatron's, or slightly shorter than Optimus Primal's.
"Calico." He begun.
Calico stepped forward, noting Tigatron and Airazor were moving out of range.
"It wasn't too bad working with you for once."
"Strange," she replied, "I was about to say the same about you."
"Let's make a deal. Once the Beast Wars are over, I'll give your fair shot at getting me. One-on-one duel. But don't go crying to the others when you lose."
"That's cause I won't."
"So, that's a deal?" Nightfire asked, offering his hand.
"Challenge accepted." Calico firmly took his hand and shook it.
Nightfire suddenly grabbed her wrist with his free hand, flipped her a full 180 degrees and slammed her onto her back with a judo throw.
"Seems you're on the loosing road already, girl." He laughed.
"Speak for yourself." Calico grabbed his tail and pulled him down as well.
"Alright, enough with the jokes." Tigatron walked over and helped both to their feet.
"You've both got to survive the lecture Optimus is going to give you two first." Airazor said.
Nightfire and Calico looked at each other.
"Now that is a fact." They replied in unison.