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The Extreme, Part 4: Fate

By nightdragon0

Calico was abruptly stopped, just several feet above the water. Feeling a tearing pain in her left arm, Calico glanced up to see Dinobot standing on a ledge above her, with her arm grasped in the jaws of his velociraptor beast mode. His killer claws were pierced into the side of the stony walls, giving him some balance.

"Dinobot!" She cried. "Help me! I can't swim!"

Dinobot grunted, but of course couldn't reply with his mouth occupied.

Do something, you blasted female! Was what Dinobot would've yelled if he could've opened his mouth without letting go of her. And he was quite tempted to do just that.

"Calico! Dinobot!" Airazor called. She was further up, on top of the cliff.

Seeing that gave Calico an idea.

"Airazor! Catch this!" The fox called, tossing her one end of her whip.

However, the whip was too short and Airazor missed.

"Damn!" Calico pushed a switch, which extended the whip to its maximum length. "Hargh!"

This time the falcon managed to grab it.

"Hold on, I'll tie it to something!"

Calico's strength was fading rapidly and for a few fearful seconds, she was afraid she might lose hold. But then she felt the whip pull taunt.

"Dinobot, change positions."

Dinobot released her arm and Calico instead wrapped both her arms around his upper body. That got her an odd stare from the velociraptor.

"Don't grab the whip with those claws of yours dino boy." Calico advised. "And don't transform like this, it'll throw us both off. Just leave it to me."

Dinobot growled, but decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

Slowly and steadily, Calico pulled them both up. It took a great deal of her will and strength to keep going, but finally Airazor's welcoming arms pulled the pair up to safety.

Panting, both Calico and Dinobot collapsed.

"Thanks." Calico muttered. "Thanks for saving me."

Dinobot stood up and stared down at her. He had a hesitant look on his face, as if there was something he had to say but didn't want to.

It was a while before the soldier finally got it out.

"We…are even."

"Nightfire…" Still dazed from the blast, Syndrea pulled herself over to the dragon's side, ignoring the pain in her own body. "Say something, please!"

"Urrghh…" The limbless dragon groaned. "Ouch…"

"How are you feeling?"

"Rather…short of hands."

"Very funny." Syndrea managed a weak grin. "Damn, you're a mess."

"Don't remind me." Nightfire sighed, lifting his head to look over himself. "The orb?"

Syndrea stumbled over to the charred remains of Rampage and managed to pull it out, at long last.

"I have it."

"Good…" Nightfire chuckled. "Then, it's up to you now."

"Up to me?"

"Time travel. The power of the orb." Nightfire said softly.

"Something's wrong. It looks like its fading." Syndrea turned the blue orb around in her hands.

"Its power is rapidly diminishing." Nightfire explained. "Possibly it will only take you once. Which is why you must go now."

"But go where? And when? How do I make use of this?" She protested.

"You'll make better use of it than me." He replied. "Perhaps just as well that he tore my limbs off. You know, I had other plans for it…go back…for Sky Lynx."

"So that was it." Syndrea realized. "That was what you were thinking the whole time!"

"Yes…I did want to try and change…my destiny. I thought I had it weighed out…I though I could accept and make do with what losses I would have had. But…I realized…I couldn't lose you, Syndrea."

"Nightfire…"

"Go now. It's in your hands."

Syndrea looked down at the artifact she now held in her hands.

Perhaps…yes, that's it! I can!

Reaching down, she searched Nightfire's body and pulled out a couple of grenades.

"I'll be needing these."

"Just look into the orb and concentrate." Nightfire nodded. "That's how it works. Just call it intuition."

As Syndrea complied, a blue vortex seemed to swirl around her. The raptor felt herself being lifted up and up…higher and higher…

"Ugh!" Syndrea stumbled, landing on some rocky hard ground. "Wait, this is…"

She hoped at least that she'd gotten the correct mountain. Syndrea hadn't been near the mountain the day the incident happened, but she'd done some research to the mountain's location.

The orb in her arms glowed one last time and then shattered.

"No turning back now…"

Syndrea didn't know what time or day it was and her internal systems had been thrown off schedule, but she had to work quickly. The orb might not have had enough power to bring her back very far.

As the raptor now looked up, she realized this would be a long climb. Wasting no time, Syndrea took off running. It was a hard journey and she slipped several times, especially on the snow covered parts.

Syndrea was panting by the time she made it, however her finally stood proudly on top of the mountain which she believed the orb was hidden under.

Reaching it through all those feet of rock would be a tedious process, but she still had an alternative. Looking up, she scanned the surrounding mountains nearby, hoping with all her spark that she could find what she needed to.

"There!" Syndrea's heart jumped for joy.

There, trapped between several boulders, was the stasis pod belonging to none other than Rampage.

"Now…just got to time this right…"

Syndrea tossed the grenades, one after the other. The two explosions blew the stasis pod loose. Creaking, it slipped and fell, sliding down the snowy mountain. Syndrea watched as it landed with a splash in a river, way below in the valley. The raptor breathed a sigh of relief as the 'X' stasis pod drifted off to some place unknown.

"Huh?" Syndrea gasped, lifting her hands. They were flickering and seemed to be disappearing. "Yes…I've altered the time stream. So that means…"

The female velociraptor closed her eyes and let the process consume her.

"What the? Yargh!"

BAM!

Nightfire smacked right into the stony cliff side.

"Ow! Wait a sec, what am I doing here?" He gasped, peeling himself off the surface.

Last thing he remembered was lying by a streamside, dismembered and badly wounded. Then, all of a sudden, here he was, looking like a complete moron crashing into a wall.

"Syndrea, did you…of course!" Nightfire snapped.

He remembered now. The time he was trying this crazy stunt in this particular location was the day the others had first encountered Rampage and the alien orb. After his flying stunt, he'd gone back to his lair where Syndrea was repairing his communications relay. And that was where he'd had his dream.

"The orb!" Nightfire suddenly remembered.

As if on cue, his com-link beeped.

"Nightfire! The orb!" It was Syndrea.

"Yeah, I sort of figured that out."

"We've got to get to it!" She yelled.

"Right, I'll pick you up and you can explain along the way!"

"Hello? Nap time's over people!"

Dinobot groaned, awaking to the sound of Rattrap's annoying voice.

"What's with you two? Having a shared dream or something?"

Dinobot snapped up, jumping to his feet.

"Grrr…wait, you're here vermin!"

"Well duh! We went on patrol, remember?"

"Dinobot!" Calico came running over. "Dinobot, we're back…back here."

"Indeed. I can tell."

"Excuse me, am I missing something here?" Rattrap waved his arms.

"The orb!" Dinobot and Calico exclaimed simultaneously.

"The what? Hey! OW!"

The pair ploughed a confused Rattrap out of the way as they took off in a mad dash.

"Anyone in sight?" Syndrea asked from her position on the back of Nightfire's vehicle mode.

"Negative. I think we're here several cycles earlier than everyone was supposed to be in that alternate reality and…oh wait! It's Deathwing!"

"Looks like he's carrying Muricate on his back." Syndrea noted. "They must be trying to reach the orb!"

"It seems they have memories of that alternate timeline too." Nightfire growled.

"I think it has to do with those who 'survived' in that timeline." Syndrea thought. "We weren't 'really' there, because it didn't happen, but we remember it somewhat like a dream."

"Well, let's see how experienced Deathwing is at fighting with a passenger! Hold on tight Syndrea! I'm about to show you some high speed stunts!"

"Nightfire! NNNNNNNOOOOOOO!" Syndrea could only hold on and close her eyes.

Nightfire was charging and going really fast.

"I'm gonna be sssiiiiicccckkkkkkk!" Syndrea screamed.

"Hey bird brain!" Nightfire yelled, getting Deathwing's attention. "Charbroil!"

The dragon sent a huge burst of flame into his opponent's face, causing the vulture to screech in pain. He then doubled back and rammed Deathwing from beneath, sending him spinning and Muricate falling off with a scream.

"Syndrea, it's over."

"It is?" The female raptor asked meekly.

"And please stop strangling me too."

"Oh, sorry." Syndrea took her claws off his neck.

"Syndrea, fire my Rail Cannon." Nightfire ordered. "Into the mountain. Then I'll drop you off and you can get the orb while I distract Deathwing."

"OK, here goes!" Syndrea took hold of the cannon mounted on Nightfire's back and set its target lock. "Fire!"

The whole area shook as fragments of stone and dirt went flying.

"Cool, nice to see what that can do at full power. But now we'll have to hurry!" Nightfire swooped down towards the mountain.

"Hey! Get back here you cheapskate!" Deathwing, who had recovered, wasn't very happy at all.

"Go!"

"Hargh!" Syndrea leapt down, glad to be back on solid ground.

Whilst Nightfire turned back and begun breathing fire balls in Deathwing's direction, Syndrea carefully descended into the blown open hole. In spite of the slightly unstable ground, it really wasn't too difficult.

The light glow of the orb soon came into view and Syndrea followed it to its resting place, nicely nestled in a small pit of dirt.

"This is too easy…" The raptor muttered.

And just as soon as those words left her jaws, another figure pounced onto her.

Sparks and lights flashed as Nightfire and Deathwing clashed for the fifth time. The aerial battle was a mass of sword slashes, guards and kicks.

"Don't think that short alliance changed anything between us!" Deathwing growled. "It was in another timeline, after all."

"Indeed." Nightfire replied. "Which is why I have no compulsions about doing THIS!"

The dragon kicked his opponent between the legs. As Deathwing gawked in pain, Nightfire shoved him off and backed away.

"Grrrr…that's it!" Deathwing readied the bullets on his Gunblade.

Nightfire tossed his sword up, transformed into beast mode, and caught the weapon as it came down again. Deathwing started firing as Nightfire swooped down towards him, swinging his Energon blade to deflect the shots. Nightfire got around Deathwing and smacked him with a tail attack, followed by a burst of flame into the vulture's back.

"Ow! Ow! AAARRRRGGGHHHH! Damn you!" Deathwing swore as he fell out of the sky, his damaged flight systems unable to keep him in the air.

"Hahaha! Crispy fried!" Nightfire laughed. That was until he heard Syndrea's scream in his mind. "Syndrea!"

Turning and dropping into a steep dive, Nightfire headed back towards the mountain. He could see two figures struggling even before he got close.

Shadowflare had Syndrea, in beast mode, grasped by the neck with one arm, and the orb strapped by his side.

Darn, forgot about him!

"RRRRRooooaar…uurrgghhhh!"

A shot to his shoulder halted Nightfire in mid-flight. The dragon went crashing down, rolling hard in the snowy ground before coming to a stop. Shadowflare grinned evilly, his bowgun raised.

"Slag…when could he shoot like that?" Nightfire groaned, pulling himself up.

"It's always been one of my abilities. You merely assumed it wasn't." The panther spoke.

"Nightfire…I'm sorry!" Syndrea cried. "He's a better fighter than I thought!"

"What?" Nightfire growled. "You mean…the whole 'lousy shot' thing was all an act?"

"Well, the more stupid you act in front of people, the more surprised they'll be when you kill them." Shadowflare laughed. "Pity that didn't work back on the Hyperion."

"Hold on a sec! The Hyperion? You mean…" Nightfire shook his head. "The ghost ship with those zombies…"

"Pretty nice job, wasn't it? Yes, it was me who gave you and your friends that little adventure." Shadowflare bragged. "Didn't work out through. Since then, I've been lying in wait, for another chance. A chance I've now been give with this alien orb!"

While he had been busy talking, Syndrea had noticed his grip had been loosening. And she signaled this to Nightfire with her eyes.

Nightfire gave a slight nod of confirmation. Syndrea was going to break free allowing him to get a clear shot at Shadowflare.

The dragon tensed, and fired the moment he saw Syndrea move. However, he'd greatly misunderstood her intentions. And underestimated how much his friend's combat abilities had improved.

What Syndrea did was trip up Shadowflare with her tail, snatching orb on the process. It worked perfectly and the female velociraptor grabbed it in her claws.

In horror, Nightfire realized, too late, that the maneuver had put her right in the path of his fiery breath. And that breath had been fired with full force.

In that moment, Nightfire saw the one he cared for the most flash before his eyes. And his greatest sin about to strike.

It did, hitting the orb Syndrea instinctively held out in front of her to protect herself. There was an electrical crackly as energy swirled around the orb…before it exploded in a burst of Energon.

The blast threw everybody down…however all Nightfire head was Syndrea's scream as she went over the edge. Her retracted Energon blade hit the ground near his feet.

"NO!" The dragon pulled himself up as quickly as his body would let him and ran to the edge, prepared to dive down after her. However, another explosion threw him head over heels.

This one was from the spot Syndrea had fallen onto.

"No…no…" Nightfire was reaching out with his mind…but found nothing. Not a single trace of her. "NO! NO! RRRRAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!"

His dragon body roared with every ounce of its energy, letting off such a terrifying beast scream that it would've cause even the boldest of warriors to hesitate.

There was another groan was Shadowflare pulled himself to his feet. The very sight of the Predacon filled Nightfire with pure rage, so much that his fiery red eyes seemed to explode with the flame's color.

"YOU…YOU!"

Shadowflare tried to run, only to have Nightfire pounce on him, slamming him hard. The dragon pulled him up and launched a frenzy of claw slashes and tail lashes at the Predacon, making sure every one hurt him badly.

Shadowflare fell, bring up his bowgun is desperation. Nightfire simply crushed it in his jaws.

Like a lion upon its prey, Nightfire used his entire body weight to hold Shadowflare down as his jaws tore into the screaming Predacon's circuits.

Mech-fluid splattered everywhere, on Nightfire's face, his fore claws, and his eyes. None of it was even noted by the enraged dragon.

All he was concerned about was repeating the dismembering feat on Shadowflare, only making sure to cause the Predacon even more pain. Finally, the dragon clamped his jaws around the neck and twisted, snapping the circuitry and effectively paralyzing his opponent.

"YOU'LL DIE! YOU'LL DIE FOR KILLING THE ONE I LOVE!" Nightfire howled.

Raising a claw, he called Syndrea's Energon blade to his hand, igniting it as he took hold.

"Wait! You're a Maximal right?" Shadowflare pleaded. "Maximals don't kill right?"

"I'm not a Maximal." Nightfire snarled. "You merely assumed I was…"

The sword came down.

"Nightfire?" Calico asked as Nightfire came walking past them.

The dragon simply shoved his way between her and Dinobot. Airazor came flying in and landed beside the group.

"What happened?" Airazor asked. "Did you get the orb?"

"The orb has been destroyed." Nightfire replied blankly, staring at the ground. "And Shadowflare…we won't be hearing from him, ever again. His spark has been extinguished."

"Syndrea? Wasn't she with you?" Calico pushed.

Nightfire refused to answer.

"Nightfire!"

"That Pred…he…no it was me. I killed her."

No one stopped him this time as he spread his wings and flew away.

Calico held on to Dinobot's arm and was surprised to find the soldier didn't pull it away. Airazor too, stared at the ground, not knowing what to do.

Several days later…

A lone figure stood atop the high mountain. It was Nightfire, well protected from the chilling winds by the thick hide of his black dragon beast mode.

Whether the others knew or not was none of his concern. Searches had been carried out, but absolutely no trace of Syndrea had been found.

Bringing his claw up, Nightfire stuck Syndrea's Energon blade into the ground near the small marker. For a long while, he stared, first down to the valley below and later the sky above.

Nightfire opened his claw, releasing the petals of a white flower which were immediately blown away by the winds. His eyes turned and followed as they flew away.

"Syndrea…" The black dragon finally spoke. "Was our love…ever meant to be?"