(Heat Of The Battle by Stan Bush plays)
Me: Hey, hey, hey! It's WOLFWATCHER12 and The Amazing Ghost Musician here for another chapter of Steven Universe: War Of The Beasts! And once again, we are in Club Luda from the game Def Jam Vendetta. And this one is going to be another 2-part event.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: That's right, Wolf! It'll be based off another one of our favorite Beast Wars episodes "The Trigger". You wanna explain the whole plot to them?
Me: Sure thing, Tigatron is on a scouting mission over in Siberia, and gets ambushed by the four Predacon flyers. During this battle, Tigatron ends up falling onto a mysterious flying island. But there's a secret twist behind it. The island itself is a self-contained ecosystem guarded by powerful weapons of alien design. Black Diamond set it there due to it being a gift from his alien friends.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Those friends of his are known as "The Vok", the ones who've been a big role in the Transformers franchise.
Me: Exactamundo. The Vok are formless and look like skulls. Anyhow, it seems that Tigatron finds the flying island to be a land of peace. Which it's really not! It's a weapon in disguise and Megatron hatches a plan to use this to his advantage to end the Beast Wars in one fell swoop. But, his plan might just backfire due to some shady activity from one of his own minions, who is it?
The Amazing Ghost Musician: I wonder which one of Black Diamond's minions that might be, I mean who would wanna sabotage the MOST Dangerous Gem in the universe?
Me: I'm not sure, dude. Whoever it is, they have no clue what they're in for.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: But just to let our fellow readers know now, The Vok won't be coming into the story until sometime after the Transmetal ERA begins, and that won't be for a good while. Anyway, you wanna explain the rest of the plot?
Me: Sure. The island is hidden by a giant cloud. But Tigatron wants to keep the island as a land of paradise, and to make sure that it doesn't fall into the hands of the Predacons. If they do, the Maximals, the Crystal Gems and all of Beach City and Little Homeworld can be in great danger.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: And for good reason, Megatron plans on finding the secret power from Black Diamond's mysterious flying island so he can destroy them all, and continue his plot to take over the Earth and enslave the human race.
Me: And not only that, but also, keep in mind, Megatron also wants to turn Earth into the Predacons' new fortress as well.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: But I'm sure that our fellow readers already know that, so let's just finish explaining and get started with chapter 16. Shall we?
Me: Yes, but first, I would like to take this time to say this. Those of you reading this who are Young Justice fans, there seems to be some new hope for a season 5. Fingers crossed at all times.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Well dude, let's not forget that there's a number of people all over the internet that are showing their outrage towards the decisions that WB Discovery is making, and it's causing a great amount of them to boycott WB Discovery. And the more people boycott them, the more it's gonna cost them money, and affect their partnership with Ted Turner.
Me: That can't be good for AEW either.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Yeah dude, Tony Khan made it pretty clear that he's not going along with the decisions that WB Discovery wants to make to AEW. Especially with toning down the violence and language, what the hell is wrong with them? Does WB Discovery wanna really turn AEW into that crappy PG bulls*** that the WWE is?
Me: I don't know, but it has to STOP! (slamming my fist on the table) It is endangering the media community!
The Amazing Ghost Musician: I agree, but it's gonna have to take a great amount of people to boycott WB Discovery in order for things to change. Remember Wolf, it's all about the money with these businesses.
Me: True, these bigwigs need to be kicked down a peg, but enough ranting. Let's get to it! And let's also try and get this up to 100 views, shall we?
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Well we're going to need to do a lot of advertising on both our accounts with FanFiction, DeviantArt, YouTube, Facebook and any other accounts we have.
Me: Yes, that's true, but I feel we can do it. Now, let's start the chapter!
Both: AND AWAY WE GO!
Disclaimer: We do not own Steven Universe or Beast Wars/Transformers in any way. All rights for Steven Universe go to Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Inc. All rights for Beast Wars: Transformers go to Hasbro, Larry Ditilio, Bob Forward, YTV, Mainframe Entertainment, Alliance Media and Claster.
Chapter 16: Trigger Of The Black Diamond - Part 1!
We find ourselves on the balcony of Steven's house where Steven is looking over the horizon and is joined by Rhinox, as he is enjoying the view as well. Not a single Predacon attack, but they still kept a vigilant eye out.
"Thank you for inviting me up here, Steven." said Rhinox, as he smiled.
"It's no problem, Rhinox!" Steven smiled back at him. "I'm glad to have you up here. And also, you're like the uncle I never had."
Rhinox could help but giggled, "Never thought of that before." he said to the boy.
"Hey guys." said a female voice from behind them.
Pearl comes out to greet them.
"Hey Pearl." said Steven, as he made room for her. "What brings you out here?"
"Just needed some air." Pearl sighed, as she stretched her arms onto the edge of the balcony and lay her head facedown. "I heard a commotion at Little Homeschool, apparently two of the students got into a disagreement and I'm at my wits end with it already."
"Dang, sorry to hear that." Steven said, as he went over to Pearl to rub her back.
Pearl smiled slightly at Steven, "Thank you. I couldn't stand the bickering between the two. I just need a break."
Rhinox then assured her, "Don't worry, Pearl. I'm sure something will come up." he said, making her feel reassured.
Just then, the comlinks beeped *BEEP-BEEP-BEEP* and a voice called, "Optimus to Steven, Pearl and Rhinox, come in!" Optimus said.
"This is Steven here, what is it Optimus?" Steven asked, speaking into the communicator.
And so Optimus replied, "Garnet and I are looking into an anomaly at the spot where Tigatron went." he told him.
"Where is Tigatron, anyway?" asked Pearl.
To which, Garnet replied, "On a scouting mission. He was checking the Northern reaches of the area to see if the Predacons were up to no good."
Steven and Pearl looked at each other and wondered, "Did he find anything?" asked Steven.
"Negative, but he'll keep looking," said Garnet.
"Okay, we'll head into the base to join you." said Rhinox, as he replied.
Optimus acknowledged it, "Acknowledged! Over and out!" said Optimus, as the communicator went off.
Meanwhile, clouds move ponderously past the icy cliffs, lightning crashing. It seems different from the others, a dark concealing bulk which holds its own shape despite the winds and air currents. Lightning crashed around it. The cloud moves along the front of an icy cliff as it brushes against it. Also, on the cliff, something was happening. It shakes and rumbles, as though from an earthquake or as if it had been scraped by a mountain, as the shaking continues to intensify and such.
And on the cliff, we see Tigatron up there, padding along the ice and reacting to sudden shifts in the seismic activity. "By all the forces, this is not a volcanic area." Tigatron said, as he looked for a spot to take cover in. The shaking stopped and Tigatron recovered his balance, lifting his head in an attempt to sense what happened. "Hmmm, curious. Though I am close to these rugged lands, they still have their secrets." he said to himself.
He starts forward once more, he is headed for a Laser Relay Station built atop the highest part of the cliff in the near distance. "And I have my duties. Time for my weekly report."
With a last rumble it moves away from the cliff again. Lightning crashes all around and it reveals the familiar shapes of Waspinator, Flamenix, Bluebird Azurite and Terrorsaur winging through the storm. "Ah, the Maximal is in view," said Terrorsaur, as he looked on.
The four of them looked in the direction of Tigatron.
"So, Tigatron is by himself, is he?" Bluebird asked, feeling like she had the right opportunity. "Well, isn't this something?" she chuckled and clucked.
"Wazzzpinator loves victims that are punctual!" Waspinator agreed with them both.
Flamenix snickered a little before saying, "Let's get him!"
As the four of them dive towards Tigatron, he saw that they were coming his way. "Tigatron, MAXIMIZE!" he shouts, now changed into robot mode, he steps forward and activates the relay station. The laser that was shot out of it hummed toward the distant horizon as he clicked on the microphone. "This is Tigatron calling Maximal Base, please respond." Tigatron said, speaking into it.
The laser reflected off a mirror nearby and headed directly towards the Axalon and zipped right over there.
Back at the Axalon, Optimus and Garnet were joined by Pearl, Steven and Rhinox.
"Hey guys, how's your tidal research going?" Steven asked, wanting to know.
"We've got some odd anomalies, It would seem that there's something big circling the Earth." Garnet explained, as she showed what was on the monitor. "What do you make of it, Rhinox?" she asked him.
Rhinox replied, "Looks like…one of those anomalies is like a moon, but it's lighter than the one we know." as he saw this.
"That's strange." Pearl said, adding to this.
Optimus gave a significant glance at this and when he saw it Rhinox said, "It's as though it were…Hollow."
"Instrument error?" asked Steven.
Garnet then replied, "I doubt that it's a second moon, but it's too light to be another planet."
"Curious!" Optimus said, as he thought it over.
What the Maximals and Crystal Gems didn't know was that the thing in question was actually Black Diamond's flagship orbiting the Earth's Moon in disguise.
On the bridge, one of the soldiers said, "My lord, the Maximals and their Crystal Gems spotted where we are!" he panicked.
"WHAT!? Show me at once!" Black Diamond demanded, as he were. And soon, it was shown on his monitor. He gasped when he and his wife saw this. "Curses of Amenhotep!"
"It seems they've got a scanner that can reach out into the depths of space!" said the soldier, as he reported it.
Black Diamond was stunned, "Well it seems as though Optimus Primal, Steven Universe and their allies have found our little hovel." he said.
Another soldier spoke up, "Permission to speak, my lord?"
"Permission granted, soldier." said Black Diamond.
"If you don't mind me asking, why haven't they made an attempt to strike at us?" the soldier asked.
"Those foolish Maximals and Crystal Gems are far below us." Black Diamond said, relaying a chart to him. "We're too far in space for them to strike. So far, they've only seen our disguise and not our real ship, which is good."
"Indeed, darling." said Tanzanite, as she agreed with her hubby. "Also, may I ask what you plan to do now?"
"Ask and you shall receive, my dear." he said to her. "General Nizhalgal, report!"
One of Black Diamond's generals, Nizhalgal, appeared on the monitor. "Yes sir!"
"Is our secret weapon ready yet?" he asked the general.
"Yes sir, it is!" he acknowledged as he showed that there was a flying island hidden inside a cloud that was near the spot where Tigatron was at.
"Excellent!" said Black Diamond, as he saw that it was all set. "It's time to see what this island I got from my dear friends can do," he added.
Back on Earth, Optimus and the others were still looking at the anomaly they detected and were interrupted by the sound of an incoming transmission.
"This is Tigatron calling Maximal Base," Tigatron called into the communication devices. "Maximal base, come in."
"Hello, you've reached good guy central, we're live here in Beach City and the weather's lookin' nice and peaceful as always." Rattrap boasted, as he spoke to Tigatron in casual fashion. "So what's new, pussycat? Any Preds prowler near your location?"
Tigatron chuckles, "This is a peaceful land, Rattrap. At least for the moment, I have not seen a…" he stops and sees a reflection on the panel. "Uh oh." We now see Waspinator, Terrorsaur, Flamenix and Bluebird diving into the area, while the three Predacons converge into Robot mode and fired their missiles at the Maximal. Tigatron dives to the side and says to Rattrap, "Revise that! I'm being attacked!"
*KABLOOEY*
The missiles impacted where he was and exploded. The laser relay got hit in the attack, crashing over to the side.
Tigatron tried yelling into the comms but there was static on their end. "...yell, broken off…" he tried to get a message.
"STRIPES!" Rattrap shouted in horror.
"Tigatron?" Pearl asked, feeling worried.
"Yo Stripey, do you read?" Rattrap tried to signal him. "Aw come on, say something?"
"Tigatron, please respond!" Pearl also tried, but to no avail.
Garnet felt something was wrong, "Tigatron's being attacked by Predacons!"
"We better go help him," Steven said, feeling concerned for his ally.
"Alright, I'll alert the others about this!" Rhinox said, giving the go sign.
"Let's go!" Garnet said.
Optimus transformed and said, "Primejets, ON!" as his jets fired and he took off into the sky. Steven and Garnet join him as well and they streaked across the skies to race over and help Tigatron.
At the icy cliff, flashes of thunder came about as the battle rages on and Tigatron fired back against the four fliers. Unbeknownst to the combatants, the cover-cloud began drifting towards them, and at a level below the high cliff edge. And as the battle escalated, the communications console got hit and it landed on Tigatron.
"AGH!" he yelled in pain, before he threw the console off of his body as he got up and shot his blaster at the four Predacon flyers. *BLAM BLAM BLAM* He fired multiple times to keep them at bay. Waspinator and Terrorsaur dodged the blasts as Bluebird blocked a shot with her umbrella blade.
Flamenix however was not moved as Tigatron shot at him next, but he veered to the right just 10 inches away, then he shot back at Tigatron, but he took cover behind something. The four Predacon flyers then fired downward at him. Tigatron then rolled to one side of the area as the explosions impacted where he was at. The ice began to crack from said explosions, even as Waspinator, Terrorsaur, Bluebird and Flamenix bank for another shot, the cover-cloud moved ponderously in and it envelops the cliff.
But then Flamenix began dive-bombing his way and he and Tigatron duked it out in the form of fisticuffs. He did a right jab and the Tigatron delivered a straight right punch then a left hook and he covered his face as Flamenix jabbed repeatedly, only to get an uppercut from the tiger Maximal.
Bluebird used this moment to fire at Tigatron, he did so, but it hit not only him, but Flamenix too. "Hey, watch where you're aiming that thing, will ya!?" demanded Flamenix in annoyance.
"Maybe you shouldn't have been in the way, moron!" Bluebird shot back at him, verbally.
Terrorsaur then said, "Don't fight among yourselves! GET THE MAXIMAL!" regaining their focus.
Flamenix and Bluebird stopped bickering, and after that, Bluebird dived down to assist Flamenix in battle and began fighting too, she tried to hit Tigatron with her umbrella blade, but he dodged her strikes all the time and then he tripped them both up with a sweep kick.
Waspinator fired his gun at the cliff and then at Tigatron, which caused seismic activity to flare up again, there was a booming crunch from the side of the mountain and a massive rumbling from the area itself. Flamenix and Bluebird got out of the way and while he was still trying to get his feet, the entire section of the cliff he's on cracks. *CRRRRRRACK* Tigatron scrambled as he tried to get to safety, he grunted with such effort as he grabbed the side of the cliff.
Unfortunately, Tigatron couldn't hold on much longer as he lost his grip and began falling off the cliff, "AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he fell towards the cover-cloud not far below. And then, he abruptly vanished into said cloud as its billows enveloped him.
As they saw the Tiger Maximal vanish, the four Predacon flyers saw this and when they couldn't find him they loomed over and looked pleased. "Success! Maximal unit Tigatron, Destroyed!" Waspinator cheered in a victorious way.
"Let's gather some fragments," Terrorsaur said, pointing that part out. "Lord Megatron will want evidence."
Flamenix agreed, as he darted in the direction. "Yes, I call for his head!"
"Not unless I get that tiger's head first." Bluebird declared, as she made a beeline for any scraps of him.
"Wazzzpinator will show you both!" Waspinator added, as he also flew to catch up with them.
Terrorsaur screeched, "HEY! IT'S MINE, YOU FRITHS!" He then went the same direction that they did.
They began diving as the cloud moved and it showed a rocky ice terrain at the base of the cliff. And when they got there, there was no sign of Tigatron anywhere to be found, which left them baffled and confused.
"What the hell?" Flamenix asked, feeling stunned.
"Where did Maximal go?" Waspinator also asked, in confusion.
"We saw him fall into that cloud," Bluebird Azurite began thinking about what could have happened to the wreckage, if there was any. "Hmmm, very suspicious."
"He's gotta be around here, somewhere!" Terrorsaur "Keep looking!"
And so, they began their search and went upwards, Terrorsaur went up first and then Bluebird and Flamenix, and finally Waspinator was last. "Wait for Wazzzzpinator!" he called
They all floated up inside the dark cloud, and when they got closer, they heard an explosion and missile fire. The cloud flares briefly from within and then the four of them scream in fright.
Back at the Maximal Base command center, Rhinox, Rattrap, Amethyst, Pearl, Cheetor and Dinobot are gathered around the console and await the report.
"This is Optimus, Steven and Garnet to command center." Optimus reported.
"Can you read us?" Pearl asked.
"You there?" asked Steven.
Cheetor chimed in, "We hear ya, guys! What's the stitch? Where's my fellow cat-bot?" he asked, feeling concerned for Maximal who was like the big brother he never had.
The three of them looked all around the ruined area, and they grimaced about this and saw the wreckage from the battle. "The place has seen some heavy action." said Optimus, as he looked at it a little more.
"Looking at this, it without a doubt doesn't look good." Steven pointed out.
"It doesn't look good at all, Tigatron's footprints lead to a broken cliff edge." Garnet said, as they walked to where they headed.
"Garnet, you don't suppose that he's….gone. Do you?" Steven asked, as he saw the damage done to the shattered cliffedge.
Garnet could only look down in concern and affirmation, "It is unknown, but possible."
"We might have to face a grim possibility," Optimus said, in a grim manner. "Tigatron… may have been destroyed."
At the base, they all reacted in different ways while some of them cried at this.
"Say it ain't so, Big Bot! Not our striped scout!" Cheetor panicked.
"This place is a battleground." said Optimus, as he looked. "Blast craters and missile debris everywhere."
Garnet got out what looked like a scanner and looked for any traces of something. "From what my sensors can pick up, it was an aerial attack."
"An aerial attack, that could only mean…" Pearl added, as she heard this.
"Waspinator and Terrorsaur!" Dinobot said, as he knew it sounded familiar.
"Yeah, just add Flamenix and Bluebird Azurite to the mix and we've got ourselves a recipe for disaster." Rattrap pointed out.
Amethyst snorted and said, "Oh thanks for pointing out the obvious, Rat-face and Dino-butt." she remarked. "You want your consulting fee now?"
"I don't need your fee for slag, pebble brain!" Rattrap shot back at her. "I'd rather extract it from your stone-headed mind."
"Oh yeah, well maybe I should slam it into your hide!" Amethyst countered, as they angrily stared at each other.
"HEY!" Rhinox broke it up and yelled, "NOT NOW!" He gave them both a stern look before turning back to the command panel. As they turned away from one-another, Amethyst used hand jesters to mock Rattrap as he shook his hand in anger before giving her his middle finger. "If Tigatron's been scrapped, there should be a few components." Rhinox said.
Atop the icy cliff looking down, Optimus searched as Pearl responded into the comms "And if there are, let us know." she said.
"We haven't found any yet, but we'll keep looking." Optimus replied.
Steven then added, "He's not answering his comm-link either. Destroyed or not, he's not around here!"
"I don't think that Tigatron's been destroyed, I can still sense his spark is still active." Garnet related to them, as she checked the aura of the tiger Maximal. "But his where-abouts are unknown, if he's still alive, we have to find him. STAT!"
Outside the Predacon Base, we see Airazor in Beast Mode, flying over the lava pits and she was looking at something, she zoomed in and saw something come into view.
"Hmmm…" she said, looking into it. It was Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Flamenix, Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine who were all damaged very badly. They had been singed and were smoking from the damages while Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine were covered in soot. They flew weakly into the base. "WHOA! Either the grunge look is coming back or those five ran into something hot." Airazor said to herself, after seeing this. "I'd better report this." she flew away from the area.
Once inside the base, Megatron looked absolutely baffled by this. "WHAT? Tigatron did THIS to you?" he asked, in shock.
Aquamarine then added, "No, Lord Megatron! It wasn't just Tigatron."
"It was…. A freakin' monument!" Terrorsaur stated, as he felt weak.
"It's true, boss!" Eyeball Ruby agreed with that as Waspinator nodded his head in agreement.
Megatron however wanted to hear more, "Explain yourselves!" he demanded.
"We thought Tigatron was finished," Terrorsaur said, as he explained. "So we followed him as he fell into a cloud…" he then revealed something else. "But inside…It wasn't just a cloud."
"That's right, it was an entire freakin ISLAND!" Aquamarine said, adding to that.
Flashback…Before They Returned…
Inside the perpetual cover-cloud, it revealed a clear area containing a veritable Shangri-La…A lush paradise of an ecosystem, surmounted by a strange looking obelisk-based tower with a glowing tip. Tigatron landed on the edge of this immense flying island and when the flying Predacons came into his viewpoint, he fired his gun at them.
"There he is!" said Flamenix, as he spotted him. "Get him!"
Waspinator and Bluebird were both hit and knocked spinning, but then Flamenix and Terrorsaur transformed back into Robot Mode, same for Waspinator and they all aimed their weapons at Tigatron, he dived to one side as the missiles exploded along the edge of the flying island. As the explosions rise up, the obelisk glows angrily and it fires a beam of pure energy in their direction. The beam smashes into the four of them, and sends them tumbling away into the surrounding cover-cloud as sparks and debris trailed behind them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed in horror, as they fell from the area while Bluebird separated into Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine.
"Getting hit by a monument, seriously?!" complained Flamenix.
End of Flashback…
"We… barely made it back alive." said Terrorsaur, as he finally fainted and so did Flamenix and Waspinator while Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine fell to the ground.
Megatron was intrigued by this and spoke to himself as he pondered it with interest. "Hmmm… A flying island, concealed from view." he started off. "Which contains a powerful weapon…. This could be useful. Yessss! Such a tactical advantage could end the Beast Wars once and for all." he said. He then turned to the other Predacons in the room. "Tarantulas, Spinitor, get all of them to the C/R tanks immediately." Megatron ordered.
"Yes, my lord!" said Spinitor, as he went and grabbed Flamenix and Terrorsaur while Waspinator was carried by Tarantulas.
"Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Jasper and DarkFanger, prepare yourselves for immediate departure to that flying island."
Blackarachnia said with a hint of snide in her voice, "I don't mean to question your orders, Lord Megatron. But you don't think it would be wise to discover who created such an artifact? Or WHY?" she asked.
Megatron snarled at her, "Do not question my orders, DAMMIT! Time enough for such inquiries when we control the island's unstoppable power. But if Tigatron is there already, he must be eliminated before he can alert the other Maximals and Crystal Gems. NOW GO!" he raged.
"As you wish, my lord!" Blackarachnia sighed and jerked her head towards Scorponok, Jasper and DarkFanger. "Alright, you three, let's get going."
"Right away!" said Jasper, as she agreed.
"At once!" Scorponok saluted.
"The sssssssooner we take control of that flying island, and the sssssssooner we eliminate Tigatron" DarkFanger agreed.
Blackarachnia "Right!"
And then, Megatron said, "One moment, Scorponok." he held up a claw and gestured Scorponok to come over to him, then he moved his platform over towards the Predacon leader, they whisper inaudible to each other, with Blackarachnia glaring at this in a suspicious way.
Back at the Maximal Base, we see Optimus, Steven, Garnet and Airazor landing through the roof-hatch and they begin assessing the situation that Airazor saw while out on patrol.
"You're certain of this, Airazor?" asked Garnet, as her curiosity was piqued at the moment.
"Positive!" said Airazor, as she went on with it. "It was Terorrsaur, Flamenix, Waspinator and Bluebird Azurite, and they were all seriously slagged. Almost scrapped."
Rhinox then added, "Not Tigatron then, that's not his style." he pointed out.
Optimus agreed with that. "No, Tigatron would normally defend himself against an enemy attack, but total destruction is against everything he believes in."
"He lives by examples of life." Steven said.
Dinobot then looked at the teenage boy and said, "No offense, but he would be a fool to not completely annihilate his enemies."
Amethyst remarked, "Oh and I suppose he should resort to violence and destruction like the Predacons do?" she demanded.
"Amethyst, really?" Pearl asked, feeling appalled by her vinegar talk.
"Hey when it comes to Predacons, I've gotta agree with Chopperface on this one." Rattrap said, making them shocked to hear it.
"Well isn't that a surprise," Amethyst said sarcastically, "You know, Pearl, I'm surprised that those two are not related to each other."
Both Dinobot and Rattrap glared at Amethyst, "I wouldn't dare be related to him! Besides, I am an orphan." he told them.
"Seriously? You could have mentioned that before!" Amethyst stammered, as she was stunned. "And not only that, but I can't believe you're so cynical, Rat-Face!"
"Watch your mouth, stonehead!" Rattrap growled, cocking his fist at her and getting ready for a punch to her face.
Before the two could continue their bickering, Cheetor spoke up, after he sped into there and stood abruptly on the console. "WHOA! Heads up, fellow bots!" he said to them. "Movement at Pred central! Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Jasper and DarkFanger are all heading out… and they're not wasting time."
Garnet put the scanners on and saw that he was correct about it. "Got them!" she said, as she spotted where they were at.
"You're not kidding," Steven said, as he saw it on the monitor. "There must be something big out there that they're trying to find!"
"Airazor, can you follow them… but without them seeing you?" Optimus asked.
"Easily… Beast Mode!" Airazor said, as she flew out of the base while in hawk form.
Pearl thought it over and asked, "Something must have their interest."
"You're telling me, something's got Megatron's scaly tail in a wringer." Rattrap said, wanting to know what it is as well.
"Maybe it's Tigatron, maybe he's still alive!" Cheetor said, feeling a new sense of hope rise in him.
"It's very likely that Tigatron is still alive," Garnet agreed. "I sense his spark is still active, but his whereabouts are still unknown."
Steven felt there was a new hope to this, "Optimus, do you believe that Airazor will be able to find Tigatron?"
"We can only hope," Optimus said to him, assuring him of that but he also felt a sense of dread. "But if the Predacons reach him first… he may not survive much longer!" he ushered this, as he felt concerned.
We now see Blackarachnia, Scorponok, DarkFanger and Jasper heading up the and racing up the landscape northwind as fast as possible, while inside the cloud, Tigatron was now in Beast Mode and he moved cautiously inward, across the verdant landscape towards the distant glowing obelisk. The cover-cloud was still there, a ponderous two-mile-wide blanket of concealment, drifting between the peaks of the icy mountain ridge.
As he looked around, he got a glimpse of the landscape inside the cover-cloud. This flying island was as verdant and beautiful as ever and the tip of the obelisk was glowing, but the light seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The flowers and trees were abundant, there were even butterflies and lizards and many small, incidental creatures roaming around. Tigatron walked around and saw this. "Truly, this is a land of wonderment." he said to himself.
Looking around at this, he then saw another thing, "I've seen many good things in Little Homeworld," Tigatron said to himself again. "But, here, in the frozen north, this tiny, self-contained tropical ecosystem somehow…exists," he added, feeling in awe at this.
He then dashed across the grassy area towards the obelisk. The cover-cloud swirled a constant wall outside the borders of this flying island and he spotted a lined-up row of boulders nearby. He walked past it, "Yet…It is hidden…" he said, as one of the boulders had a symbol carved on it that looked like the one on the obelisk and it began to glow red, which was not a good sign at all.
As he lept back with his cat-like reflexes, Tigatron felt the ground beneath him crumble away somewhat, exposing what appeared to be a pitfall. The hole went all the way through the bottom of the island. The debris of the pitfall cover tumbled away from the gap and into the clouds below. "And protected…" Tigatron said with a startled gasp.
As though it were triggered by the pitfall's failure, there is a sudden eruption from the ground by the line of boulders. Suddenly, four Giant medal poles ripped from the earth itself, the tips of the metal poles hooked the boulders in place. As they rose up, they flexed up into huge arches by their anchored tips and resembled giant catapults and launched the boulders at him.
"Tigatron, MAXIMIZE!" Tigatron transformed to his robot mode and as one by one, the catapults wrenched the boulders from the ground and swung them over to smash to the ground, crashing in the area where Tigatron is frantically trying to dodge them. He leaps, dives and rolls, hurling himself away before a giant boulder smashes where he was at. He's already spinning through the air, but he aimed his blaster upward, as a shadow loomed over him. *BLAM* he fired his blaster at the last boulder to fragments just as it was about to crush him.
The Obelisk glows angrily, again, and opens up its weapon banks, and then it fires its laser at him. Reacting to this, Tigatron then glanced at his steaming blaster and got out of the way of the obelisk. "Bad move!" he said, as rolled to his feet and began sprinting for cover. The obelisk fired its energy beam and Tigatron dived out of its way as it tore up the landscape where he was.
Tigatron then peered out cautiously, the obelisk's glowing soon faded again, allowing the tiger Maximal to breathe a sigh of relief and then he glanced at his blaster. "It would seem that energy weapons are not welcome in this peaceful land." Tigatron said, adding to it. "So be it… Beast Mode!" He reverted back to his beast form. "Let me be a visitor… not an invader." he said, as he noticed a butterfly flit past his nose and walked away from the area.
Unfortunately for him, the Predacons had begun their route to the area. DarkFanger managed to slither his way around while Blackarachnia and Scorponok crawled and Jasper used a hover platform to navigate.
"There it is! Terrorsaur and his group of flyers are not the brightest witnesses, but the description fits." Blackarachnia said to them. "The flying island must be inside the cloud."
"No doubt about it, widow." Jasper agreed with her.
"I'll check!" Scorponok said, as he transformed into robot mode and stuck out his right claw and clicked it twice. "Cyberbee launch!" he said, firing his CyberBee into the cloud, it hummed up and he added, "On visual, now!" He ordered the CyberBee.
The CyberBee then activated its visual mode, showing the overlay of the flying island. The electronic scanner shows an aerial shot of the bridagon as the cyberbee streaks across the landscape. It buzzes in a vertigo-inducing path over the landscape, but as it approaches a rock formation, we see Tigatron's beast form's image lunging at the cybernetic bug and causing the viewfinder to be full of static.
"*GASP*... SLAG!" Scorponok jumped in fright.
"What the hell is with you, Shellhead?" Blackarachnia complained.
"Did you find the island?" Jasper wondered.
"Yeah, it's there alright, and so's Tigatron." Scorponok said.
"WHAT!?" they all said in unison, after hearing what Scorponok said.
DarkFanger was taken aback by this, "He lives!? Drat!" he slammed his tail on the rocky edge.
"We're gonna fix that, right after we singe him!" Jasper said, cracking her knuckles.
"Trust me, Jasper! That pussycat won't be around for long," Blackarachnia said, reassuring her comrade. "Blackaranchia, TERRORIZE!" She transforms into robot mode, and gets out a grappling hook launcher and looks up at the cover-cloud as it passes overhead. She aimed and fired it upward as the cable trailed away.
What the four Predacons didn't know was that Airazor was watching everything from a distance. And she stopped flying and flapped in place.
"What's this?" Airazor asked herself, "Blackarachnia tries to lasso a cloud?" she zooms in on it to see that it happened. "More surprisingly…" She spotted Scorponok on her back and DarkFanger holding onto Scorponok's tail as Jasper flew in the same direction as them. "She seems to have succeeded!" she was in awe of this. "I should check this out!"
She streaks towards the distant cover-cloud, and sees the four Predacons rising into it. Scorponok spotted something on his viewfinder and said, "Uh oh, we got company!" as he clicked his claw to load some missiles into it.
Back on the flying island, Tigatron held down the surveillance drone Scorponok had sent to scout the island and see if he was still alive.
"One of Scorponok's spying cyberbees." Tigatron grunted to keep it on the ground and prevent it from returning to Scorponok. "With the Predacons infiltrating, this land of peace may not be peaceful much longer." he then began fiddling with it a little. "Still, it may prove useful."
Airazor comes flying through the sky, as she screeches above. "Hmm?" Tigatron looked up at this.
We see the grappling hook wedged in the edge of the brigadoon, Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Jasper and DakrFanger all climbing towards it, having already passed up through the cloud. Scorponok aimed his launcher at a good distance.
"Now, to eliminate that flying pest!" Scorponok said, as he fired his launcher at Airazor.
*KABLAMMO!* it hits the hawk Maximal and causes her to screech in pain as she spirals out of control.
"YEAH HAHAHAHA!" Scorponok cackled evilly.
Airazor was hurtling towards the ground, as Tigatron took the CyberBee with him to race over to her "AIRAZOR!" he shouted in horror, watching his friend and comrade fall out of the sky.
This makes the Obelisk glow angrily, and opens fire a power blast at Scorponok. But the four Predacons were able to jump out of the way just in time, avoiding the crossfire of the blast.
"That was close!" DarkFanger said, feeling startled.
"WOW! That's a real blaster!" Scorponok added, feeling in awe by that.
"You got that right, shellhead!" Jasper agreed.
"In case you guys don't know, it is activated by our own weapons." Blackarachnia pointed out. "That is why we must take control of it.… but carefully."
"Good idea, widow girl." Jasper agreed with her, as she didn't want to get blown up.
They moved forward with their plan and hurried up the brigadoon.
Meanwhile, in the Shadow Diamond Empire's flagship, we see Black Diamond looking on at this.
"Spectacular!" he said, in awe at the wonderment of it. "I knew the weapons they added to the island would be functional!"
"Well, well, darling. Seems your friends have outdone themselves, wouldn't you agree?" said Tanzanite, as she wondered.
"Indeed they have, my love." Black Diamond agreed, as he and his wife kissed.
Just then, Black Diamond's son Obsidian walks into the room. "Ah, Prince Obsidian, it's good to have you back on the flagship!" said a soldier, as he bowed down.
Obsidian then knelt down in front of his father and greeted him. "Father. Mother."
"Welcome, son." Black Diamond smiled, as he hugged his son and Tanzanite did the same thing.
"It's good to see you again, dear." said Tanzanite. "What brings you here?"
"I wanted to visit you both." he replied. The two rulers of the Shadow Diamond empire smiled at their son. "I even brought you both gifts. Riches from worlds I have conquered and new slaves for you labors."
"Ah, excellent!" Black Diamond said, in admiration. "Also, have a look at this." he showed him to the viewscreen.
"Ah, so this must be Earth." Obsidian said, as he looked on in wonderment at it. "And what's that view of?"
"That would be the island I got from my allies, the Vok." Black Diamond told him.
Obsidian then looked at the screen as an image of Blackarachnia appeared, "And who is that, a Transformer? If so, which is she, Autobot or Decepticon?"
"That my son is the black widow Predacon known as Blackarachnia," Tanzanite answered.
"Predacon?" he wondered out of curiosity.
Black Diamond nodded, "Indeed. The Decepticons were the Predacons' ancestors and for centuries they warred with the Autobots, who happen to be the ancestors of the Maximals."
"Interesting!" Obsidian mused at this, as he looked at how the widow Predacon looked. "She's got a fantastic body."
"Indeed." Tanzanite said, as she admired her.
Black Diamond then said, "I feel as though she would be a good match for you, son." he said.
Obsidian mused at that, "I do believe you are right, father."
And the three of them all roared with laughter and slapped each other on the back. "How to convince her to be your match is still the ticker." said Tanzanite.
"Mmmmm… Perhaps I can offer Blackarachnia a position in our empire." Obsidian thought it over.
Black Diamond marveled at that. "Indeed, brilliant son!" he congratulated his boy and then said, "But will she accept it is what I'd like to know."
"We'll just have to wait and see." Obsidian said, as he thought it over.
Lying dazed on the ground, Airazor began to feel dazed, as she groaned in pain, but Tigatron managed to wake her a little bit.
"Airazor!" Tigatron called to her.
Airazor's eyes blink dazedly, "Tigatron, is that you?" she asked.
He nodded, "Yes."
"Phew, I'm glad you're still alive." she said. "Everyone at the base thought you were a goner."
"No one can get rid of me that easily." he added to this. "Lay still, you've been hit." Tigatron said, placing his restraining paw against her body. "Your beast form will make repairs, but it will take time."
Airazor had a reassured smile as she embraced Tigatron gently. "Oh, I almost forgot, Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Jasper and DarkFanger, they're here."
"I intercepted one of Scorponok's CyberBees, and I was able to reprogram it while you were unconscious." Tigatron explained, "With luck, it should reach Maximal Base… right about now."
Back at the Maximal Base, Steven, Optimus, Garnet and the others all were in awe at this.
"One of Scorponok's CyberBees? What do you make of this, Garnet?" Steven asked her.
Garnet examined the cyberbee "It's still active, there's no trace of any homing beacon on it. But it has some short footage on it."
Optimus put it on the console and looked at Cheetor. "Good thing you didn't just blast this bee," he said.
"Well I would've, but Pearl noticed something was off when it was carrying one of Airazor's feathers." Cheetor replied, showing the feather in question.
Pearl added, "Wouldn't want to hit an incoming object if a friend sent it after swiping it from our enemies."
"Besides, he missed." Rattrap remarked.
"Yeah, that too." Cheetor sighed in depression.
"Prime, here goes." Optimus said dryly, as he looked to see the contents of the footage.
Optimus activates the disk, the console screen buzzes, then clears to reveal Tigatron's recorded image, as seen through the cyberbee's eyes. "Hey, it's Tigatron!" Cheetor said, feeling glad to see his fellow feline was alright.
"He's alive!" said Steven, feeling in awe at this.
"Attention Maximals! This is a code one emergency message from Tigatron, Airazor has been damaged. She and I are trapped on a mysterious flying island." he said, as the heroes all gasped in horror at that and the image showed what the island looked like. "This island is a self-contained ecosystem, guarded by powerful weapons of alien design."
Steven was astonished by that, "A flying island, hidden from the naked eye!?" he asked himself in awe.
This sight made Pearl startled, "I don't remember THAT being here on Earth before!"
The message continued as Tigatron relayed the rest of what had been going on. "Blackarachnia, DarkFanger, Jasper and Scorponok have already managed to invade. If they gain control of the island and its weapons…The Predacons will be able to enslave all of Beach City, they will capture all of the Crystal Gems, they will be able to destroy the Maximal Base… and win the Beast Wars!"
"WHAT!?" they all said in shock after hearing that. And as they were, Steven looked onto this sort of message in terror, feeling something bad was about to happen.
To Be Continued…
(Heat Of The Battle continues…)
Me: OH SHIT, THIS IS BAD JUJU!
The Amazing Ghost Musician: You've got that right! If the Predacons are able to take control of the flying island, they'll be able to succeed with Megatron's plan of turning Earth into his Predacon fortress. And when that does happen, everyone in the entire Galaxy will be in grave danger.
Me: Yes! Which is why this madness must stop as soon as possible!
The Amazing Ghost Musician: But that's gonna have to wait until the next chapter, which we will both explain to our fellow readers right now. Shall we?
Me: We shall. Next time, Steven, Garnet, Lapis, Optimus and Rattrap head to the flying island to help Tigatton and Airazor, as they volunteered to assist with this endeavor.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Unfortunately for all of them, Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Jasper and DarkFanger have almost reached the Obelisk first. They plan on finding the source of its power, and take control of the island.
Me: And not only that, but Blackarachnia seeks to take the power for herself and goes crazy!
The Amazing Ghost Musician: This could be bad for not just the Maximals and Crystal Gems, but for all of Beach City, as Blackarachnia plans on continuing Megatron's plan on her own. With the island under her control, she can destroy and enslave all of Beach City and its people. And with those power weapons that Black Diamond implanted, the island might be powerful enough to destroy the entire planet.
Me: Like I said at the beginning, this is bad JuJu for the Maximals and Crystal Gems.
The Amazing Ghost Musician: It's a race against time for the Maximals and Crystal Gems. Will they be able to stop the Predacons before they destroy all of Beach City or planet Earth? We'll have to wait and find out until the next chapter, stay tuned.
Me: And will Tigatron be forgiven for what he must do?
The Amazing Ghost Musician: And does Steven Universe have enough power to disable the island from its own mind?
Me: Find out what happens next time on Steven Universe: War Of The Beasts - Chapter 17: Trigger Of The Black Diamond - Part 2!
The Amazing Ghost Musician: Until next time, fellow readers.
Both: SEE YA NEXT TIME!
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