It's
Only One Week, Cheetor . . . Okay, Maybe a Little More Than That . .
.
By: Sinead
Cheetor was ticked off. He
had just come in, and he only had five minutes until he had to start
working.
"Hey, Kiddo!"
Cheetor turned, around, and
replied, "Huh? Oh, hi Rattrap."
"Yo, wassup? Ya lookin'
kinda blue," the Transmetal rat said.
"Didn't sleep
well. Where is everybody?"
"Memorizin' da script. Ya'll
nevuh guess who's comin' back!"
"Terrorsaur?"
Cheetor groaned. That stupid pterodactyl had tried (uneventfully) to
steal his girlfriend.
"Nope."
"Scorpinok?"
"Nope."
"So
it has to be a Maximal. Airazor?" he asked hopefully.
"Wrong
again, but I heard dat Stripes is comin' back latuh dis season. He
made one slaggin' big fuss bout gettin' killed."
"I
was really hoping that it would be Airazor. Seriously!"
A
low growling voice, with a chuckle in it, said behind him, "Why? So
you two would sneak off the set to make out in a closet? That just so
happened to be the reason that our first director quit!"
There
was only one bot who dared to say things like that to people, and who
sounded like that when he knew that he would get in trouble when he
said it.
"Dinobot!" the Maximal
yelled, turning around, and slapping a high-five with his old friend.
"Slag, what happened to you?"
"The writers and artists
call it a Transmetal II form," Dinobot said, turning in a full
circle, so that Cheetor would get a better view. "You're getting
one too, if you've read the script for Feral Scream, part
two."
The trio saw Silverbolt and Blackarachnia walking
toward them, arguing as usual.
"Well then, Mister
I'll-Do-Anything-For-Blackarachnia, why don't you just buzz off,
and leave me alone!"
"The writers are fools, I agree, but
I still lo-oh. Hello Dinobot."
"My hero," the spider
said, and walked over to Cheetor.
"Hey, sis," Cheetor
said. "What happened now?"
"I just found out that later
on this season, I get a TII form like Dinobot, and I hafta kiss
Bowser a lot."
Silverbolt frowned at her remark.
"Other
than that, life's fine! You wouldn't have any mouthwash, by any
chance?"
"One of those scenes? Ewwyuch! In the back
of my locker, on the second shelf. I'm just glad that I'm not to
one to kiss ya!" He called after her. "You're a Black Widow,
and my sister! Either way, you'd kill me!"
Blackarachnia
laughed, and continued walking down the hall .
"Man,
Bird-Dog, I'm feelin' really badly for ya, and ya sappy script
lines," Rattrap said.
"Shut up, mouse," Silverbolt
retorted, and stalked into the rec room, to blow his anger off on a
punching bag.
"Will all who are in the Cloning Scene in
Feral Scream 1, please report to sound stage 11." the announcer
said.
"See ya, Spots!" Rattrap called, and smiled evilly,
as he tip-toed into the rec room after Silverbolt.
"You have
it so lucky, Dinobot," Cheetor said.
"What do you mean?"
Dinobot asked.
"You got a vacation out of this dump, and you
were still paid full wage."
Their conversation was
interrupted by a high-pitched moaning. They turned around, and saw
Rattrap kneeling on the floor in pure, manly agony.
Silverbolt
was retreating back into the rec room. Cheetor crossed his legs, and
bit his lip.
"Ooooh," Dinobot remarked, and started
walking again to the sound stage. Depth Charge soon joined up with
them. He was smiling as best he could in his form.
"I was
just reminded of how the mouse hits those high screams in his script.
Silverbolt again?"
The 'Raptor nodded, and glanced at
Cheetor, who was still biting his lip. At least his color returned
back to normal.
"Ouch."
"Hey, bro! Thanks for the
mouthwash!" Blackarachnia said, and caught up with them. "Where's
Tarantulus? He found my laptop, and most likely screwed it up again
with playing Solitaire one too many times in a row."
"Where
else?" Cheetor replied, over his pity for Rattrap. "Kissing his
reflection in the Men's Bathroom!"
The bots laughed, and
heard Tarantulus' far-off voice say, "I heard that!"
By
then, they had reached the sound stage.
The director ran up to
them. "You're LATE! I can't STAND it when I call you, and
you're LATE! I'll have the writers KILL you off in such a BRUTAL
way, that your GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN will even be too afraid to put ONE
FOOT on a preforming stage! Now GET to your SPOTS, NOW!!!!!"
Dinobot
scurried over to Megatron, and Cheetor whispered to Blackarachnia,
"Yeah, right. After 'Code of Hero,' and 'Transmutate,' we
had to put all the writers on Happy Pills. I'm just wondering what
the Director's on."
Blackarachnia coughed, to cover a
laugh. The director glared at Cheetor, so he clambered over to the
bottom of a "cliff," and saw that Dinobot and Megatron had
reached the five-story-tall hunk of metal that the writers and
artists called a cloning machine. They heard the director screaming
his left lung out again, and Waspinator came up meekly beside
Cheetor.
"Do you believe it?" he asked in his deep,
well-bred voice. One must wonder how he hid it when he was in
character.
"Believe what?"
"Optimus is
threatening to leave! Ah, oops. More later. Guess-Who is glaring at
me."
Waspinator went off, starting up his buzzing. The lights
went off, and the electric storm effects turned on. A shaft of light
cut through the darkness, and two more people came in, to watch the
performance. Cheetor clambered up to the top of the cliff that he
might be flying off of.
"ACTION!" the director
shouted.
"And the tempest rages!" Megatron bellowed, then
ordered, "Turn on the Transmetal Two device, yesss."
"Yezz,
Mazzter," Waspinator said, playing off of Igor.
As soon as
his hand touched the console, PHHHFFFFBBBBIIITTTT! Then,
CRASH!
"CUT!!!"
Cheetor flew off the cliff, saying,
"Whoa, wasn't me this time, I swear!"
They looked at the
metal tower, and saw that the "Stasis Pod" on front had fallen
outward, resting on the ramp. Dinobot was on the inside, in a little
cavity in the tower, grinning foolishly, holding his nose with one
hand, and reaching forward with the other to pull the pod back onto
the front. "Heh-heh, er . . . ah, sorry."
The whole day
was like that, full of mistakes and lines being messed up. Some of
them were intentional, just to get the director peeved with
them.
Finally, when it was over, Cheetor limped to the spa
room, to put his foot up, and get all the make-up off. He had twisted
his ankle severely, during the last take of the episode, when he fell
in front of Rhinox and Optimus.
When he got out of the
Jacuzzi, and after sipping a strong cup of tea with Rhinox, he saw
Optimus.
"Hey, yo, the Bot who's Big! Wait up!" he
called, and ran to catch up with him. "Have you seen the concept
art for the new show? It's called 'Beast Machines,' or
something like that."
"Yeah, and?"
"Hey, Dad,
what's up with you? You've been moping around for the past
month!"
Optimus sighed, and said, "This is our last
season; there is no fourth season, like our first director
promised."
"Ya knew that he was on Happy Pills, rahght?"
Quickstrike said, joining up with the two bots along with Rattrap,
who had apparently recovered from his encounter with
Silverbolt.
"Well, I hadn't counting on it kicking the
bucket after only the third season. They're ending this show, and
starting up the other one, 'Beast Machines.' That's why I
threatened to leave."
"C'mon, Banana Boy, ya just can't
walk out on us!"
"The rat's riahght. Yah 'd be a
yeller-bellied fool, tah say, 'Adiós'!"
Optimus
sighed, and Megatron ran up to them. "Matrix, is it true?"
Optimus
nodded.
"You idiot! Uh, er, forget that remark. On the set,
you just might be my nemesis, but off, you're my brother! You
pulled everyone together! Uhm, with the exception of Blackarachnia
and Silverbolt, of course. If you leave, everything will fall apart!
I'm disappointed in you," Megatron said, and in his eyes was
burning a raging wildfire.
"Megatron, I only threatened
to quit."
"You . . . what?"
"I'm not really
leaving! I just want to director and his human gang to get all
worried. Remember what Dinobot did? Sure he got killed off, but he
got a wonderful vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia. Not to
mention an upgrade."
"All right! You're getting us all
vacations!" Cheetor said exuberantly.
"Yes, and hopefully,
it'll be a company trip, maybe to give a few performances on the
way. I really can't promise any of you anything,
though."
"Suh-WEET!" Cheetor yelled.
Megatron
turned to Quickstrike and Rattrap, then said, "Go tell the others,
but tell them not to tell any of the humans."
The two small
bots nodded, each grinning, (well, ya know what I'm trying to say)
then Rattrap transformed, and the Fuzor jumped onto his back, just
for effect, yelling, "Yee-HAW!!!"
Cheetor said good-bye to
Megatron and Optimus, then went out to his car. Blackarachnia was
waiting patiently for him. "Is Dad for real? Do you think he'll
pull it off?"
Cheetor nodded, then smirked, saying in a
sing-song, "I know who you li-ike, na na na, na na naah!"
"Oh really?" the
spider asked. "And who would that be, my dearest little
brother?"
"Rattrap."
Blackarachnia grinned, and
climbed into the passenger seat of his beat-up Corvette convertible.
Rattrap ran out, just as
Cheetor was backing out of his parking spot, and leaped into the back
seat. "Show-off," Cheetor grumbled good-naturedly, as
Blackarachnia scrambled over her seat, and sat next to him.
"Where
to, Madame and Misuer?" Cheetor asked in a phony French
accent.
"Boardwalk," the Black Widow said. Rattrap added,
"Pick us up at 9:30 sharp."
"I've got a date with
Airazor, so did you want to double up?"
"Sure!" the two
backseat bots chorused.
Cheetor smiled, and dropped his sister
and her unofficial boyfriend at the boardwalk, then sped to his
apartment, to get ready for his date . . .
"Hey,
Tarantulus?" a voice asked sweetly.
"Yes?"
Tarantulus' nasally voice answered cautiously.
"Your fly's
down."
"Huh?" The spider looked down, when a snicker
made him look back up. Cheetor was standing there, leaning against
the wall confidently.
"You know that bots don't wear
pants, Eight Eyes. So why do you even bother looking? Got somethin'
ya wanna tell us?" Cheetor's laugh was contagious, and soon,
Tarantulus allowed a chuckle out, nothing as extravagant as he was
depicted on the screen.
The duo walked down the halls,
swapping friendly insults, when the loudspeaker said, "Tarantulus,
report to the director's office, IMMEDIATELY!"
"Good
luck!" Cheetor called after the retreating spider, then went to
find someone to talk to. He ran into Blackarachnia and Rattrap.
In
the spa room.
Kissing.
"Woah! Little eyes that don't
need to see their sister kissing! Little eyes!" Cheetor said
laughingly, backing his Transmetal II form out of the room.
Laughter
from inside caused him to poke his head in, and grin goofily.
"You
always have to ruin my sniff perfect moments,"
Blackarachnia said dramatically.
"Aww, c'mon sis. Chill
out. We only have seven more weeks left until the series ends. I have
to have at least a little fun before then!" Cheetor
replied.
Fine, fine, kiddo! You have your fun, an'
we'll have ours. How's 'bout dat?" Rattrap said,
grinning evilly at Cheetor.
"Alright, but you should know
that I happen to know who's in the next series!"
"No
way!" the Black Widow yelled.
"Yup."
"Tellustellustellus!"
Rattrap said in the "manly" version of a squeal.
"Nope."
"Aww,
pleeeezzze?"
"I'll say it in Spanish: no."
Rattrap
got on his hands and knees, and panted like a dog.
Cheetor
laughed, and said, "Only if . . ."
"If? If what?"
"If
you two help me with a prank on someone."
"Oh? Who?"
Blackarachnia asked curiously.
"Just someone who's gonna
be walking in the front door any minute."
"Dat means
Tiguhhawk," Rattrap said, looking thoughtful. He remembered well
the time that Airazor had a date . . . or three . . . with Tigatron,
while Cheetor was panting every time she walked
by.
"Uh-huh."
"We'll do it!" the two lovers
chorused, rubbing their hands together . . .
That very
moment, Airazor was just parking her car outside the general office,
for Beast Wars.
"Can I PLEASE come in?!" she asked
for the umpteenth time, glaring into the security camera.
Finally,
though, she heard a voice over the intercom. "Oh, sorry!"
The
buzzer sounded, and Airazor opened the door. About five buckets of
water splashed over her, and laughter was heard, then, "GREAT! We
got Tiger . . . hawk . . . Oh, crap."
"Cheetor," Airazor
said, flinging her soaked arms in his direction. "You . . . you'd
better be as fast as you say you are!"
Airazor chased him
around the building, much to everybody's delight and enjoyment.
When both were winded and exhausted, they flopped down in a
love-seat. The others joined them shortly, each telling about what
they saw happen. They all stopped talking, as soon as they saw the
two.
"Hey, Cheets, what was that about 'little eyes'?"
Blackarachnia said, crossing her arms over her chest. Cheetor opened
his eyes, and the two broke their kiss off short. He grinned, and
Blackarachnia said, "At least Dad isn't here. He'd start
lecturing you so badly!"
Cheetor grinned, and Rhinox
bustled into the room. "You have something that you wanted to tell
us?"
Cheetor grinned hopelessly. "Uh . . . 'bout
what?"
Rhinox leaned in closer to the group, and whispered,
"You know. Beast Machines."
Cheetor grinned, and
Optimus opened the door. Rather, the garage door. He looked to
Cheetor, and the rest of the Beast Wars gang walked in. Cheetor found
himself the center of attention. "Well . . . first off . . . Hey!
DB! Take care of the cameras! Rattrap, the bugs."
Dinobot
grinned, and went to the four corners of the room, destroying the
security (yeah, right) cameras. Rattrap crawled through the cabinets,
taking care of the sound bugs that would have listened to the
conversation. Finally, both bots came back, looking proud of
themselves. Tigerhawk walked into the room, and leaned against the
wall. "Well?"
Cheetor shrugged. "Well what? I know the
people who are going on to Beast Machines, and who's dying. So?
What'll you do for me?"
Dinobot picked Cheetor up by his
shoulders playfully, and raised him to eye-level. "We won't
hurt you, if you tell us!"
Cheetor grinned, and said,
"Right. Okay. I'll tell. Can 'ya put me down now?"
Dinobot
nodded, and patted Cheetor's head after setting him down. Cheetor
stuck his tongue out at the taller bot's back, and muttered, "Some
people have no sense of humor. Humph. Anyways, First off, Dad, you
and Megatron are in on this, as the leaders again. We haven't
received the scripts for the final two episodes yet, but I've seen
some of the first drafts. BA? You're in on the Maximals' team.
Rattrap? You too. Don't – aw, man. Okay, that's enough. STOP
KISSING! Better! Right, then. I'm there, also. We have a new kid,
who's gonna be named Nightscream. Silverbolt, you're gonna be
named Jetstorm, a jet, obviously, but you'll become yourself again,
after my dearest sister 'rescues' you. Good luck. Okay. Rhinox?
You're Tankor, a tank, but you're a bad guy for the whole time .
. . I think. Waspinator is Thrust, a motorcycle. Everyone else? You
die, or are killed."
Rampage looked up. "I get killed?
That's not fair."
Cheetor shrugged. "Well, Depth Charge?
You end up killing yourself in the process. DB? You turn back to your
first self, not the clone, for a little over half of the last
episode. You get killed again."
Dinobot rolled his good eye.
"Good. I can go back to the first season's look. This body is
annoying the slag outta me."
Inferno looked to Quickstrike.
"Well, what about us?"
"You guys get killed, too. Megs
mis-fires, and you two get blasted instead of the early
humans."
Inferno laughed. "Wonderful, old chap!
Absoballylutely top-hole!"
Cheetor shook his head.
"Ooookaaaayyyyyy . . . Any other questions?"
Airazor
tapped his arm. "What about me?"
He sighed. "I
dunno."
She grinned, and shrugged. "Well, I guess I can
still hang around here, right?"
At that very moment, the
Director barged in, and pointed to a few of the bots. Namely, the
trouble-makers. "You, you, you, you, and you. We're going to have
a little chat."
"You don't chat," Megatron pointed
out, ticking off what he was saying on his fingers. "You scream,
you yell, you snarl, you throw a hissy fit, and you basically make
our lives a living hell. You couldn't 'chat' if your life
depended on it."
The director glared death at the Predacon.
Dinobot grinned. "What say, you give us free time instead of
'chatting' with you, and we'll forget what Cheetor and I saw .
. . say . . . last night." He held his hand up before the Director
could say anything more. "And, you don't scream at us for the
last seven weeks. Otherwise, we, per say, drop some information here
or there. Do we have a deal?"
The Director nodded hurriedly,
and walked out of the room. The rest of the bots broke out into
helpless laughter and giggles at the sight of the Director's face.
Silverbolt frowned, and asked, "What did you two see?"
Cheetor
waved his hand blandly. "Who, us? Oh, only nothing."
Dinobot
chuckled evilly. "Then again, we might have seen something . .
."
Megatron and Optimus each took one to the two
conspirators up, glaring at them. Dinobot grinned. "Rattrap,
brother, HELP!!!!"
Rattrap laughed. "An' why should I do
dat?"
"Because I'll make your life a living hell!"
"Why
don't 'ya just tell us?"
He sighed, and looked at
Cheetor, who was being suspended in mid-air by his uncle. "Yeah,
I'll tell 'em. He was playing Barbie Detective on one of the main
computers."
"WHAT?!?!?!" exploded the room.
Dinobot
and Cheetor were lowered to the ground, while even more laughter
broke out. They grinned to each other, and Cheetor was tackled by
Rattrap, who was wanting reassurance upon that fact. Dinobot laughed,
and picked his younger brother up off of the ground, and told him the
whole story.
Needless to say, the rest of the seven weeks of
filming for Beast Wars went perfectly fine and dandy for the band of
transforming actors and actresses . . .
