A/N: Don't own anything related to Transformers or Beast Wars. A few of the names of Pride members are original, but that's it. Enjoy
Inside the Predacon base, Megatron uneasily stared at Tigerhawk. After all, it was Tigerhawk who destroyed his base. And it was Tigerhawk who was among those who caused the Nemesis to crash again. And now, Tigerhawk was becoming a Predacon? Megatron was not convinced.
"How do I know I can trust you, Tigerhawk?" he asked.
"I have already betrayed the Maximals and nearly destroyed one of them," Tigerhawk responded.
Megatron thought for a moment.
"Megatron," Leo said, "Allow him to serve under me. I have already pledged my allegiance to you and he has sworn his to me."
"Very well," Megatron said, "But I will be watching you, Tigerhawk." Tigerhawk locked eyes with Megatron and the two tried to stare each other down.
"Come along, Tigerhawk," Leo said, "There is much to be done." Leo walked away and Tigerhawk followed.
Megatron sat in his chair and thought to himself, "I do not like this situation. The Pride return with Tigerhawk and news that the Maximals destroyed the stasis pod. Something is not right and I will soon find out what. Yes."
The CR chamber opened and Cheetor walked out, feeling groggy. He was greeted by Optimus, Rhinox, and Rattrap.
"How are you feeling?" Rhinox asked.
"Like I got nailed by an energon bolt," Cheetor responded.
"What happened?" Optimus asked. Cheetor's face twisted into an angry glare.
"I'll tell you what happened," he said, "Tigerhawk turned on me. I went to help him out because he was under fire and he shot me twice, knocking me out."
Optimus looked away, crushed at what he just heard.
"Are you sure you ain't got your gears mixed up?" Rattrap asked, "I mean we're talking about Tigerhawk. He's more serious than Silverbolt about crushing Mega-jerk."
"I'm telling the truth," Cheetor said, "Tigerhawk told me that it was his destiny. I still don't know what he meant." Cheetor lowered his head.
"Easy, Cheetor," Optimus said, "It's not your fault."
Cheetor, head still bowed, walked away towards his quarters.
"Give him some time, Optimus," Rhinox said, "He feels betrayed."
"Perhaps you're right, Rhinox," Optimus said, "In the meantime, why don't you introduce me to our new friends?" Rhinox nodded and motioned for Stampede and Frostbite to join them
Cheetor tried to sleep but he couldn't. He kept reliving the events over and over again, each time the vision got more and more sinister until Cheetor awoke in a fright. He calmed himself down and was starting to drift off again when he heard Tigerhawk's voice.
"Cheetor," he said, "I know you can hear me, Cheetor."
Cheetor tried to shrug off the voice of Tigerhawk echoing through his head. Tigerhawk's voice rang out again.
"Cheetor, listen to me," he said, "I apologize for what I did, but if you only knew our destiny, you would understand."
Cheetor looked around his room angrily.
"Don't try to hand me that slag," he said, "You turned on me. You turned on the Maximals, you turned on Tigatron and Airazor. You betray us all and for what? For the Preds? For the Pride? I hope you never even think to call yourself a Maximal again, because you've betrayed everything about being Maximal."
There was a silence. Cheetor sat up, waiting for Tigerhawk's response. Still nothing. Cheetor finally lowered his guard and was about to lay back down when Prowl's voice echoed through him.
"Cheetor," she said, "Cheetor, can you hear me?"
Cheetor slowly sat back up. "Yes, Prowl," he replied, "I can hear you."
"Cheetor, I'm on midnight patrol," she said, "I would like you to meet me in sector vega in a few cycles."
"I'll be there," he replied. Then he stopped and thought about what he just said. "I just agreed to meet a Pred alone," he said to himself, "What am I thinking?"
Cheetor crept quietly through the halls. When he entered the main room, he froze. Nearly all of the Maximals were there. He stood straight up and slowly walked towards an area where Optimus was standing. He began to listen in on the conversation.
"There's been some Predacon activity here in sector vega," Optimus said.
Cheetor's ears pricked up at those words.
"It's possible that they may be building another jamming tower," Silverbolt said.
"Perhaps we should send someone to check it out," Rhinox said.
Silverbolt opened his mouth to speak when Cheetor cut him off. "I'll go," he said. Silverbolt and Rhinox eyed him suspiciously.
"Are you sure you can handle that, Cheetor?" Optimus asked.
"Sure thing, big bot," Cheetor replied, "Just let me know what I'm looking for and I'll report back what I find."
Optimus stood there for a moment, obviously waiting for Cheetor to break and reveal his motive for leaving the base, but Cheetor stood as still as he had been, staring at Optimus and waiting for an answer.
"Very well," Optimus said, "Report what you find and don't be too long."
Cheetor transformed into beast mode and took off.
Rattrap stared at the dust trail Cheetor left. "If you ask me," Rattrap said, "Something don't seem right about this."
"I agree with you, Rattrap," Optimus said, "But there's not much we can do about it. Frostbite, I want you and Rattrap to head to sector alpha. Scan the whole area and report back anything you find."
Rattrap transformed into beast mode and activated his vehicle mode. "Think you can keep up, fleabag?" Rattrap asked.
Frostbite transformed into beast mode and stared at Rattrap. "Last one there gets two shifts of night scan duty," Frostbite said as he took off, running at an incredible speed. Rattrap squealed his tires as he took off, trying to keep pace with Frostbite.
Optimus chuckled at this and then turned to Rhinox, who had a concerned look on his face.
"What if Cheetor runs into Tigerhawk again?" he asked.
"I hope it doesn't come to that," Optimus answered, "But, if he does, hopefully he'll be careful about it."