Beast Wars and all characters and things related are copyright and trademark of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment. This work, however, is the original work of the author.
Note: This story takes place shortly after "Deep Trouble".
Transmetal Madness, Chapter 2
By TVfan
Secret Predicon Lab
"Is the brain programming ready?" Megatron demanded as he turned to face Waspinator.
"Yes, Master," Waspinator buzzed back, in an 'Igor' like manner.
Megatron sighed at the wasp's answer and wondered what attracted him to early twentieth century Earth movies. Cybertron only knew of them from research drones that flew past Earth regularly and collected data on everything about the planet.
"Enough of that idiocy," Megatron growled, "Is it ready?"
Waspinator gulped, "Yes."
"Good," Megatron nodded, "Attach its transfer cords to the stasis pods."
Waspinator carefully moved to place each cord inside the computer brain programming imports each of the two stasis pods that Megatron was preparing to activate.
"Now to program the one on the right," Megatron smiled as he turned to the computer consoles before him.
He took one data disk and inserted it into the console. After a brief period of loading, a preprogrammed set of characteristics of the planned Predicon appeared on the computer screen before Megatron. He smiled again as he pressed the load button, sending that information to the stasis pod that was on his right.
Nearby
"Are you sure that's their lab?" Cheetor asked.
Dinobot's optics narrowed on the cave opening that was at the top of a very crooked mountain. He could even see that there was a beam of energy flowing from the bottom of the portion of the mountain that jutted out over a deep chasm.
"Yes," Dinobot growled, "Fly past the cave and take a look in. I will try to follow you from the ground."
"It could take you awhile," Cheetor pointed out, "Don't you think we should wait for Optimus and the others?"
"Then it would be too late," Dinobot answered, "We have no choice but to go in as quickly as we can. You can fly, I can run."
"Okay," Cheetor sighed and converted to his vehicle mode and flew off toward the cave.
Dinobot, meanwhile, began to sprint towards the mountain in preparation of trying to climb it.
Predicon Lab
"And now to activate the transmetal driver," Megatron smiled as he turned to another computer panel that was connected to the alien device.
Megatron then pressed a single red button that was on the computer panel and activated the driver. The alien sphere lit up with a bright red light as it sent its energies into the first of the two stasis pods. Its energy even made the pod itself take on a slight red glow. Megatron smiled as he watched, while Waspinator stood nervously nearby. After a few seconds there was a beeping noise that came from the main computer panels. Megatron approached it and then smiled.
"The first one is ready," Megatron smiled, "Turn off the transmetal driver for now."
Waspinator gulped and turned the alien device off. Megatron meanwhile moved to inspect the first stasis pod. Slowly the first stasis pod door opened and revealed the transformer inside. Waspinator had all he could do to keep from fainting at the sight of the transformer.
It was a metallic red and lavender pterodactyl that hopped out of the stasis pod in its beast mode. It's long needle like beak, other then it's general appearance did not look like it could belong to an animal with no 'nostrils' and its glowing red eyes gave it a fairly frightening appearance. It also looked as though there was a powerful laser weapon in the crest that jutted out from the top of its head. It had long arms that had only three large fingers. The claws were rather thin and looked like they could cut through just about anything. The strong metals that made up its wing membranes appeared able to bend whenever the transformer moved its arms. It hopped forward on short legs that had feet that held claws much like the ones on it its 'hands'.
It studied itself for a few moments before it noticed Megatron and hopped toward the large dragon transformer.
"Welcome 'back', Terrorsaur," Megatron smiled.
The transformer switched to its robot mode and acknowledged Megatron.
"It is good to serve you again, Megatron," the new Terrorsaur nodded.
The new Terrorsaur's beast mode wasn't a drastic modification from its beast mode. Its beast mode head moved onto the center of its back and a helmeted head came up vertically from open shoulder space. The outer parts the helmet were fairly smooth, but the transformer's face was slightly different. It appeared that this Terrorsaur was looking through two built out monocles for optics and unlike the first transformer with the same name, this version had sharp pointed teeth.
"That not Terrorbot," Waspinator said nervously from the background, "Terrorbot dead."
Megatron waved Terrorsaur off from attacking the wasp, and turned to face Waspinator.
"Yes," Megatron smiled, "The original Terrorsaur is dead, but this is a new Terrorsaur. One who is much improved over the previous model and an improvement over what has survived the war so far."
Waspinator gulped and began slowly stepping away.
"And now for the other stasis pod," Megatron smiled as he turned back to the computer console.
Below the lab
Cheetor quickly got to the mountain, well ahead of Dinobot, since the transmetal cheetah could fly. Cheetor, however did not run into a favorable situation as several laser emplacements suddenly opened out of rock crevices in the around the opening in the bottom of the ledge that the cave entrance was sitting on. The fired in rapid succession and Cheetor felt a few of them nick him, but thankfully they didn't seem to be too powerful and Cheetor quickly maneuvered to try and avoid the shots and continue up toward the cave. He found that the lasers never fired close to the heavy energy band that went from the bottom of the ledge to the ground well below him. The transmetal cheetah then began to fly around the energy beam, being careful not to touch it, but staying close to it.
At the base of the mountain, Dinobot looked up to see Cheetor's struggle against the lasers. The younger transformer had already had to slow down and was hugging the energy beam. It would take him awhile to get past those lasers, and this made Dinobot sigh. He also noticed that the back slope of the mountain was significantly easier to climb then the near vertical side that he was facing. This only made Dinobot sigh again. Time was working against them.
Predicon Lab
Megatron smiled as the brain programming for the second transformer came online and was loaded inside the second stasis pod. Waspinator stood nervously near the cave entrance while the new Terrorsaur stood near Megatron himself.
"And now for the DNA," Megatron said in a triumphant voice, and opened a small compartment on one of his shoulders.
Megatron then grabbed a data disk that he had stored there and placed it inside the terminal he was working at and activated the download that would send the computerized DNA into the protoform. Then all Megatron had to do was to activate the transmetal driver again and the second stasis pod would be activated.
Below the lab, Cheetor was nearing the bottom of the ledge and would need to make his move to make it to the cave entrance. The transmetal cheetah however noticed that the lasers were far more accurate at his range, and it was now much more difficult for him to avoid being nicked by the laser shots. Knowing it was now or never, Cheetor banked hard to avoid getting hit, when suddenly a new set of fixed laser emplacements opened up on him and hit the Maximal at point blank range.
Cheetor screamed with pain as the lasers hit him and drove back where he was hit easily by the other laser emplacements. Their hits combined with the new laser emplacements knocked him into the main energy beam that was coming out the from the bottom of the ledge. Cheetor let lose a pain filled scream that could be heard for miles.
Dinobot, by now had reached the top of the mountain, and he heard Cheetor's screams. He cursed angrily under his breath. Running up the mountain had taken a lot out of him, and he knew he could not go to Cheetor's rescue, since the transmetal cheetah was still in the air. Deciding his best option was to shut down whatever machinery Megatron had running inside the cave, Dinobot leaped down to the part of the ledge in front of the cave entrance.
Megatron was on the verge of triumphal laughter as he pressed the red button to activate the transmetal driver, this time to help activate the second protoform. The alien device lit up with its red light and began sending energy into the stasis pod as the activation process continued. Megatron's focus on his work was halted when he suddenly heard Waspinator screaming.
Megatron turned to see that Dinobot had somehow found and entered his hidden lab and had seized Waspinator by the neck.
"Help me!" Waspinator screamed as Dinobot then physically threw the Predicon in the new Terrorsaur, knocking the transmetal two transformer into Megatron.
Dinobot then began firing his optics lasers at the various computer terminals around the lab; hoping one was controlling the lasers that were targeting Cheetor. One of his shots cut through the wires that were connected to Megatron's transmetal driver and energy from the alien device began to flood the room itself as the wires shook under the flowing energy's power.
Dinobot did his best to try and dodge the energy beam flying out of the damaged wire, but it was to no avail, as it hit Dinobot in the chest. The raptor screamed with pain as it threw him into a fair wall of the cave before he blacked out.
Cheetor continued to scream as he was caught in the energy ribbon that the fixed laser emplacements forced him into. While the transmetal cheetah felt intense pain, he also felt strange. Part of it came from the energy beam he was trapped in. It didn't feel like raw power, more along the lines of the quantum surge. It was still causing him pain, and Cheetor struggled to break free. In the end, his struggles were in vain, and the last thing he saw before he suddenly fell into stasis lock, was a strange red glow overtaking his body.
"Waspinator not want to go through that again," Waspinator said as he pulled himself back to his feet.
The new Terrorsaur shoved the wasp aside so he could get up. Megatron meanwhile tried to restrain himself from laughing. Dinobot's attack had done some damage to the machinery, but nothing serious. The most important part of the whole works, the transmetal driver, appeared to be indestructible, thanks to Ravage's previous scans to determine its properties. Waspinator was getting nervous over nothing.
Megatron quickly moved to inspect the transmetal driver. It was undamaged. The Predicon tyrant was then distracted by a new noise. He turned to see that it was the stasis pod door opening as metallic looking scorpion came out on eight pointed legs. It was mostly grey and gold in color and its eyes glowed with the same red glow that the new Terrorsaur's eyes did. Its pincers were narrow and its tail ended with a visible stinger.
"Scorpinok, terrorize!" the transformer announced.
The transformer then took on its robot mode. The upper half of its body remained as the lower half split down to form its lower torso and hips. Thin but powerful legs folded down, having clearly been stored inside the transformer while it was in its beast mode. One of the plates on its back opened to let its robot mode head come up, its visor-like optics glowed bright red. Its beast mode legs remained visible and they moved slightly as the new 'Scorpinok' approached Megatron.
"And what is your purpose, Scorpinok?" Megatron questioned.
"To serve you, Megatron," the new Scorpinok answered.
Megatron smiled, "Excellent."
"Um, Waspinator has a question," Waspinator spoke up from the background.
Megatron groaned and turned to face the nervous wasp. He was standing near the transmetal driver and was actually facing something lying behind hit.
"What is it?" Megatron demanded icily.
"What is that?" Waspinator asked, pointing at whatever was laying there on the lab floor.
Megatron shoved Waspinator aside as he came forward to see what the wasp was asking about. What he saw was a complete surprise to him, because it wasn't something he thought was possible.
"It might be an opportunity, yes," Megatron smiled, "Waspinator, get the transmetal driver back to the base. Terrorsaur, carry Scorpinok. I will deal with this."
Megatron then shifted to his beast mode and seized the thing that had aroused Waspinator's curiosity in his talons. The three Predicons that could fly then took off with their prize.
Elsewhere
"I don't like this," Depthcharge mumbled as he and Optimus began flying toward the mountain range that Dinobot and Cheetor had earlier entered.
"It couldn't be helped," Optimus sighed, "We had to deal with those clones. We had to divide our forces."
"It's not the fact that we divided our forces, but that you sent that kid out with the Predicon," Depthcharge growled, "How are you going to feel when that raptor shows his true colors?"
"I've had enough of your criticism over Dinobot," Optimus answered, "He is on our side and would never betray us."
"I still don't trust him," Depthcharge answered.
The transmetal manta ray was about to say more when several laser shots interrupted them. Both looked to see the shots were coming from the bottom side of a ledge that poked out from in front of the rest of the mountain it was on. The shots didn't do much damage to the Maximal leader and Depthcharge, but they did force them to stop their forward movement.
"I've had enough of this," Depthcharge growled and fired his shark blaster at the mountain.
Depthcharge's shot destroyed much of the rock on the underside of the ledge, revealing a metal defense system built into the mountain. Optimus then aimed his own blasters at the defense system. The second shot destroyed the laser emplacements.
"I'd say we found wherever those two Predicons went to," Depthcharge guessed.
Optimus nodded, "There's a cave on the top part of that ledge. Let's go."
The two Maximals flew and landed inside the cave. They found various pieces of damaged machinery and computer panels. Many of them looked like they had been hit by laser fire.
"Man, what went down here?" Depthcharge grumbled as he kicked a damaged computer panel, which fell apart shortly after.
Optimus scanned the cavern as well as he could, searching for any sign that a transformer had been destroyed. He found no such sign, but what he did find frightened him more.
"No!" Optimus exclaimed.
"What is it?" Depthcharge demanded.
Optimus only pointed. The transmetal manta ray then turned his head to see what the Maximal commander was pointing at. There were two stasis pods held up by various support structures and were connected by wires that went to most of the computer panels.
"What in the name of the Matrix are stasis pods doing here?" Depthcharge demanded to no one in particular.
"Megatron must have found them," Optimus sighed, "We've got at least two new Predicons. The real question is why didn't he activate them from the safety of his base? Why come out here?"
"And there's no sign of Dinobot or Cheetor," Depthcharge added.
Optimus didn't answer immediately and began rubbing his chin with one of his fingers.
"Well, commander," Depthcharge said in a confrontational manner, "what do we do?"
"We return to the Ark," Optimus sighed, "Megatron's done something that we couldn't possibly anticipate and with two new Predicons, he's even more dangerous. More then likely, Cheetor and Dinobot are still together looking around many of the other mountains in this area. They may not have even found this place. They'll be fine. We need to get this information to Rhinox. He might have the best explanation for why they came all this way to activate two stasis pods."
Depthcharge only shifted to his beast mode and flew out of the cave, Optimus followed shortly thereafter. As the two Maximals left, several fallen rocks began to move slightly at the bottom of the mountain as something underneath them tried to free itself. After Optimus and Depthcharge had clearly gone out of view, a single animal-like paw pushed out of the fallen rumble as the creature that was buried under the rock stood up.
Predicon Base
The reaction given to the new Scorpinok and Terrorsaur were what Megatron expected from most of the Predicons. Although Ravage, Quickstrike, and Rampage having never met the originals, were quite indifferent to the two newest Predicons. It was not however, the matter concerning the new Scorpinok and Terrorsaur, but what Megatron had brought back along with the two new Predicons.
"You're certain that the transmetal driver is the cause for that?" Ravage asked.
"I would presume so," Megatron nodded.
"Interesting," Ravage commented, "Given the increased power levels that you and Optimus Primal have experienced concerning this, are you sure he's adequately restrained?"
"I'm certain he is," Megatron answered, "And he is still offline. Even when he does come back online, I'm sure he will still be in no condition to fight."
"So this transmetal driver can be used on things other then protoforms and sparkless clones?" Tarantulus asked.
Megatron nodded.
"And it can increase yer power?" Quickstrike asked, "Sign me up fer that upgrade."
"Waspinator also wants to be a transmetal," Waspinator added from the back of the room.
"That will be quite the option," Megatron smiled, "But I want Ravage to run some tests on the transmetal driver and to determine a way that the process can be duplicated, without sending the transformer into stasis lock."
"I'll be on it then," Ravage sighed as he turned and took the transmetal driver away from Waspinator and headed off towards his private lab.
"Meanwhile, I think I will go visit our guest," Megatron laughed.
Dinobot did not feel well as he came back online. He was sore from what happened when he tried to stop Megatron's defense systems from destroying Cheetor. On top of this, he felt different, like he had been made stronger somehow. But he couldn't tell because the first thing he truly noticed was that he was chained to a wall and a very heavy helmet was over his entire head, making it impossible for him to use his optics lasers.
"I see you're awake," came Megatron's voice from elsewhere in the room.
"Megatron," Dinobot growled back icily.
"Glad to see your memory chips still function," Megatron laughed, "Just what did you hope to accomplish by destroying my lab?"
"Stopping you," Dinobot snarled defiantly.
"Good job," Megatron laughed back, "Not only were you too late to stop me, you've actually provided me with quite an opportunity to destroy your comrades once and for all."
"You can't hold me here forever," Dinobot snarled as he struggled against the restraints Megatron had him in.
"I don't intend to," Megatron smiled, knowing full well that Dinobot couldn't see him, "Once Optimus and his little parade of Maximals have been destroyed, I intend to kill you in the most painful way possible."
Dinobot only snarled back as he heard Megatron leave the area.
Megatron approached Ravage quietly as the black panther transformer worked practically nonstop on the transmetal driver.
"Well?" Megatron asked.
"The device is too complex, Megatron," Ravage answered, "There's no way to tell if we can duplicate the process in a painless way or not. I can't even tell if its energies are entirely compatible with ours."
"Can you get the job done?" Megatron asked in a somewhat threatening tone.
"Not quickly," Ravage sighed, "Whoever these aliens are, they've designed their technology to incredibly tough for anyone besides themselves to analyze it. This isn't something that can be done quickly. Not unless you want an accident that could destroy your army."
"What happened in the lab was an accident," Megatron pointed out.
"True," Ravage admitted, "But it happened to a Maximal. He could have been killed doing what he did."
"Take the time you need," Megatron nodded, "We can not afford to fail."
The Ark
"And you found no sign of the kid or chopperface?" Rattrap asked.
"Not in the area," Optimus sighed, "Although that lab was pretty much destroyed. They might be on their way back."
"These stasis pods trouble me more," Rhinox commented from his chair, "Why would Megatron take two stasis pods out into a mountain cave to activate them? Why not use his base where it's safer?"
"I had hoped you would have the answer to that question," Optimus sighed, "I have no clue as to why Megatron was out there."
"But if the lab was destroyed, doesn't that mean that the protoforms were destroyed as well?" Blackarachnia asked, "If Megatron was there, lizard boy probably went in at full power, and we're here talking about two 'new' Predicons."
"The pod doors were open when we arrived," Depthcharge said, "And there was no sign that the protoforms were damaged, let alone destroyed."
"That means he's captured them somehow," Rapther spoke up, "If Dinobot attacked and destroyed Megatron's lab, he had to have Cheetor with him, and we all know that Megatron is too powerful an opponent to be defeated that easily."
A beeping noise distracted Rhinox for a moment as the rest argued over what was going on.
"What if they are captured?" Silverbolt asked, "What would Megatron do to them?"
"For now, I'd assume nothing," Optimus sighed, "But I don't think they've been captured."
"Then how can ya explain the damage to dat lab?" Rattrap asked.
"Yes," Blackarachnia agreed, "Megatron is too powerful for Dinobot and Cheetor to fight and consider surviving, and since you said that the stasis pods were activated, they couldn't have destroyed the pods to prevent Megatron from activating them. Megatron had to have taken them prisoner."
"I don't mean to interrupt the argument," Rhinox spoke up from his position at the Ark's sensor displays, "but we have some metallic creature wandering around the jungle area just east of the Ark. That may be either Dinobot or Cheetor now."
"You say it's 'wandering'?" Optimus questioned.
"Yes," Rhinox answered.
"I'll go," Optimus sighed, "I might get some answers out of this."
The large transmetal 2 gorilla then left the base, and took off in vehicle mode toward where Rhinox had indicated the metallic creature was. Once airborne, Optimus flew rather slowly and with specific intent. He didn't want to miss whoever this was by flying over him too quickly. The Maximal commander was then startled by something he saw on the ground as he flew over a clearing. Optimus made a great loop and landed in the same clearing.
"Now, what's this?" Optimus asked aloud as he began to walk toward the object that he saw earlier.
It was a dead antelope, killed by some kind of wild cat, judging by the bites and claw marks on it. But something was off. The animal that killed it wasn't around, and the antelope was practically torn apart. No animal that the Maximals had studied since landing on prehistoric earth did that.
Optimus then paused when he heard a strange noise coming from behind him. He turned to see two red optics glare at him from the bushes. He backed up as a feline like creature emerged from them. It was mostly tan in color, although there were some spots of a darker shade of brown or possibly black or grey. Optimus couldn't tell in the low light. It had what appeared to be a large rocket attached to its back and its saber like upper fangs protruded out over its lower jaw.
"Don't tell me it's another clone," Optimus groaned as he stepped back and activated his blasters, preparing to fire.
The creature blinked and did something Optimus totally didn't expect. Showing great fear, an almost animalistic fear, it turned and ran.
"What the?" Optimus cursed as it ran off, "Come back!"
Optimus switched into in his vehicle mode and flew after the retreating creature. He found the creature had activated the rocket on its back to increase its speed as it ran. Optimus visibly groaned as he flew after it in his vehicle mode.
"It's like running after Cheetor," Optimus sighed silently.
Finally Optimus's ability to fly got the better of the creature and he transformed to robot mode and caught the creature in one hand in one motion. It struggled violently and bit and clawed at him, but thankfully, Optimus's armor seemed to protect him enough as he flew back to the Ark. He found the rest of the Maximals, minus Dinobot, and Blackarachnia waiting for him.
"What is that?" Rattrap demanded, pointing at the creature in Optimus's hand.
"I don't know," Optimus answered, "It's obviously the metal creature that the sensors picked up, but it can't be Cheetor or Dinobot."
"Another clone?" Silverbolt asked.
"I don't know," Optimus repeated, "If it is, it isn't behaving like a clone should. It had killed an antelope when I found it. Not exactly something Megatron would order it to do."
"It seems to be giving you a good chewing out though," Blackarachnia pointed to Optimus's hand.
Optimus ignored the spider's comment and turned to Rhinox who stood watching the creature with a great deal of curiosity.
"I'm going to take him to a containment cell," Optimus said slowly, "Rhinox, I expect you to get some scanning equipment ready to explain what this is."
"Right," Rhinox nodded and moved out towards many of the scientific labs that they had found inside the Ark.
"What about Dinobot?" Rapther asked.
"I don't know," Optimus sighed, "This guy obviously wasn't him. And don't worry; I'm sure he's fine."
Predicon Base
Dinobot was silent as he heard footsteps approaching.
"What do you want?" Dinobot snarled.
"It's amazing how demanding a prisoner can be," Megatron laughed as he continued to step forward, "You really ought to grovel."
"I'm not afraid of you," Dinobot growled back, "What do you want?"
"Nothing much," Megatron shrugged, "Just your commander routes and timetables for his patrols."
"You already know I won't tell you," Dinobot answered.
"That's too bad," Megatron sighed, "I have a big surprise for your comrades, and I would much rather give it to them outside the Ark then in it."
"Afraid you'll destroy the original Megatron?" Dinobot taunted.
Megatron slammed his fist as hard as he could into Dinobot's stomach.
"You will give me the times and routes that Optimus uses on his patrols," Megatron commanded, "You're already going to die, so why not make it easy on yourself?"
"A true warrior does what is honorable," Dinobot answered, "He endures any hardship so long as his honor is preserved. Something you can not understand."
Megatron blasted Dinobot with fire from his dragon's head hand and watched as the raptor flinched under the pain.
"You will give me the information I want," Megatron smiled, "Believe me."
The Ark
"No way," Rhinox gasped as he looked at the readout equipment that he had set up outside the containment cell that was holding the creature that Optimus had captured.
"What is it?" Optimus asked as he looked on.
"According to all of the readouts, this creature has a spark chamber," Rhinox answered slowly, "And it's active. Whatever that is, it has a spark."
"It's a transformer?" Optimus asked, "Living on prehistoric Earth?"
"It's a possible theory," Rhinox sighed, "The real question should be how did it end up a transmetal two? Megatron is the only one who has the ability to advance a transformer like that."
"And until you can get that thing to actually talk instead of growl and snarl at us, you're not going to know who's side he's on or his story," Depthcharge added from the doorway.
"It's like when the Predicons stole the rectifier coil from the Axalon," Optimus commented, "His beast mode's instincts seem to be dominating him."
Rhinox nodded, "Yes. Scans show that his brain function should be normal, but it seems to be dormant. The problem will be in reaching it and getting him to regain enough control to delete the programming block."
Rhinox then looked back at the scanning equipment and pressed a few more buttons. The older transformer sighed.
"If he even has the programming block," Rhinox then commented.
"What?" Optimus asked sounding confused.
"Brain scans indicate that the programming block isn't there," Rhinox commented.
"And things just get more interesting," Optimus sighed, "I'd best try to find some way of contacting the transformer inside that thing. We gotta find out his story."
"How do you intend to do that?" Depthcharge grumbled.
"Ask him," Optimus sighed and then turned to the containment cell.
The creature meanwhile paced inside its cell and kept its optics pinned on the massive transformer that stood just outside the energized wall.
"I know you can hear me in there," the massive transformer spoke clearly, "My name is Optimus Primal, I'm a Maximal. So are you. We are transformers. We come from Cybertron."
The creature paused its pacing and stared directly at Optimus with a slightly confused look on its face.
"Great job," another voice laughed.
"Quiet, Depthcharge," Optimus answered.
The creature recognized both Optimus and the one he addressed as 'Depthcharge' somehow. Almost as if the creature knew them, but it couldn't comprehend why.
"Your beast mode is dominating you," Optimus spoke again, "You have to fight it! Transform."
The creature continued to stare Optimus, not quite understanding.
"Fight it," Optimus repeated, "Take control!"
Vague memories and pieces of information flashed through the creature's mind as something began to awaken inside its mind.
"You can do it," Optimus encouraged, "Fight the animal!"
Optimus took a step as brief red light engulfed the creature transformed to its robot mode. It stood up onto its hind legs as his legs rearranged themselves to allow the creature to stand erect. Its beast mode head was pulled back into a compartment inside the transformer as a head that suited its robot mode came up vertically. Its robot head had even some feline-like qualities.
Optimus looked on as the transformer looked himself over. When the transformer began speaking, however, Optimus was completely shocked.
"Hey, big bot, how did I get here, and what am I doing in a containment cell?" the transformer said with Cheetor's voice.
"Cheetor?" Optimus gasped.
"Yeah," Cheetor answered.
"Open the cell," Optimus commanded to Rhinox.
Rhinox quickly obliged and Cheetor slowly stepped out of the cell he had been placed in.
"How did I get in the containment cell?" Cheetor asked.
"You don't remember?" Optimus asked.
"I remember Dinobot and I finding this huge mountain with a cave entrance appearing above a ledge," Cheetor answered, "I couldn't carry Dinobot, so he ran up the back slope of the mountain and I tried to fly up under the ledge and got caught in some sorta strange energy beam. Then I woke up here. How did I get in a containment cell?"
"I found you wandering around the area just east of the base," Optimus answered, "We thought you were some new clone the Predicons cooked up."
"You said you got caught in some sort of energy beam?" Depthcharge asked from the doorway as he began to approach the other three Maximals.
"Yeah," Cheetor nodded, "It didn't even feel like regular power. It was powerful, but not like the power that say runs through the main circuit boards."
"What are you getting at Depthcharge?" Rhinox asked.
"Remember what I said about Megatron having Rampage and me search the ocean for some alien device he called a 'transmetal driver'?" Depthcharge asked back, and waited for the others to nod, "I'd think that Cheetor got exposed to the transmetal driver's energy, that's why he's advanced to this level."
"One question answered then," Optimus mumbled, "Do you know what happened to Dinobot?"
Cheetor shook his head, "No, I don't. I got caught in that energy beam before he reached the ledge. He probably went in to try and shut it off."
"Prime," Optimus sighed heavily.
"What is it?" Cheetor asked, not knowing what was going on.
"Megatron activated two stasis pods in that cave, and if he had the 'transmetal driver' then those two new Predicons are Transmetal twos as well," Optimus answered, not hiding his frustration, "And if Dinobot went in, Megatron probably took him prisoner."
"We've got to get him out then," Cheetor insisted, "We can't let Megatron hold him prisoner."
"We can't," Optimus agreed, "But we've got to deal with these new Predicons first. We can't assault his base trying to find Dinobot blindly. We'd have no clue as to where the new Predicons are with Sentinel in his possession, Megatron would know we're coming before we get there."
"So what do we do?" Rhinox asked.
"Get everyone together," Optimus sighed, "We'll meet in the command room, recall Rapther, Silverbolt, and Rattrap from their searching. Now that we're certain that Dinobot's been captured we need do some very serious planning."
The four Maximals then slowly left the room and headed off toward the Ark's command center. Shortly after the last one, Rhinox, left, eight eyes flickered open from the ceiling of the room.
"So this transmetal driver made Cheetor more powerful," Blackarachnia commented quietly to herself while still in beast mode, "And he doesn't look too bad either."
Blackarachnia then turned and headed for the back exit and then commented to herself once more, "They want to save lizard boy, fine. I'll save him, and I'll get that driver too."
To be Continued…