'Transformers: Crisis' Chapter 4: "The stage is set…"

(Author's notes on bottom)

You know, I probably had the hardest time tracking down Scourge and the Ruination team. They were a hard bunch to find. Bear in mind that my seeker drones are just that: drones. They can't think, they can't feel, they can't understand anything but the commands I give them. So, when I sent them out to find Scourge and Ruination, I didn't realize that they had signature-cloaking devices. I really didn't consider this a problem or anything unusual, so I dismissed it as something either one of them had developed, or maybe they got it from Galvatron before he was captured, and I figured that they had used it ever since.

Even though I do know everything, I can only concentrate on a few things at the same time, so if I send out a seeker drone to hunt subjects, and I don't realize that the subjects have cloaks on their signatures, the drone doesn't know any better. And of course, me being so preoccupied with finding the rest of the Destrongers, I didn't realize it until almost five days later.

But when I did notice, I immediately recalled the drone and reprogrammed it, and in no time, Scourge was found. Strangely, it could only find Scrouge, and not the Ruination team. So, I thought nothing of it, and I, along with the rest of the Destrongers, immediately teleported to his locale.

I thought that I had seen everything, but this was something I thought I would never see. It wasn't a signature-cloaking device at all; it was a totally different signature. That's right, he had defected and become an Autobot!

I nearly fell over in shock! My circuits were buzzing and sizzling with movement and anger. Anger over the question of how; how could Scourge do this! But then I used my vast knowledge and found the answer. Now I know that Scourge, although heavily reliant on his emotions, isn't stupid. He was brainwashed. Remember when I said that he was the last member of the Destrongers willing to fight like Galvatron did, fierce and without remorse? Well, it appears that he didn't fight hard enough, and was reprogrammed as an Autobot.

This makes me think back to the time when I first found out about the Transformers here on Earth. They fascinated me; I was at a lower level (a Champion level Digimon named Samamon), and I didn't have any of this great power or knowledge that I now possess. I couldn't understand how completely robotic beings could live. I couldn't figure what made them tick. So, I began to study them, watching their battles from hidden locations on the battlefield, trying to observe and learn who was good, who was bad, what their faction symbols meant; just learning anything and everything I could about them. I started to grow a certain fondness for these beings, and almost idolized the leader of the Predacons, Megatron. I was impressed by his battlefield skills, and his utilization of the troops that he commanded. And over time, the Predacon group grew to include Decepticons; Megatron became Galvatron; and I warp-armor digivolved to my Mega form of MetalSamamon. By the time of my digivolution, the Destrongers were losing the battle. It was only a matter of days before Galvatron was defeated and sent to Cybertron as a prisoner-of-war. I now know that upon his arrival there, he was disarmed, implanted with a chip that subdued conscience-level thought, and frozen in a block of ice-like gel called Caridium Carbonite, an unnatural substance on Cybertron that's relatively hard to make and is hardly ever used because of that.

When this happened, I decided to leave my world and come to the real world and help out the Destrongers. I left behind a world that I had conquered, a world where Digimon ran in fear at my mere sight, a world where I was king. I left it to my second-in-command MysticalFlamingamon, an Ultimate level Digimon with a vile temper, a kiss-up ability that you would not believe (at least when I was there), and a treacherous underhanded sneaky evil mind that would stab me in the back the first chance it got. He doesn't know that I know about his two-faced-ness, and so I thought that I would humor him and myself and leave him in charge when I left for the real world. I decided not to tell him in the flesh; but to instead leave a message for him recorded on one of my drones that I had sent back to the Digiworld. I knew that if I had told him in the flesh, he would have begged me not to go. He would have told me, "I can't handle all of this! I can't fill your shoes!" That's something I didn't want to deal with.

And so now he's thinks that I think he's there, trying to fill my shoes and keep the Digiworld under the control of MetalSamamon; but in truth I know what he's really doing; and it upsets me greatly. He shall regret the day he hatched from his Digiegg, I promise!

But anyway, as I was saying before I strayed off of topic there, I should have known that Scourge had joined the Autobots unwillingly, but I never really thought about it. We ended up finding him at Autobot HQ, and had it changed since I had first seen it almost twenty years ago. The base had been added onto, and the defenses were at high. I mean really high! You should have seen it! Guns everywhere; scanning cameras and trip lasers; barrier walls; deep pits; guard towers; the works. I don't think there was a single precautionary measure they didn't take. "MetalSamamon?" Gas Skunk asked me. "What?" I said as I turned to him. "What's all this for?" he asked, puzzled. I merely sighed. "They knew we were coming, Gas Skunk. One of the Spychangers told Optimus of what we did to the Autobot brothers, and not long after we left, a small crew came and gathered up the remnants of the three." I told him. "And you didn't stop that Spychanger, or the crew that collected the parts? What was the point of destroying the brothers?" he asked me. I bonked him on the head. "Imbecile! Do not question why I do things! That's why I'm in charge, because I know what I'm doing and why I do it!" I told him. "If you must know, it was because I wanted to see the look on Optimus's face when he realizes that he made all of these preparations for my arrival, and it did absolutely no good! Call it personal satisfaction," I smiled. "Wow! That's a neat idea. I would have never thought of that, MetalSamamon," he said to me. I gave a half-hearted laugh. "And that is why you are not in charge, Gas Skunk."

It was night, and bitterly cold out. There were searchlights panning the perimeter for any movement at all. We were at a safe distance away where they could neither see us nor detect us. I did a little scanning of my own, and spotted Scourge in the room atop one of the guard towers. He was being a good little solider; moving the light back and forth over a small area; his full concentration on the spot on the ground where the light beam hit. "Hmmm," I said aloud, "This may require some delicate work…" "What do you mean?" Slapper asked me. "I mean that Scourge is one of those bots who slices first, and then asks questions. I may need a diversion…" I said, as I slowly turned and grinned at Slapper. He got really fidgety and started laughing in a real low voice. "Uh, come on MetalSamamon, please. Don't do that…" he begged.

WHAM! Slapper hit the ground inside of the Autobot perimeter hard, and drew every light from every nearby tower, including Scourge's. He also tripped the motion-sensitive lasers and auto-guns popped out of the ground. Slapper froze in place. "Uh, Scourge! Please lower these guns!" He yelled up to Scourge without moving an inch. Scourge peered down from the tower. "Who is that? Is that you Slapper?" he asked. "Yeah, it's me. Please lower the guns. I come in peace!" Slapper whimpered. "Hmmm." Scrouge rubbed his chin. "I don't know." He glanced over to his left and seen Skid-Z staring at him. Skid-Z raised his arms in question, and Scourge shook his head in disappointment. "Sorry, Slapper. I'm an Autobot now." He pushed a button. "NO!" Slapper yelled as he was shot to pieces by the auto-guns. His body was thrashed and pieces flew everywhere. By the time guns stopped shooting, he was nothing but a pile of rubble.

"Excellent decision, Scourge. It builds loyalty with your new comrades." Scrouge looked up and turned to see me standing in the room with him. He quickly drew his sword. "I don't know who you are, or how you got in here, but you'll be going out faster than you can say, 'Please don't kill me!'" he raised the sword over his head and let it fall. "Pah-Leese!" I said as I teleported a few feet to my right and his sword hit nothing but air. "Really? Did you honestly think I would beg for my life? I thought you were smarter than that." I told him. His eyes glowed an angry red as he swung his sword furiously at me. I deployed my arm-mounted shields (which are three strings that have utility pieces at the ends and form a solid L-shape and have a clear liquid-like membrane in-between them that deflects any attack), and merely blocked every blow he tried to deliver. I could see the frustration building in his swings as they became more and more random and less skilled. "Scrouge, listen to me. You were once a Decepticon. Become one again. Bring down the defenses, and let the rest of the Destrongers in," I tried to reason with him. He really wasn't listening; but instead trying to find a weak spot in my defenses. I glanced over to my right and seen Skid-Z using some kind of communication device. I knew exactly what he was doing. I rotated one of my mirrors on my jetpack and lined up a shot with my laser cannons. I blasted the body of the tower, and watched as it crumbled to the ground, taking Skid-Z with it.

Then WHACK! I fell to the ground inside the tower. Scourge had sliced off my legs while I was not looking. That'll teach me not to pay attention, I thought to myself. He raised the sword into a plunging position, and aimed it at my head. "You're no match for me!" He plowed the sword into my head, straight through the front of my face. He yanked it out, and started to walk away. "Nobody belittles me, pathetic scum!" I said as I stood up with my legs reattached and my head repairing itself. He stopped and began to turn around. But before he could, I converted my hand into a hammer and slammed it into his chest. Arcs of electricity spewed out from the gapping wound I left his chest as he stumbled back. "How? I killed you!" He asked as he grabbed his chest in pain. "I can't be destroyed! You're a fool for trying." I gave him a sharp uppercut that sent him flying over the railing of the tower. He hit the ground hard, and lied there motionless. I jumped down from the tower and landed beside him. "You must learn your place, or you'll never be a good Decepticon." I told him, as he laid there faced down. I walked up next to him, and motioned over the rest of the Destrongers.

But then I felt something grab my leg. I looked down and seen Scourge gripping my leg as tight as he could. "I shall destroy you if I must die to do it!" He boldly stated as he tried to crawl and pull himself towards me. I shook his grip loose of my legs, and used my arm-mounted strings to pick him up. "Scourge, Scrouge, Scrouge. You must learn to trust me. You must become a Decepticon again." I told him as I stood him up so he could face me. "I'm… an… Autobot… now!" He yelled with every last ounce of his strength, and closed his fists together and gave me a powerful blow to the chin. It actually lifted me off of the ground, and I fell to the ground hard. But so did he, having used all of his endurance, and he landed on both of his knees. I shook off the blow, and stood up again, realigning my jaw. "You just don't get it, do you Scrouge?" I asked him as I walked up to him again. The rest of the Destrongers were behind me. "I don't know who you're trying to impress, but it certainly isn't me." I said. The Destrongers hung their heads in shame. "Please Scrouge. You are a Decepticon, no mater what symbol you wear. Have they brainwashed you that much?" I asked him sadly, "Can you not remember who you once were?"

He looked up at me, and seen the rest of the Destrongers behind me. His eyes were barely flickering, and their color was a deep somber red, and his mouth guard was broken off, revealing the inner workings of his mouth. His teeth were broken and he was leaking some kind of black fluid out of his mouth. But I sensed that he was remembering who he was, and realizing that he could rejoin the Destrongers with honor.

But just then, Skid-Z and Tow-Line came up behind all of us. "Alright you Decepti-creeps, you're gonna get it now!" Tow-Line yelled at us. We all turned around at the same time to see the two of them standing there and something behind them in the shadows. I used my cyber-eye and lit up the figure that was behind them, and realized it was Ruination! "What! You're an Autobot too?" Sky-Byte asked out loud. "This is too much!" Dark Scream said, holding his head in pain, "I… I just can't understand it!" "Well, it looks like we have another misguided Decepticon on our hands, doesn't it?" I said. I turned to the Destrongers quickly. "Sky-Byte and Dark Scream, move Scrouge out of harm's way and collect the pieces of Slapper. Gas Skunk and Bustlitt, concentrate your fire on the two Autobots. I'll handle Ruination."

Sky-Byte and Dark Scream quickly made their way over to Scrouge, and dragged him off the battlefield as quickly as they could (they were groaning the whole way. Scrouge isn't light, you know). The other two began opening fire on the two Autobots. They quickly dove for cover, and began to return fire. I took to the air, quickly shot out all of the auto-guns, and then turned my attention to Ruination. I stared at the big Autobot symbol on his chest. "It really doesn't fit you." I confessed to him. "Ruination will destroy tiny human!" He raised his arm intending to smash me. O.K., now I'm angry! I thought to myself. He thinks I'm a human. Maybe I should change my appearance… I shrugged my shoulders and moved out of the way as his fist. I blasted him with my cannons and converted my arm into one as well. Then I repeated that process with my other arm, and took out four extra cannons from each arm and blasted him. He at first seemed impervious to my attacks, but then the damage started to show. Pretty soon he was falling backwards instead of advancing towards me. Then I gave him a sidekick to the chest plate, and he fell all the way over and fell apart upon hitting the ground. The five individuals that made up Ruination quickly regained their senses, and looked around in surprise.

Skid-Z looked over his shoulder and noticed this. "Uh oh, Tow-Line! The reformation process has worn off! They're remembering who they were!" His voice was scared and shaky. Tow-Line looked over too to make sure for himself that Skid-Z was right. "Great. That's all we need now. I say we retreat." He told Skid-Z. "WHAT! Right in front of the base?" Skid-Z asked him. "Yes. Actually, there's something Ii haven't told you. We'll discuss inside. Let's move it!" They began to back away from the two Destrongers who were shooting at them; returning fire as they moved away. "Look Gas Skunk! We're drivin' 'em off!" Bustlitt yelled as he raised his rifle in the air in victory. "Yeah, you're right! We did it!" Gas Skunk raised the tiny gun that I gave him in the air too. "Morons! Don't you two know anything?" I said as I walked up to them. "Whaddya mean, MetalSamamon?" Bustlitt asked me. "They're not retreating from you, they're merely getting out of here while they can. The Ruination team remembers who they are now, and Scrouge is too," I told them, "Doesn't it seem a bit odd that only two Autobots came out to face us? We're right in front of the base for crying out loud!" "Actually, now that you mention it, it does seem a bit weird.' Gas Skunk replied. "Optimus is no fool," I said, "He may be an Autobot, but he's not stupid. He's up to something, and luckily for us, I know exactly what it is." I smiled. "I suggest we leave and regroup now while we can. I want to be at full strength for our final assault on the Autobots! And that mean swe'll need Galvatron!" I told them as I started to walk away. "Wait for us!" They both said as they ran after me.

I walked over to the pile of rubble that once was Slapper that the two had gathered up. I picked up his head, and looked it straight in the face. "Alas, poor Slapper. I knew him well, Bustlitt. He was a robot of infinite disgust." I said with an Old-English accent. "What in da world was dat mush?" he asked me. "It was my version of a famous quote from Shakespeare. You really should read it sometime. It'll help out you're English." I said, and I put Slapper's head on the ground. "Waz dat 'posed to mean?" he asked, "I never read dat book, Shakes-beer befo'," "My point exactly." I commented. I kicked Slapper's head out of the way. "I have headache in my whole body." Slapper said as Dark Scream swept up him up into a pile and put it in a container. "Let's go. We still have a long journey ahead of us. Let's prepare to free Galvatron!" I announced as we walked away from the Autobot base.

Inside, T-AI was watching the monitors as we were walking away. "Optimus! Are you sure about this? I don't think it's a good idea to just let them walk away like that," she told him. "It's the only way, T-AI. I had to do it. I didn't know if we could trust the reprogrammed Decepticons, and I didn't want any more of our men out there if and when they decided to go bad. Besides, this MetalSamamon is a bigger threat than I had imagined. He's very powerful, and worse, he knows how to use that power. With that kind of an army, he may be unstoppable," Optimus sighed, and then brightened his expression, "But we are Autobots. We will not go quietly into the night. We will not let this tyrant take over and destroy all that we have created. We will stop him, even if we all, including myself, must die to do so." "Now do you understand Skid-Z?" Tow-Line asked him. "Yeah. I guess Optimus had this planned out the whole time. I feel dumb." Skid-Z said. "Don't. It's O.K. Optimus told me not to tell you. You may have blown our big surprise." Tow-Line said. "Big surprise? What's that?" Skid-Z asked. Tow-Line leaned down to whisper to Skid-Z. "Fortress Maximus."

Author's notes!
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Here's where it begins to tie into the other stories in the series…they will be posted later.