"Hee-ey-ey...! What's wrong, havin' trouble steering?"
A violent shudder sent Rattrap crashing to the ground, his leg crushed under Dinobot as everyone was thrown about inside of the cockpit. Silverbolt, ever the gentleman, caught Blackarachnia in his arms before she went tumbling to the ground, but Cheetor was not nearly as lucky and slammed his head against a console, blacking out nearly instantly. Outside, the bright glow of the transwarp tunnel were still bright, but there's no way this sort of interference should've been happening. Transwarp tunnels were usually smooth and efficient as an assembly line. Rattrap should know, he'd been on more than a few in his time.
"What in the Pit is going on?" roared Dinobot, pushing himself up onto his knees, clawing at the console to try and get some information.
"It's Megatron!" replied Optimus, pointing at the viewscreen. "He's trying to break free!"
"Raaauughhh!"
With a great cry of fury, of defiance, the crimson leviathan tore away his restraints, freeing himself. But his move for freedom came at great cost, for in doing so, he released himself from any connection to the shuttle. Clinging to it now with his free hand, he was very nearly sucked away into the void of the transwarp tunnel, and he would have been left helpless to drift through time and space if he did so.
And then... his grip faltered, and with a howl Megatron was sucked away from the shuttle and into the void.
"... well... guess that's the end of Megatron," said Rattrap, breaking the awkward silence that followed.
Another shudder rocked the shuttle, and he was thrown flat onto his back once more. The shockwave was much more intense this time, and white light overflowed the shuttle. Another hit like that would tear them to pieces, as the shuttle was tossed helplessly about inside of the tunnel.
"... and us!"
Everything went dark.
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Some Humans, upon first meeting a Transformer in person, could not comprehend how a machine was capable of feeling pain. How robotics were capable of registering any manner of sensation. The reply from more learned Transformers was usually long-winded and required a great understanding of both electronics and sparks, a concept that even to them was difficult to grasp completely.
Suffice to say, Transformers could feel pain.
Right now, Dinobot almost wished he didn't.
Short-term memory files had been erased, and he reached up to press his hand to his head, hoping to dispel some of the agony behind his optic sensors. However, his hand came up short. Eyes snapping open in shock, he glanced down, confirming his suspicions. He'd reverted to his beast mode. Dinosaur limbs, particularly for bipeds, were not well known for their reach.
What had happened? They'd been on their way to Cybertron... Megatron... Transwarp tunnel... it was all slipping away. He could recall everything in vivid detail up until they'd entered the Transwarp tunnel. The Nemesis. Returning to the Maimxals. But after that... nothing?
Growling, he tilted his head up, reptilian globes glancing left and right. This was Cybertron alright... he recognized it from the memories of the first Dinobot. The environment was unmistakable. Steel buildings high as a mountains, empty streets, cold, sterile air...
... empty streets...?
He glanced around again, then gave a sniff. Not so much as a whiff of electricity in the air. No energon residue. He tilted his head, the tiny holes on either side of his head not as efficient as that of a mammal (dinosaurs more infamous for scent than hearing) but he couldn't hear anything.
The city was empty.
Dead.
Or was it? The sudden shuddering of the ground, the sound of tires rolling, indicated he was not alone. But who were they? Friends? Enemies? Maximals? Predacons?
Speaking of which, where were his allies? Dinobot glanced around quickly, his headache dissipating as his beast form made internal repairs. No sign of the ever-childish Cheetor. No sign of their insipid Silverbolt. No sign of treacherous Black Arachnia.
He stood alone.
And then he was not. The open alleyways and streets were filled with a roving army of strange tanks, uniformly silver-gray and treading towards him with one clear purpose in mind. Dinobot snarled, baring his viciously sharp teeth.
"Stand down, Maximal filth," he commanded. "Or I will be forced to hurt you."
When the tanks did nothing to halt (if anything, their speed increased) and they brought their weapons to bare, Dinobot was through being nice. He'd given them more than fair warning. Now he intended to give them a whole lot of Hell for trying to capture him.
"Dinobot... Maximize!"
Normally, such a cry would've meant flesh and bone slid aside, revealing metal and circruitry beneath. Dinobot the Velociraptor would be replaced with Dinobot the Predacon Warrior. Instead, a shock ran through Dinobot's system, and he gave a momentary cry of pain, biting it off quickly. His legs tried to shift upwards to become his arms, but they were stuck halfway, then slid back into place. All in all, no Transformation occurred. He was stuck in beast mode.
System Error. System Error.
"What... in the...Pit!" he managed to snarl out.
To a Transformer, to change one's shape is a natural part of one's life. To lose the ability is like a bird being unable to fly. It is devastating.
Fortunately, Dinobot had more immediate concerns to worry about.
Unfortunately, they'd just leveled a series of wicked looking weapons at him.
Dinobot hurled his body aside and ducked, dodging, and otherwise avoided the energy blasts from the tanks, deciding discretion the better part of his valor. He was outnumbered and outmatched in beast form. He would retreat.
But he wouldn't like it.
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How long he ran. How far he ran. He didn't know. He had no complete recollection of all the close calls that nearly left him a singed pile of slag on the side of the alleyway, how many times he'd nearly been cornered by the tank drones and obliterated, or worse. He kept running. His beast form was a naturally impressive runner, nearly as fast a Cheetor's had been. But his energon reserves were nearly depleted, and he was running on empty.
Soon, they would close in on him. And he would be doomed.
However, as he ducked down another tunnel, salvation lay before him. A service duct, unused and unguarded. And better, it was small. His body could slip in through the narrow passage, but that of the tank drones would not. He didn't know where it led, but anywhere was better than being out in the open.
What was happening on Cybertron?
He didn't know, and he didn't have time to think. He ducked down the passageway. Almost instantly, it ended, and the floor slipped out from underneath him. He tumbled down the slope awkwardly, then fell almost perfectly downwards, ended with a loud thump, crashing hard. His head struck the floor...
... and his consciousness flickered off.
Temporary stasis.
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Yet again Dinobot woke-up with a head feeling like slag. This time he could barely focus his optics on the large blur in front of him.
"Hey... you alright...?" asked the blur. A man's voice... no... a boy's. Cybertronian. Maximal? Predacon wouldn't have cared if he was alright.
"Do I look... al-alright to you?" growled Dinobot, pushing himself up onto his shaky legs, giving his head a shake to try and clear away the cobwebs in his core processor. He focused his vision on the blur, and was rewarded when the image began to take sharp focus.
"You look like slag buddy," said the voice.
As Dinobot's vision fully cleared, he saw the individual before him more clearly. Barely half his height, at that, this one was smaller than Waspinator had been. Perhaps a little taller than Rattrap, but then again what Cybertronian wasn't bigger than the flea-bitten vermin? This one was in beast mode, and it's organic form was that of a large brown bat. His eyes were a hellish red, and his wife mouth was full of sharp teeth, yet he looked scrawny and half-starved. But there was a hint of strength in his motions, a defiance in his eyes. Definently Maximal.
"Where are we? What is this place?" snapped Dinobot quickly.
"Chill, man ... I don't know what happened to you, you must've fallen down a maintenance shaft... city's covered with them," he added with a wave of his wing, indicating the tunnels they now stood in. Dinobot glanced around warily. No sign of the tank drones. Not big enough for them to maneuver anyway.
"I was attacked..." murmured Dinobot, though the little Maximal took this as a question.
"The drones, yeah, they attacked everyone... I think we're the only ones left," said the winged Maximal.
"Where are we?"
"My home," he replied, flapping his wings and lifting himself up.
Dinobot followed, but internally, he realized his system was badly banged up. Transforming was impossible. And unless he found some way to repair himself soon, he would likely go back into stasis... permanently. It was not an end he had hoped for. The Maximal bat led Dinobot deeper down into the tunnels, into an underground cavern in the very heart of them. And there stood...
"... a tree...?"
A tree indeed, a great one with wide and leafy branches and big, thick roots. It filled up the entire cavern. Dinobot was not botanist, but he was fairly sure plants needed sunlight to live. How could it survive down here? How could any organic life survive on Cybertron?
"This -is- Cybertron, is it not?" he asked, glancing at his flying companion.
"Where the heck you been, fossils-for-brains?"
Dinobot snarled at that, and the bat wisely moved out of reach of his snapping teeth. "I have been away," replied Dinobot, not wishing to give him the long and short of his time away on Ancient Earth. "What has happened here?"
The ears of the winged Maximal drooped, and his expression was one of terrible sadness.
"No one saw it coming... a virus... it came out of nowhere. Hit the whole planet, top to bottom. Everyone got infected. Lots deactivated... some... just..." his voice dropped to below a whisper, and Dinobot only barley made out "... vanished."
"Then the drones came. First just a few... then more... and more... soon there were thousands. Everywhere. Hunting down survivors. I ran. I fled underground... got lost... fell into this pit and went... off-line..."
Dinobot growled faintly, all too familiar with the situation. It mirror his.
"There is no shame in retreat," he growled. "You are clearly unsuited for battle, and your enemy came at you in vast numbers and superior firepower. There was... no hope... of your victory."
The bat nodded his head sadly. "When I reactivated, I looked like this, " he said, stretching out his wings in full and giving himself a once-over. "Don't ask me how or why. I've survived down here on the fruit..."
"Fruit?"
The Maximal flapped his way over to the tree and plucked down some of the aforementioned fruit, holding it out for Dinobot to see. Curious, the former Predacon reached up and sniffed at one within reach of his snout, though he was careful not to take his eyes off of it.
"See?" replied the bat, munching down on a few of the fruits. His eyes glowed an eerie red, but otherwise, he seemed alright. Dinobot reached out and snapped his teeth around one of the fruit, munching down on it with little hesitation. It was not as if he had much choice. He needed his strength. His body was not suited for such food, but he managed to obtain some energy from the organic treat. His power would remain functional for a while. Better, it seemed the virus was clearing up. His internal systems indicated he still couldn't transform, but that would likely be fixed soon as well.
"I think we're the only ones left," said the Maximal bat again forlornly.
"Unlikely," hissed Dinobot as he finished his meal, his own eyes glowing faintly crimson. "Optimus and the others will be searching for us. They are... adaptable... they will find a way to elude the tank drones, as we did. Then we can begin devising a plan of attack."
"Is your cortex malfunctioning? Take on all those drones?"
"I will not spend the remainder of my existence skulking down here like vermin," hissed Dinobot, bringing up his foot and squashing a piece of fruit underneath it. It was not the head of a drone, but it would do for now. "I intend to be victorious or die in the attempt. It will not be the first time."
"You're crazy."
"Mmmmm…" was all he said. He'd been called worse, after all. "What's your name, kid?" Dinobot asked around another fruit, spitting out chunks as he ate with a lack of finesse.
"Nightscream."
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Author's Notes:
Next time: Old friends are reunited, and the Oracle gives Dinobot an upgrade.
MMC: I shall certainly try to, but no promises.
Nannon: And here it is.
Josh84: That was the biggest thing that bugged me about Beast Machines... no Dinobot! I am here to rectify the mistake.
BeastWars4Ever: I shall write as much as I am able.
Rad: Fanfiction for Transformers does seem to be very lacking, mostly since it seems to heavily focus on their actual transforming, stupid upgrades, or bringing in G1 characters or Mary Sues. I stick to the core of the Transformers universe... personality and character.