The hot savanna sun shone down onto Cheetor's back, and the soft warm wind toyed with his fur as he ran. His spark pounded, and his vents came quick and sharp. Paws clawed at the dirt. He had to keep moving. His optics flicked left to right, and his audio receptors remained perched ready to catch any kind of sound. He couldn't find her with his nose as her scent was everywhere.

Deep growling came from his side, and he was suddenly tackled. The catbot tumbled down into the dry pale golden grass reeds, rolling over himself and his attacker. He finally came to a halt in cloud of dry dust with a female king cheetah lying on top of him playfully licking him.

Cheetor started laughing, "Okay! Okay! You got me! You win!"

The wild cat, Chicory, who was currently sitting on top of the young maximal, flicked her ear before celebrating her victory by continuing to groom Cheetor. Much to the catbot's dismay. He knew that trying to stop Chicory from doing this little ritual, would only end with him getting swatted. So, resistance was futile. He only wished to know why she insisted on doing it every time they met.

Cheetor tried get up only have Chicory pin him back down, "Come on, Chicory. I need to get up. Please."

Chicory twitched her ear, and flicked her tail back and forth. Though, she, thankfully, relented and hopped of the young maximal, allowing Cheetor to get to his paws.

"You're getting better at tag. But I'm not going to go so easy on you next time," Cheetor said.

Chicory, tilted her head.

"Don't look at me like that. I was going easy on you."

The female wildcat, just harshly shook her head, as if she was trying to shake some unforeseen water off of her fur, and stalked off into the grass. Cheetor was quick to follow her. Optimus had finally given the youngster some time off to spend with the maximal's newest member. And the catbot was enjoying every nanoklik of it.

Chicory had decided to lay down in the shade of a nearby tree, effectively ending their game of tackle tag on her victory. Not that Cheetor minded much, it was hot out there. The cat bot joined her, lying down beside her. The shade was cooling, and a small breeze ruffled their furs. It was quite relaxing. Cheetor even offlined his optics, thinking that a nap might be nice. And he would've drifted off, but Chicory decided that his fur still wasn't clean enough for her taste.

Cheetor's audio sensors flipped back annoyed, but he eventually relaxed and let the female wildcat do what she wanted, "You're so lucky Chicory, you know that?"

Like always, Chicory didn't answer. Just continued to lap her sandpaper tongue over his fur.

"I mean, you get to run all day, and do what ever your want. You don't have to deal with assignments, preds that try to shoot at you, or a crew of crazies. Not that I don't like the others, we can just get on each other's nerves, you know?"

Chicory didn't answer.

"Bigbot, don't get me wrong, is a great leader. It's just sometimes he thinks I can't handle that much responsibility. Rhinox and Rattrap are usually too busy to hang out. Though, if Rattrap is in a good mood, sometimes I can get him to play videogames with me, and Airazor has joined us once or twice when she didn't have anything else to do. Tigatron, well, big cat is rarely at the base, and dinobot…I try not to annoy him."

Cheetor sighed, "I know that I tend to rush off, but I'm not actively trying to cause trouble. We have the predacons for that. It's just sometimes, they don't understand how much I want to help them, and they think I'm being way too reckless and immature. But I'm not that reckless, I'm just eager. You understand?"

Chicory stopped her grooming. The wild cat came up to Cheetor's head. Purring happily, she rubbed her cheek against his cheek. Then laid down beside him, placing her neck atop of his.

Cheetor smiled, "Yeah, you understand."

The two stayed like this for some time. Finding comfort in each other's company, and fuzzy coats. But this peaceful rest was disturbed when Chicory suddenly removed herself. Cheetor, groggily lifted his head, alerted by the sudden movement. It had been so relaxing the youngster had actually managed to drift off.

"Chicory?" Cheetor asked sleepily, "What are you…?"

Cheetor cut himself off, the moment his bleary optics cleared. Chicory was standing up straight, her head held high and ears were pricked up. Her wild eyes were squinting, clearly trying to see something that even with her facial marks was hard to see. Something wasn't right.

"Cory?" Cheetor whispered. She didn't move.

Cheetor slowly crept to his paws. He couldn't see anything in the direction where Chicory was staring. Why would she be staring at nothing? It was still scorching out so it was possible she could have seen a mirage, but by the way the wild cat held herself, Cheetor could tell that she had seen or heard something.

His ear flicked catching a barely audible sound. What was that? Cheetor couldn't tell. A bleat? A growl? He wasn't sure what it was, but Chicory seemed to know. The moment the she heard the sound, the wild cat leaped forward dashing through the fields of the savanna.

"Chicory?!" Cheetor yelped, "Hey! Wait up!"

Taking off after his fellow cheetah, Cheetor barreled forward. The coarse dry ground was scraped by his claws, and the wind whipped against his face. Where they were running too? He didn't really know. But Chicory was pushing herself. Cheetor had only ever seen her go this fast when hunting. So, it must have been urgent.

Then he heard it. Cheetor heard it. A sickening growl that came from ahead of the spotty speedsters and was followed by further snarls, and loud roars. Whatever was going down, it was something big. They climbed up a nearby hill and from the top, Cheetor could see…the cheetah den? Why was Chicory in such a rush to get here? Cheetor soon got his answer when a harsh deadly snarl erupted from the right. Bright green optics looked over towards the sound, and widened.

There was another cheetah, and two lionesses.

Both parties of wild cats were engaged in what was clearly a heated battle. The Cheetah had been quickly swiped down into the dusty ground. The odds weren't at all even, lionesses were larger and stronger than any cheetah. Though, that quickly changed as Chicory was quick to leap into the fray.

The king cheetah leaped onto one lioness's back. She sank her fangs into the top of the tan neck of the larger wildcat. Chicory's claws dug into its flesh and fur, drawing bright crimson blood. But the other lioness flung a strong powerful swipe at Chicory, dislodging the king cheetah's grip. Chicory fell to the ground, but the other cheetah was quick to ram into lioness closest to her.

Cheetor couldn't stay out this any longer. These lionesses were relentless, and had attacked Chicory. Not just Chicory, but her family as well. Although he wasn't sure of their relationship, it was clear that Chicory knew this other cheetah personally. There was no other reason for her to react like this.

The young maximal let instinct take over. Protect. Run. Fight. Cheetor leaped forward, latching his fangs onto one of the lionesses. The metallic taste of organic blood trickled into his mouth, but shockingly he wasn't as grossed out as he thought he'd be. The other Lioness, tried to swipe at Cheetor, but Chicory and the other cheetah were quick to tackle her away.

Cheetor's lioness latched her jaws onto his back. Making the young maximal squeak out a bleat of pain, and lose his grip. He was thrown to the ground, and lioness lunged for his neck, but Chicory was faster. The King Cheetah came to youngster rescue once again, going for the lioness's neck. Cheetor quickly got to his paws. Chicory still had a strong hold on the one lioness's neck, but another Cheetah had been thrown back down. Cheetor dashed forward and tried to recreate the neck bite Chicory did. He missed, but it didn't matter the tackle was enough of to push the Lioness away.

Dust was clawed up and swirled in blinding plumes. Snarls and growls echoed throughout the wild land. Fur was scraped off, and blood was drawn. It was difficult, but eventually the lionesses retreated.

Cheetor was left with a few bites and scratches but none of them had hit an energon line, so there was nothing much to worry about. It was Chicory and the other cheetah, that he was worried about. They each had a decent number of wounds, from light scrapes to bleeding bites. Though they didn't seem too worried about it. Those Lionesses were really going after something, the question was what?

Chicory had walked over to the other Cheetah, and began to lick at her wounds. The other cheetah returned the favor, and rubbed their cheek against hers. Cheetor kept his distance trying to figure out how these two knew each other. Though the other cheetah quickly answered that with a quick chirp. The litter of cheetah cubs he'd had met a few days prior, came tumbling out of the den and towards the elder cheetahs. The other cheetah, laid down on the ground, allowing the cubs to get their afternoon snack.

So, this is Mama Cat…Alright Cheetor, best behavior.


"I'm fine Rhinox," Cheetor said, trying very hard not the squirm as the Maximal medic examined him.

The door to the med-bay opened, and a gorilla with robotic insides entered. Primal gave Rhinox a raised brow, before turning to the youngest maximal, "What happened now?" he groaned.

"Well," Cheetor started, "I was out with Chicory…"

"Did she do this?" Rhinox asked pointing to the bite mark on Cheetor's back.

"What no! It was one of lionesses!" Cheetor exclaimed.

"Lionesses?!" Rhinox nearly shouts.

"What lionesses?" Optimus asked.

"The lionesses that were attacking the den. Chicory ran off after our game of tackle tag, and I followed her. She led me to the den, where her mom was fighting off two lionesses. Chicory jumped in…" Cheetor explained.

"And you engaged," Optimus finished, the maximal commander sighed, "Of course you did."

"Wait mom? Did you locate Chicory's mother?" Rhinox asked.

"Oh, yeah! Even saw her feed the cubs confirming it," Cheetor said, "She wasn't a king cheetah though. So, she might have only been the cubs' mom."

"Actually, she still could be Chicory mother," Rhinox said.

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.

"The gene mutation that causes the king cheetah spot patterns is recessive, her mom might be carrying it and still have the normal spot patterns," Rhinox explained, "And there's no other reason that Chicory should have any sort of connection with another adult female."

"And what about the lionesses? Last I checked there wasn't any in that area," Optimus asked.

"They were probably after the cubs," Rhinox said, "The drought is exhausting a lot of the food sources out there."

"You mean…" Cheetor felt his tanks grow queasy.

"Yes, they were hunting the cubs," Rhinox said solemnly.

Cheetor stayed quiet after that was said.


Waspinator, couldn't understand how he got into these types of situations. Megatron said to do it, but Megatron's plans rarely ended well for Waspinator. Sometimes it wasn't even a mission, and Waspinator had to put himself back together! Even now, the poor insectacon was scared about losing parts, and the maximals weren't even directly involved with this mission.

Right now, Waspinator, was flying with the most tolerable (to him at least) member of the predacons, Terrorsaur, or as he called him Terror-bot. The planet's scorching sun, had gone to burn the other side of the planet by this time, letting the surface cool underneath ivory starlight. Waspinator didn't really mind this planet. It had its ups and downs. Sure, it had large dangerous animals, too much energon, and Maximals that all tried to slag Waspinator, but there were parts that he enjoyed, like the flowers. There weren't that many flowers on cybertron, but this planet had many and quite a few of them Waspinator found himself liking. Such as roses. The insectacon found that he was rather fond of the sweet-smelling plant. Waspinator would have grown them if Megatron had allowed it.

"Do you see anything?" Terrorsaur squawked.

"Wasspinator don't ssee, anything. What are Wasspinator and Terror-bot looking for again?" Waspinator said.

"We're looking for the Maximals' new kitty cat. How many times do I have to tell you?" Terrorsaur squawked.

"Wasspinator, doesn't like thiss plan. Waspinator, was nearly sslagged last time. Why doess Megatron even need killer kitty?"

"How should I know? That pompous T-rex, doesn't tell me anything. But he wants the cat, so as his lackies, he sends us to do it."

"Oh, Wasspinator doesn't like being lacky."

"Well, that's what we are…."

The predacon flyers continued over the area that the Maximals' wildcat had last been seen, not counting the attack on the Axalon. The long-dried grasses of the savanna below hid almost everything that was inside of it. But it still couldn't keep the spotty tail, hanging out of a nearby tree from Waspinator's sensors.

The two, carefully crept up to the wild splotchy cat, that was comfortably resting on one of the lower branches. Switching over to bi-pedal mode, Waspinator raised the net launcher he had brought with him.

"Wait," Terrorsaur, loudly whispered.

"What?" Waspinator asked.

"Look at its' neck," Terrorsaur pointed, at what looked like a pinky-red collar, baring the maximal sigil.

"So, kitty has necklace. What's Terror-bot so worried about?"

"That collar probably has a tracker in it."

"So?"

"So? You want the Maximals to come after us? We need to take that thing off before we bring it back to the Darkside."

Waspinator, saw Terrorsaur's point. Who knows what the Maximals will do if they found out that Megatron, had wanted their kitty? What would happen to Waspinator if they found out he was the one who took their kitty? Nothing good that was for sure. Waspinator dropped the net launcher and carefully crept forward, reaching out his servos towards the buckle on the collar; the flyer would do anything to help keep himself together.

There was a subtle click of the buckle, then there was the threatening snarl coming from the suddenly awake wildcat. Waspinator screeched, as the angry wildcat lashed out. Claws were suddenly digging into his armor, as it shoved him into the ground. Waspinator was trying hard not to scream as he stared at the sharp deadly fangs resting in the cat's mouth. Thankfully though, Terrorsaur had grabbed the net launcher from the ground, and snared the wildcat before it could do any damage.

Waspinator slowly picked himself off the ground, as Terrorsaur strutted up to his catch. The wildcat was now snarling in rage. It thrashed, bit and clawed at the net desperately trying to break free.

"Trying to slice the net, eh? I'll give you a hint it's useless. That net is made out of thin cybertronian metal fibers, something too tough for your measle organic claws to break. You'll only tire yourself out. Though I do have to give you points for your will to fight. You'd be a good predacon warrior," Terrorsaur boasted.

"Oh...Wasspinator's head hurt. Can leave now?" The wasp former pleaded.

Terrorsaur nodded. The two flyers claimed their prize and flew back to the Darkside. Leaving nothing to ever show that something had happened that night. Well…almost nothing.


Cheetor, was running through the dry savanna grasses once again. The young maximal had been allowed more off time, after the incident with the lionesses. Rhinox had argued that Chicory and her mom could possibly need more help protecting the cubs, saying, "Even though the cubs don't show it, they could still carry the King Cheetah gene mutation, and I'm not going to let a species go extinct on my watch". So, Optimus had made checking up on the family, one of Cheetor's regular tasks.

It wasn't all that hard to track Chicory down now. The device in her collar was easy to tap into. And it showed she was just over the hill he was climbing.

"Chicory!" Cheetor shouted as he leaped over the hill top, to find…no one, "Chicory?"

Cheetor felt worry suddenly settle in his tanks. Where was she? The tracker had said that she hadn't moved for a few hours, but he just figured that she had been taking a nap. The catbot leaped forward to investigate further. Though, once he got closer, he saw something that made his energon run cold and the worry in his tanks morph into dread.

There lying next to the tree…was Chicory's collar.