-Look at previous chapter for disclaimer. =P
Chapter 17: Calm Before the Storm (Crossing the Rubicon)
Poke. Poke. Mmmhrrmmm go away. There was more poking. Okay, okay fine, damn you're persistent, I silently listed the top candidates who would poke me while I was asleep: Cheetor, Trailblazer and Rattrap. I slowly opened one eye and smiled at a smirking Rattrap.
"Rise 'n shine, Sleepin' Beauty" the (ballsy) rat delivered a jab to my ribs. I squeaked and proceeded to beat him into a stupor with a pillow.
It had been a little over a month since I escaped from Tarantulas' lair, and Transmutate had joined the Preds. I hadn't heard much from her over that time, the only updates I ever got were from Rampage, and I only got those when I was out and about and looking for suspicious Pred activity. Typically when Rampage was skulking around it was something I'd report, but when I wanted to know Transmutate's wellbeing, I'd keep that radio holstered and listen. Yes, I almost got caught by Depth Charge when I decided to extend my time 'scouting' because I decided I wanted to idly chat with Crabby about other matters. Rampage was all too happy to make me appear to be a damsel, by chasing me through the forest in his version of 'Hide n' Seek'.
Now concerning Transmutate herself, she held her head high and scoffed at Megatron's attempts to degrade her, from what I had heard from one of Rampage's reports that wasn't a taunt or a riddle. And I didn't quite believe that she'd scoff out loud to Megatron's face. She was too smart for that, speaking of smarts, she also proved to be a damn good saboteur when it came to ruining Tarantulas's projects. None of them being the Nemesis sure, yet they still provided their own little advantages if they were to succeed. Best part was that Tarantulas had trouble finding out who was sneaking into his (secret) lair and doing so, and each time he did suspect Transmutate it's not like he could have reported to Megatron. His work was either too risky (as Rampage had put it) to share, or Megatron would have likely defended his new soldier despite being a total jerk to her.
Meanwhile, everyone had long since found out about my abilities granted by the Vok bio-enhancements. When you ask? Same night after Dinobot was done chasing me, and by done I mean he caught me (I didn't run fast enough, Forrest would not be proud), and remarked that my PJ's had a hole in them. And being the honest (when it was mandatory) person I was, I confessed, so we went straight to Rhinox where I told him everything. Since then I practiced every day, my new courses focused mainly on combat. I could morph my arms, legs, shoulders, and any part of my spine into various animal parts, tools, and weapons –as long as I could remember them. The whole downside to my condition was that I needed to consume more, because food didn't grant as much energy as it used to, and I couldn't over-extend my morphing –when I tried to grow wings I only got a 10 foot wingspan, and I was hungrier than Unicron by the time the (gliding) exercise was over. The proportions I could morph my limbs into were questionable, but obviously had a limit that we were trying to determine –Rhinox theorized one of my organs was converted into a mini sub-space generator that stored a surplus of an alien alloy…how it was able to reach my limbs and spine, we could only guess. As for my hunger, I had to satisfy it by more absurd means, such as energon. I had to take small doses of energon. I wouldn't complain though, after emptying the whole cup I would feel satisfied, and my mouth would tingle as if I had drank soda instead.
It was as if I was changing in pace to the other Beast Warriors, whom some had changed drastically since the Beast Wars started.
I took slow breaths and stretched while Rattrap wandered off to wake up someone else. Once I was done, I hurried after my friend, wondering whose room he was going to visit. After numerous hallways, we both stopped before a large door. Smiling, I turned to him and placed my index finger on my lips, and morphed parts of myself to look like a devil, just without the tail –I did not want to ruin the microfiber skirt I had on, my holed PJ's were back in my room and I never really had the courage to put them back on. With a mischievous nod, Rattrap quietly stepped to the left side of the door while I took position on the right. I rapped swiftly and loudly on the metal surface, and then waited. There were no footsteps, and I was dumbfounded to hear the door open and open wide. Seconds passed and we both waited before I, being the brave (and gullible) soul I was, decided to peek around the corner only to find nobody.
"Trailblazer?" I could see that the blankets on his berth were flat, and yet, I was still not satisfied. I just had to go in. I felt Rattrap tap my shoulder.
"Could be a trap ya know"
"Only one way to find out!" with a rather ridiculous battle cry, I charged in and did a somersault. I positioned myself swiftly so I was facing the door, only to find (gasp) that no one was there.
Damn, respect dude, I never pegged Trailblazer as the stealthy type, so imagine how impressed I was to find no trace of him being there. Defeated, I walked out of the room, not at all prepared for what came next.
"BAHAHAHAHAHA-!"
"AAAIIIIIIYEEEEEE!" I launched myself off the ground, rocketing maybe a good foot or two. On landing, I fell ungracefully on my posterior. I was always better at 'flying' than 'landing' anyway. Meh.
Trailblazer fell to the floor, his entire frame convulsing with laughter. "ahahAHAHA! That was-" he coughed and grunted, likely choking on his own intake "Too perfect!" And he wasn't the only one on the floor and laughing, my 'partner' was also delighted with the prank.
"I've nevah heard 'er scream like dat!" Rattrap held his sides.
My face grew hot once I saw another Beast Warrior who seemed to enjoy the show. At the least, he wasn't laughing. He just tried not to laugh, though he had the biggest smirk on his face.
"One of your jump-scare attempts backfire on you I presume?" Dinobot's smirk remained fixed.
"…yeah…" my milk-chocolate eyes moved over onto Rattrap, I expected an apology. He smiled.
"Gotcha"
Buffering…
"Wait a minute, you tryna tell me…"
Trailblazer chortled/coughed "We got you good". I blinked, and then grinned.
"I suppose you did…" my grin got wider "but you two do know what this means right-ERK". Someone rammed into me, and sent my face straight to the floor.
"You're going to eat the floor?" Trailblazer deadpanned, and then erupted into more laughter.
"Oh sorry, you okay Cass" Cheetor helped me up. I winced.
"Care to explain why you plowed into me"
"I heard a scream and came running" Cheetor shrugged, indifferent. I frowned.
"Run a little slower next time" I mumbled and rubbed my sore nose, which bled. I froze that way when I saw that another early riser had joined in on the fun.
"Did I miss the party?" Blackarachnia asked wryly. Her claws full of equipment and data pads. It was almost as if everyone saw a unicorn. No joke, we seldom saw BA since she engaged in the enigma that was her latest project. Even when we saw her, she wouldn't really engage in socialization willingly.
"Nah, it just got started" I glomped Trailblazer as he tried to run away. "Who wants to play 'Pin The Tail On The Transmetal Horse'?!"
"NAHAHA GET HER OFF! GETEROFF GETEROFF!" Trailblazer was no match for my persistence "nahahAHAHAHAhWHOOHAHA STOP!"
"NEVER"
"HELP!"
Dinobot began to chuckle at our antics "You seem to be struggling, Equine". Trailblazer made for a grab, but I just slipped out of his grip and climbed on his back, which made him squawk.
"C'mon Blaze, she's hardly half your size-"
I glared at Cheetor as if to say 'you're next'. The cat backpedaled, and then ran for his life.
I grinned as I watched the Tabby retreat. I did not give chase; instead, feeling like I had done enough embarrassment to Trailblazer, I got off the horse and glanced over to BA. She looked to be anxious.
"We're in the way aren't we?"
She nodded.
"Ehehe, sorry" I pressed myself up against the wall. The transmetal horse doing the same so she could pass. Once the spider lady turned the corner, Dinobot strolled up to the spotlight.
"As fun as this was, we should all get to our respected posts. As in now"
With respectful nods, we headed to the command center.
It seemed like one of those days. Dinobot was on patrol, Depth Charge was out hunting, Rattrap was on monitor duty, BA went outside later in the day to run 'field experiments', Silverbolt disappeared, and Optimus was reading. In other words, it was a slow, sure day for resting and relaxation and no task we were given was too stressful and done within minutes. Cheetor (I swear it would take a while for me to get used to his change in appearance and attitude) joined in on our little Poker game hosted by Trailblazer, the holographic table still having room to spare for extra players. Rhinox eyed his cards with a thoughtful expression while Trailblazer harbored no expression at all. It was a tight game between the two veteran players –I couldn't help but think that the game would have been more suspenseful if we had Rattrap, but alas, he wanted to go tinker after his monitor shift ended. I looked over Cheetor's shoulder to observe his hand. I had lost early in the game because 1) I was new to Poker and 2) my Poker face sucked. I still enjoyed watching the game though.
I whistled "That's a nice deck you got there kid"
"Quit peeking!" Cheetor nudged me with his shoulder, a light scowl on his face.
"Cassie, don't be mean" Trailblazer said in a near monotone.
I smiled a smile that feigned innocence "Me? Mean? I'm offended!"
"You shouldn't be offended by the truth" Rhinox maintained his Poker face. Optimus snickered in the background.
"Gee Cass, embrace what you are" Trailblazer didn't even spare a glance. My face heated up and so I planted it firmly on the table.
"Savages"
"Speak up" Cheetor said tersely.
The day continued to go slow as the Poker game progressed, and the players came and went. And as you would guess me and Cheetor got bored stiff just being spectators so we went just outside the guard doors, and played the age-old child's game of tag. What? Shouldn't come as a surprise given how I had proven myself to be a 'woman-child' regularly. It was also an intense game of tag too, considering we were pros.
"Cheater!". Or cheaters, we'd often find some way of ensuring the other would have a difficult time of catching the other. Cheetor's frown could be seen from where I hid. Our little game of tag more like a game of hide and seek, me using the same tactics I had used on Rampage when he had chased me early in the month. One of them being when I would quietly sneak to a place Cheetor had already looked.
After a healthy half-hour more of heckling poor Cheetor, Optimus lumbered out. He took the time to observe our childish antics with a huge smile on his face (once Cheetor finally found me) for ten or so minutes before he waved us inside "Come on you two, you got work to do".
Cheetor was assigned to help Rattrap with repairing some equipment, while I was to explore the wilds in search of suspicious activity with two others, that one bot being extra help. Although scout groups typically were two people at the maximum, Optimus made an exception by assigning one more member to our little duo, because obvious reasons. Dinobot greeted us after we were briefed and thoroughly warned about Megatrons' silent activity. The boss monkey must have had my capture fresh in his mind, poor guy.
"You two ready?" Trailblazer nuzzled me. I nodded as I hoisted myself up onto the horse.
"Onward!" I promptly smacked the horse's transmetal rear. With a loud snort, Trailblazer trotted then cantered forward as I snickered loudly and Dinobot sighed. However, my smile faltered as I noticed Silverbolt as he soared over our heads, a small black and gold figure passed out in his arms.
It was dark once we decided to settle for the night, a fairly oppressive storm doing a mighty fine job of keeping us holed up. But, it's not as if we were going to be on edge, on the contrary, we were enjoying our story session hosted by Trailblazer.
"…and when he came home, he saw that all the lights were off…" which consisted of a plethora of cheesy horror stories that had us on the brink of falling asleep. We leaned in as Trailblazer continued with his idea of a scary telling. Lame "…everything was quiet…-"
And Dinobot raised his raptor claw "Pardon me, but there are a variety of reasons why his sparkmate wouldn't be home-"
Trailblazer smacked his head "Dinobot-"
"-She could be at some social event, visiting other loved ones-"
I suppressed my laughter; tears welled up in my eyes.
"Hey" Trailblazer laid his large hand on the raptor's shoulder "Save the questions for after the story". Dinobot snarled and nodded reluctantly. "Anyway, where was I? Ah that's right, I was getting to the best part: So the bot decided to check upstairs to see if she was sleeping. But once he was in the room he saw the bed was empty…"
I yawned.
"Shut up Cass. He continued to search his home, looking for his missing mate who was supposed to be there that evening…" cobalt optics glanced at icy-blue (almost white) raptor eyes "but he couldn't find her, so he tried reaching her via their link. He. Got. Nothing…"
I tensed. Hmmm…this has the potential to actually be scary
"'She just called hours ago' he told himself, figuring maybe she was playing a prank on him, which was normal, imagine his surprise when he hears this random scratching echoing through the house…"
"Did they have a pet-?" Dinobot quickly covered his snout with his claws. Trailblazer narrowed his cobalt orbs.
"…he went to go search for the source of the scratching, and eventually he found it, coming from the basement door. 'This has got to be her' he thought nervously to himself when he tried their link again, and that time, he got a response…"
We shuffled closer. "It was a heavy venting. At that point he was convinced it was her, so he snorted and threw open the basement door. Only to find nothing –and not only that, but the scratching stopped the moment he did so-"
Thunder boomed and lightning crackled. And since we were both so absorbed into Trailblazer's story, it was no surprise when we both jumped and screamed in unison. Trailblazer tossed himself to the ground and started rolling with laughter. "By Primus, you two are easy! And I haven't even finished the story-!"
"Shut up Trailblazer!" I yelled whilst Dinobot proceeded to chase the horse-Maximal around the cave.
Trailblazer didn't continue his story in favor of just relaxing, tired from the laps around the cave. Dinobot too. I was lazily sprawled across a rock, the occasional shiver traveling up my spine. Yeah, we were bored. But come on, it was a cave , our only entertainment was each other. So after we could no longer tolerate the eerie quiet (with the exception of breathing), we made due with regular chatting.
"Hey Cass, do you miss your family" and it made for a very personal turn. It wasn't bad that he was that curious, it just shocked me that someone had asked. Since, no one ever really asked.
"Forgive me for being intrusive, but I'm curious as well" Dinobot lifted an eyelid.
I miss them so much, "Yes, not a day passes without me thinking of them. Sometimes I even wished they had somehow come with me through that anomaly. Is that selfish?"
"Considering how dangerous the Beast Wars-"
"Be quiet FossilFace"
"That's what I meant by 'selfish'…this war we're in is a new kind of danger, one I wouldn't want to drag my family in under any circumstances. Yet I still want to have them with me"
A large gunmetal grey hand rested on my shoulder "Nothing wrong with that"
Dinobot grumbled, but still nodded.
"So…when you say family, do you mean brothers, sisters, and parents? Or do you mean you have children-"
My eyes bulged.
"…and uh…a significant other…?" he saw my expression, yet he still had to drag the question. Dinobot entered a sniggering fit. I shot him a glance that challenged him to add any input.
"Parents and siblings" I smacked my forehead "I can't see myself being a wife or a mother-"
Dinobot guffawed. I chased him around the cave with an arm-sword.
The cave rumbled and loose sediments cascaded down onto our comfortable forms as the cave shook due to the extreme weather.
I sighed from where I was laid against the wall, very tired from chasing a very speedy raptor. We continued to wait out the storm, much to our dismay, no longer interested in discussing personal things and sharing horror stories. Everyone was just…relaxed. I chuckled as I heard the nuisance that was the weather rage on outside. "One would never know extreme weather till they're in an energon thunderstorm"
"You said it sister" Trailblazer cracked his knuckles as he slouched from his spot on a large slanted rock. However, that slouch morphed into a much more rigid posture. I told myself he was just trying to scare me, or perhaps the wall of the cave was slimy. That was not the case, not when Dinobot was clearly on edge. The raptor-former snarled and transformed to bot mode. I slowly, very slowly, walked over to Trailblazer as if I hadn't suspected a thing.
"Now whom do we have here" an unpleasant voice drawled "all bunched together in a small, vulnerable place"
"One of two things can happen buddy; either you march your happy ass to the Pit, or I drag you there myself" Trailblazer's large hands shot out to my slow form as I was just about to reach him, and pulled gently. Once a safe distance from the intruder, I spun around to see a sneering Transmetal-II Dinobot. And to add to his imposing stance, lightning crackled angrily behind him. It was official, life hated me.
"How about neither" Dinobot's clone lunged without warning. Or rather, a warning I didn't see as bright green lasers sent him tumbling out of the cave entrance. Original Dinobot certainly had killer reaction time.
"Cheap mockery of my existence" and killer taunting capability.
Once we awakened from our stupor, me and Trailblazer pulled out our weapons and took formation, Trailblazer and Dinobot in the front and I brought up the rear. I morphed one arm into a shield (the other, my dominant hand, aimed the blaster) as Dinobot-II came back, looking as pissed as ever "Fools, all of you".
"Ah shut up" and thus began the smack-down. And while Trailblazer and Dinobot may have been roasting and pummeling him the majority of the fight, I certainly did not pass up the chance to get a few good shots in on the Transmetal raptor. We were not idiotic enough to think we could actually kill the vicious clone; yet it was not as if we could simply retreat out into the inclement weather outside. We were trapped, and had to make do with keeping him away from us until the storm passed-
"Incoming!" Trailblazer shouted as we all dodged a deadly optical laser.
And that proved to be a real pain.
"Eat this, abomination!" our Dinobot attempted to shove his sword through his clone's mouth, but that strike was parried and followed up with a countered attack. Luckily, he dodged it, very capable of holding his own against his upgraded double. But that didn't stop me as I aided him with my blaster, and while the clone was really distracted, I'd shield-bash him. It proved to do some damage, though the efforts merely did nothing against Dinobot-II's self regeneration. Is that damn storm going to end or what?! I scowled at the transmetal raptor's smirk. My hand slowly reached for Plan C.
"I am no abomination, I am evolution-"
"You're also fugly and soon-to-be headless"
"Headless-?"
I whipped a (cooked) grenade at him and everyone took cover as the explosive made direct contact with his face and detonated. With a pained snarl, or the gurgles of one anyway, the headless clone stumbled backwards. As the monstrosity's healing process commenced, we all looked past him in hopes that the storm had cleared up.
"It's clearing up" grabbing the opportunity and huddling us all into a little group, Dinobot just about shoved us out the cave. When he thought it was safe though (after running and dodging lightning bolts by the width of a hair), we all stopped below an arch and took the chance to slow our racing spark pulses and heartbeat –when instead, we should have kept running, or that's what my gut feeling told me.
"Everyone alright?"
"Yessir"
"Yeah, I'm good"
"Okay then let's –what the Pit?!"
At the edge of my peripheral vision a red light glowed malevolently from some dark corner. Dinobot-IIs' head was not fully regenerated, but his optical targeting was –and that added to his nightmarish appearance as he propped himself up on his shoulder and fired.
"Look out!"
We had no clue just who that laser was intended for. So I watched, horrified as Trailblazer leaped into its path to take the brunt of the damage for Dinobot, and landed in a heap beside him. His chest was smoking and he was still as his cobalt optics flickered. "No!" I crouched down, eager to fix him, too bad the damage was too severe for a simple field kit to fix. I wanted to check his sparks condition, but not when it was still raining. Sure we were under an arch; however, it only offered so much protection. Raindrops still hit us because of the gusts of wind.
"Trailblazer…" I gently smacked each side of his head; he was responsive, but fading.
"He's strong, just guard him while I-" Dinobot snarled "deal with this fake" although he tried for a positive tone, I was heartbroken, and scared.
"It appears my remaining enemies consist of my obsolete predecessor and the helpless little female" Dinobot-II lumbered toward us, a grin formed as his jaw was repaired. You will PAY!
"Unless you wish to prove me wrong…-"
"Gladly!" with caution to the wind, I charged our larger -and unquestionably stronger- adversary, eager to inflict all sorts of pain. It was foolish, but I kept at him, remembering the sparring sessions with Trailblazer and sometimes our Dinobot. Aim for weak points and stay mobile, I dodged and slashed at him with my arm-sword and arm-shield (holstering the blaster before I did any of that).
"You're more than welcome to join!"
"I told you to-!"
"Cover him with something and HELP ME!"
With a nod, Dinobot pulled out what appeared to be a tarp, and covered Trailblazer. As he did so, I jumped onto his clone and clambered onto his back.
"Such sweet Maximal nonsense" he made a swipe for my leg. I whacked him.
"Shut your ugly mouth or I'll shove another grenade in it!" I made a grab for his eye, but he threw me onto the ground. I hissed in pain as his foot trapped me. Damn it –and I think I got a concussion too! I groaned and tried to wriggle free.
"Like I said: Nonsense-EAAARGH!" his foot did not let off even as Dinobot hit him with his lasers.
"GET OFF HER DEMON!"
"MAKE ME WEAKLING!"
Dinobot stayed his ground. I swallowed the lump in my throat. He can hold his own…but for how long… I wriggled some more as Dinobot-II released a laser in Dinobot's direction, which thankfully missed. Not that hitting him was his intention, no; it was more of a distraction. And an effective one at that as the original Dinobot was still pushing himself off the ground as his clone advanced on him. The clone's progress was hindered once I latched onto his leg and proceeded to stab him manically, nopenopenopenopenopenopenope you STAY AWAY FROM HIM! My effort was a fruitless one as he just kicked me away. "Down girl" he sneered as he resumed walking, not expressing an interest in his foe in front of him, instead, he headed straight toward Trailblazer. Dinobot gave chase, though it was clear that he wouldn't make it in time. My mind shut down as the Transmetal double raised his clawed hand-
"Now you die-GRAAAH!"
Only to kick back into gear once a familiar pink energy beam knocked the deranged clone straight into an earthy wall. Hallelujah, a few tears were shed upon seeing Transmutate descend in bat form. I had no shame in showing my tears as she flew in place and pretended to be concerned with what happened to Dinobot-II. It was clear that she had traveled with him, for whatever reason.
"Oh sorry! I missed!" she apologized "I'm still working on my aim!"
Dinobot-II looked infuriated. "Just who were you aiming for?!" the Transmetal-II raptor-former seemed to forget all about Trailblazer as he and Transmutate argued.
"The other Dinobot of course!"
"Oh really?! Are you incompetent or did you just deliberately shoot me!"
"I did not! He was right behind you! Quit being mean!"
"Quit being an idiot!"
Dinobot slowly circled around the clone (who had taken aggressive steps toward the Predacons new addition) whilst I went to join Trailblazer, whose optics were still on.
"Seriously, you and Megatron have no faith in me!"
"For obvious reasons! UUUGGGHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I AGREED TO TAKE YOU ON THIS HUNT!" Dinobot's clone grasped both sides of his head.
"That's your own fault, you could have said no-!" the bat-girl shrieked as she barely dodged an optical laser. At that point, original Dinobot was within striking distance to his clone. I decided to be the last distraction.
"Hey!" I waved my arms, Dinobot-II scowled at me, "Whatever happened to that smug attitude of yours?! Did eating a mouthful of rock humble you O Mister Evolution Sir?!"
He didn't get to manage a retort before his predecessor tackled him and delivered a mean series of kicks and punches in a consecutive manner that with each step got both the bots closer to an edge that was conveniently located nearby. With two final kicks to the abdomen and face, Dinobot blasted Dinobot-II with his optical lasers. And thus, we saw no more of the transmetallized FossilFace.
I crouched beside Trailblazer. I wanted to congratulate Dinobot and cheer 'go team'; however, I had a badly injured Trailblazer in front of me that was no cause for a celebration. Transmutate landed close to me, tempted to comfort me, yet had to abandon ship once Dinobot shot her a suspicious glare. As she backed up, unsure what to do, my eyes locked onto hers and they did all the talking.
Go, it's fine…
She flew back over to where we last saw Dinobot-II, playing the part of a concerned team-member. I continued to sulk over Trailblazer as he vented softly. Please don't die…
"The storm appears to have dispersed significantly; I'll send out a distress signal"
I gave a slow nod and a happy smile. "Thanks Dino-" my voice caught in my throat once I saw a large intimidating shadow behind my friend that I did not expect to be there. No warning could be given as it would have proven to be too late; Dinobot was swatted to the side my Megatron's tail cannon.
I wasn't at all prepared as a large brown servo came down somewhere near my shoulder and sent me straight into unconsciousness.