Disclaimer: I do NOT own Transformers: Beast Wars. I only own my OC's and head-canons

Chapter 18: the Darksyde

"Such a curious little creature…" I heard a strange voice echo. I couldn't see anything but an inky darkness. I tried to open my eyes, I was not successful.

"Indeed, she's appears to be of a primitive carbon-based species, yet, she has accomplished a scientific feat coming here, as if she just materialized right in front of us"

"Could she be a threat?"

It amazed me how I could understand the language of the voices, who, despite sounding unearthly, seemed to speak perfect English. "I doubt it, she's small, no natural weapons, and her only armor seems to be this strange attire and whatever this loose cloth is"

"I was not referring to her physical capability" one of the voices 'hummed' and shortly after, I heard an overwhelmingly obnoxious droning noise. If I could have felt pain, I'm sure it would have made my ears bleed, all the more reason that led me to believe that I was dreaming.

"Fascinating"

"Curious"

"Strange" the annoying sound ceased.

"What do you suggest we do with her Elder?" the 'youngest' inquired. He sounded familiar; though considering the state I was in, my brain refused to process the voice fully. Yep, it was definitely a lucid dream.

There was a lengthy pause, a pause that unnerved me. "I have a plan in mind…" I heard a buzz and a pop, as if something or some things had been teleported beside me. "It is a delicate procedure; the utmost care is strongly advised"

"What are your intentions?"

"She will be sent to Nexus Earth, to be a vessel for one of us"

"Why?"

"So that one of us may find another host" the least chatty of the group explained.

"How so?"

There was a sigh, and then, a chuckle. "To draw the least possible attention, we will send a contraption similar to what the mechanical nuisances refer to as a stasis pod, but, we will do so sometime after the female makes contact"

"Alright…what will happen from there?"

"From there, we will intervene; stop the meddling"

There was a pause. "…which one of us will go then…?"

"Why, we reserve that honor for you young one, to be our…Enforcer"

As my dream seemed to progress toward something interesting, I found my conscious mind awakening. As I breathed in hot air I gasped, and in doing so I had a coughing fit, my eyes watered as they shot wide open.

I instantly noted that in conjunction with the hot fumes I breathed in that it was also smoldering hot where I was lying down, like a seal, on the metal floor. I rubbed my temples, my eyes scanning all the angles of where I currently was. I frowned.

I was in a cage.

A. Freaking. Cage.

Memories came flooding back to me; they did not make me feel any better about the predicament I was in. That sneaky purple-faced fossil karate chopped my damn shoulder… I rubbed the supposed sore spot, scolding myself quietly when it proved to be still very sore. Grape-Faced son-of-a- all my thoughts halted as soon as I spotted another cage. And it was occupied. Nonononononononono I crawled on my knees toward the other end of the cage. "FossilFace?" no response "…Dinobot…-?"

"You are awake". It was more of a statement than a question. Grumbling, I crawled over to the front of the cage, careful not to look down into the lava, to address the Predacon guarding my prison. Not that he really needed to be there, he was probably just a messenger, eager to share Megatron's taunts with me.

"The Royalty wishes to speak with you" Inferno activated his hover-system, levitating over to unlock the cage.

Or maybe, he was to be my escort. Goodie. I sighed and shuffled over toward his outstretched arm, quick to notice that one of his eyes was (still) cracked. Once positioned on his shoulder, as if I was a sack of parts, I decided to strike a conversation.

"You should really get that optic fixed"

"I will"

I grinned as we entered a lava-flooded hallway, "You should really get it fixed soon is what I meant"

Inferno growled something under his breath, I didn't catch it. "I don't wish to explain myself to an enemy of the Colony" that I caught. I rolled my eyes.

"Relax; I just wanted a friendly chat, not a detailed discussion on your thoughts, feelings, and aspirations"

"Be quiet" he rasped out, not amused in the slightest. I decided to push him just a little more.

"Is that an order? Can you even give orders-?" I yelped when Inferno seemed to undergo some 'turbulence', I barely saved myself from sliding off and plummeting into the molten river below. After dangling there helplessly for a few seconds too long, Inferno hoisted me back onto his shoulder. His gleeful look not getting past my attention, I mentally cursed my stupidity at the realization that just because the fire-ant likely had orders to not kill me didn't mean that the bugger couldn't get creative. I'll behave now…

"Well played Inferno, well played" yes, I was shaking a little.

I kept quiet all the way to the Darksyde's main control room. Upon arrival, I noted all the Predacons were present, my face heated with humiliation as Transmutate covered her mouth and Rampage stared at me with great indifference –that I was all too aware was really deep disappointment. Sorry guys, guess I'm capture prone, I didn't even want to look at Dinobot-II, my mind already conjuring his self-satisfied smirk and Trailblazer's prone form. Tarantulas was next to Quickstrike, both arachnids chuckling and chatting amongst themselves, leering at me. Waspinator studied me thoughtfully, a hint of sympathy in there. I down-casted my eyes once Inferno landed in front of a hover chair. I'm sure the tyrant wouldn't mind talking to my ass for the entirety of this meeting

"Inferno, you may put her down"

"Yes, My Queen"

Or not, I was lowered gently onto the floor, or what was left of one. I wobbled a little on my feet, my back still to the Transmetal tyrannosaurus. Get yourself together, don't be a coward- in the time it took me to gather my pride; Inferno grasped my shoulders and jerked me around to face his leader. Pink optics smiled at me.

"Why hello, my dear"

I casted my eyes to the side, and crossed my arms. "Awfully friendly for someone who wants me dead"

"Snarky, as always"

"What do you want"

Megatron chuckled "Right down to business, I could learn to like you, yesss"

I kept my blank stare.

He cleared his throat and glanced over to Tarantulas, the jerk of his head a clear indication for the spider to get his conniving butt over there. With a gulp, the Tripedicus Agent piloted his hover unit closer to his 'leader', a data-pad in hand. "It has come to my attention that you may have ties to the aliens" Megatron gazed over at Tarantulas. Who nodded and tapped his screen.

"Wouldn't that give you even more of an excuse to execute me?" I challenged, my eyes boring into Tarantulas "You despise the aliens don't you?"

"On the contrary" Megatron activated his turbo-fans and hovered over toward me. The ground shook as he landed not even a foot in front of me. I heard Inferno take polite steps backward. Oh my, you are a big fella, I had to crane my neck to look into the tyrant's optics. Have I ever mentioned that I'm only 5' 1''? "I seek to use whatever the aliens send to this Primus forsaken mudball. Do you remember the ship all those megacycles ago?"

"Oh, you mean when you tried to eliminate the Maximals for good? How did that work out –ERK!" a large brown servo lifted me off the ground via neck. Imagine how pleasant that felt.

"I do not appreciate your impertinence girl, if anything; I would love nothing more than to leave you at Dinobot's mercy"

"Which one?"

Megatron scowled and released me (yes, I landed on my butt), floating back to his favorite chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a small smile slowly gracing his (stupid) purple face. "You know, you should thank Tarantulas for-" he 'coughed' "-sharing his findings with me…"

Yeah, after he probably got butt-hurt over me escaping, using your resources to find me again

"Otherwise, Dinobot would have been out in that storm for a real hunt" Megatron shot me a wicked grin. And because that was not enough, I just had to look over to Dinobot-II. Whose grin was even worse, Oh great, I'm not sleeping tonight. To break my uneasiness I sighed and stretched, popping my back. That earned a few concerned and disgusted glances. I smiled.

"Ah, that felt good"

"Are you listening?!" and just like that, the tyrant's temper was wearing thin.

"Yesss" I said dryly, gazing over to Tarantulas (and taking a mental note of Megatron's reaction as I mocked him) "thank you Tarantulas" my tone oozing sarcasm. I only got a twitch of the mandibles, and I was sure he muttered 'witch' while he was at it. "Are we done here? Can I go back to my cage and contemplate escape now?" and perhaps break poor Dinobutt out

Megatron grinned. "Not yet, noo. Not until you show me what the aliens have granted you". I winced and my eyes locked again, with Tarantulas. You sly little-

"What if I say 'no'. Will you simply kill me? Feed me to that Dinobot knock-off?" I heard a faint snarl. Megatron shrugged and examined his fingers.

"You love making things hard for yourself don't you?"

"Yeah, adds some excitement to my life"

Pink optics glowed at that. "Oh really? You want excitement…" he shifted his focus onto Dinobot-II, the two nodding after a brief moment of silent agreement. With a sadistic grin, the Transmetal-II raptor nabbed Transmutate from her spot next to Rampage. I watched, angry, as the clone tapped his dagger-sharp claws right on top of Transmutates' throat, effortlessly keeping Rampage at bay by compressing his own spark.

"You…you wouldn't…"

Megatron leaned, "Oh…I would"

"She's…she's worth more to you than I am! You wouldn't kill her" I said with confidence, however, my eyes did not leave my two friends as one whimpered and the other convulsed on the floor.

"Who said I'd have her spark snuffed? Noo, I just want to make a point. Dinobot?"

The trans-raptor moved his razor sharp claws to each of Transmutate's shoulders and squeezed. Beast Wars just got demented as hell… I gaped as the bat-girl's shrieks blended with Rampage's snarls and cries of agony. No, I just couldn't do it.

"Stop" I made sure I was heard. Even if I did not yell, I found I did not need to. Megatron raised his palm; Dinobot-II released Transmutate and stopped abusing his own spark. All was quiet, then:

"We're waiting"

With no more delay, I morphed my arm into a wicked looking sword. Everyone (except Rampage) tensed.

Inferno eyed me with sheer horror.

"What'n tarnation?!" Quickstrike almost fell off his hover-craft.

"Female flezzshy-bot not so flezzshy!" Waspinator gulped and flew behind Quickstrike.

"Remarkable" screw you Tarantulas

"She almost looks threatening" FRAG OFF DINOBOT

"Yesss, yesss show me more!" Megatron tapped his digits together in anticipation. Apparently morphing a sword wasn't enough to satisfy him. Then again, nothing is ever enough to satisfy the tyrant. Just like G1 Megsy –or every Megsy across the multiverse

With a sigh and a frown, I morphed my other arm into a battle axe. I was ashamed really; to be some form of entertainment while my friends had suffered mere moments before. So when Megatron ordered I do another, I smiled and morphed the middle finger on my left hand into an elongated claw-like appendage. Megatron was not amused, but he got the message.

"I suppose we are done here" he yawned, jackass "Inferno, bring our new ally to her room". I would have been thankful at the idea I got an actual room over a cage over a smelting pit of lava, however, I was still bitter about happened to Transmutate and even Rampage. Then I remembered Dinobot, unconscious in his own little prison. Actually, I was just bitter about the whole situation I was in.

I was not surprised when Inferno (carefully) placed me in the room and ran out. Tarantulas came just so he could rig the door so it would only open by outside access. A gave him the double-bird before he left. Not that it did anything, in fact, it only made him laugh. Because he knew that -room or no room- I was still a prisoner.

I sat in that room, bored out of my mind for perhaps an hour before a knocking drew me back into reality. "Come in?" I was surprised and a tad confused that a Predacon would knock. They could have accessed my room for any reason and not need to perform such a courtesy. So, I waited to see who would open that door. And they did so rather timidly. My eyes narrowed with keen interest to see that it was Waspinator. The wasp cautiously shuffled into the room, carrying a tray of water and a loaf of bread. I was grateful, though normal food didn't give as much energy as my doses of energon.

"Waspinator bring food" he mumbled plainly, doing his absolute best to not look me in the eye.

"You don't have to be scared of me, I don't bite" I smiled with genuine warmth.

"Female fleshy-bot caused Wazzsspinator all sorts of grief"

I couldn't argue with that. I guiltily took the tray from his hands "Oh right, still, thank you very much…and uh, sorry". Waspinator stiffened, his bug eyes growing a smidgen wider.

"Female fleshy-bot, is sorry?"

"Yep, it's not just a half-assed apology either" I smirked and placed my hand on his shoulder. He paid no attention to it "I truly am sorry, for adding to your troubles even though the whole universe hates you"

Twitch.

Twitch.

GLOMP

"Eep!" I staggered backward as I was hugged by a sniffling Waspinator.

"You understand Wasszzpinators' troubles!" I was squeezed tighter, I did not mind. His hugs were nowhere near as crushing as Trailblazer's. Trailblazer… I ripped myself from Waspinator's grip so that I could face him, the direness of my question demanded that I made eye contact.

"Waspinator" I can't believe I didn't bitch out Dinobot-II and Megatron about this! "I know you guys have Dinobot, the original one, but do you have Trailblazer too?!" I needed to know if he was alive, if not, at least where his body was. Waspinator flinched under my intense gaze.

"Horssze-bot?"

My glare deepened.

"Megatron didn't bring Horssze-bot with him"

I shuffled morosely to the far corner of the room, stuffing the bread into my mouth, that's not saying much, he could still be alive,I nibbled, oblivious to Waspinator he stared, and then dove out of the room and locked the door ASAP, a wise move on his part. Just all alone with nothing but a tarp protecting him…I wonder if he has the tenacity to crawl all the way to the Ark

I would often ponder why the Transmetal horse had come in to the Beast Wars, where it shouldn't have even been possible. Never stopped me from loving him to death though, his very presence had a calming aura to it, a natural one. Regardless of our brother-sister bond I also couldn't have helped but have felt a stronger connection, as if he was a part of me, mixed with something else, but still a part of me mind you. I stared dully at the floor, wishing for previous events to play out differently. I knew better.

He's still alive, he's gotta be…

I heard a knock at the door. "Cassie?" Transmutate sounded exhausted, and hurt. No surprise there.

All my sad thoughts and malicious intents toward Megatron and that blasted clone lifted significantly as I ambled toward the door. I thanked the Matrix the room wasn't sound proof.

"I'd ask 'how are you' but that would be an asinine question wouldn't it?"

Transmutate tittered "Shoulder damage isn't so bad"

"You sound traumatized"

"…yeah, though it's mainly from hearing Rampage's distress"

I sighed. "I…I really am sorry. I encouraged Megatron"

"Unintentionally"

"You guys still got hurt"

"…still, please don't beat yourself up over us"

Such a thing was hard to do when one had a guilty soul, though I hadn't had the nerve to tell her that. "Okay…"

"Promise?"

"Sure"

"Cassie"

I groaned. "I promise" once I made one of those, it was impossible to break it. "Transmutate?"

"Hmm?"

"What will Megatron do to the original Dinobot?" it should have been obvious, I had to ask anyway. "…and…I already asked Waspinator if Megatron brought anymore prisoners but, did you see what happened to Trailblazer?"

I gave her a minute or so. "I've heard that he's given Tarantulas permission to reformat him into a mindless drone…" I banged my head against the door. "What was that?!"

"Nothing, keep going" my head throbbed.

"However, he wants to keep him in his cage, to uh 'have him reconsider his allegiance'"

"For about the third time" I mused.

"As for Trailblazer, he was gone when me and ScissorFingers did another sweep of the area"

My heart clenched. "Gone as in…"

"No! Oh Primus no, I wasn't referring to that kind of gone!"

Wait –what?! "He…moved?!" there is hope!

"You sound surprised!"

She came at the last minute like a Deus Ex Machina, she didn't see what really happened to him, "I am…" a small weight left my chest "I'm, so relieved…hope he called for help once the storm cleared…ehehe" and I slumped against the door.

"Cassie?!"

"I'll live, just need to lie down"

"If this door didn't separate us I'd kick your butt" the bat-girl huffed. I sniggered and nibbled on my meal.

"You don't have the access code?"

"No, and neither does Rampage"

"Great, so everybody who isn't my friend can just waltz in here and harass me –actually, Waspinator is an exception, he gave me food" my teeth sunk into the bread like a voracious beast "And he's not as much of an ass-hat"

"Speaking of 'ass-hat', next time you see Rampage you might want to run the other way"

"Why?"

"He's been keeping record of all the times I've swore, and guess who he's blaming"

I smirked. "He wants to kick my ass doesn't he?"

"Yes, he said and I quote 'I'll kick her into the outer atmosphere of this planet'" she sounded as if she were stifling a laugh.

"It's only fair; I want to kick his ass too"

She snorted, the closest to losing her composure that I could get her. Darn. "For what reason?"

"Not reason…reasons"

"Shall I arrange the play-date?"

"Go for it" I popped the last bit of bread into my mouth "Just be sure it's after I get outta here"

"Yes ma'am-" I heard her squeak as her comm. unit crackled to life.

:"Transmutate, where are you?":

It was Megatron. Speaking of kicking ass…

"I was meandering the hallways, Lord Megatron"

:"Well stop meandering and report back to the command center, I have a job for you": the transmission dropped. Both of us released a deep, sad sigh.

"I need to go, take care of yourself okay?"

"I'll try, no promises though"

With a defeated snort, Transmutate left, her footfalls getting ever so more distant.

After some time, I was alone. Again.

I was tempted to exercise the strength of my enhancements on the door, to devise an escape and rescue Dinobot, however, I was no fool. Negative factors kept piling into each and every plan I could think of, the terrain surrounding the Darksyde and the risk of moving an injured Dinobot being the constants, so eventually logic won over pride and I made due with sitting on the floor. My eyes bored into the drab metal wall in front of me, it wasn't in sadness or anger, such feelings did not reside in me. Instead, I was hopeful, with not only the idea that we had plenty of time to be rescued before the original Dinobot was converted into a mindless drone, but the chance that Trailblazer was still alive.

All he needs to do is reach Mt. Saint Hilary…