Tarantulas was shouting at the Vehicon Generals yet again.
"You are nothing more than a bunch of bickering children!" he announced as the Vehicons continued to argue over their latest failure.
"Children?" Spy Streak whispered to herself, feeling something annoy her in her processor. A shiver ran up her spinal process...
"I- I need a break from you blockheads!" Spy Streak suddenly announced, transforming and jetting off.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Tarantulas asked aggressively; Spy Streak was already out of earshot...
"Grr... Jetstorm, you're her patrol partner; pursue her and discover why she's acting so strangely..." the Unicronian ordered.
"May I ask what's in it for me, your Highness?" Jetstorm asked.
"You'll live to see another day..." Tarantulas hissed dryly. Jetstorm gave off a nervous chuckle.
"Works for me," he said.
Spy Streak was speeding along at Mach 3, her mind buzzing with memories. Memories of Cybertron, sure, but more importantly... Memories of children!
"The children... Who were they?" she asked herself, scanning her memory chips for an answer. "There's something old Eight-Legs ain't telling us about ourselves, but what?!"
Without realising it, Spy Streak had circled over the Maximal base for hours; Primal Prime was watching through a sewer hatch...
"What's going on, Big Bot?" Cheetor asked as he approached his leader. His answer came in the form of sonic booms overhead.
"Spy Streak? What's SHE doing here?" Cheetor whispered harshly. Primal cupped his chin in thought.
"Something's bothering her; I sense a conflict deep within her Spark..." the ape replied gently.
"A conflict? What kind of conflict?" Cheetor asked. Primal Prime sat in the Lotus position.
"I don't know... But I intend to find out," he said sagely.
Jetstorm was on his teammate's ion trail, intent on discovering what was wrong with her.
"If that fem-jet has a screw loose, I'd better get it screwed IN before the Boss gives me another earful!" he muttered.
"Spy Streak... Can you hear me?" Primal Prime asked through his Matrix link.
Spy Streak was beginning to tire, her exertions having exhausted her.
"I need to take a break from this before I fry what few logic circuits I have left..." she mumbled. Transforming, Spy Streak landed upon a nearby building. Just then, Primal Prime's voice rang in her head.
"Yeah, I hear you, Monkey Man... What do you want? Let me guess; you'll try to covert me like you temporarily did to Tankor and Blastcharge?" she sighed.
Primal Prime frowned; he could hear the weariness in his foe's voice.
"I won't force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with... Just tell me what's wrong, if you're okay with that," he requested.
Spy Streak rolled her optics.
"Just like a Maximal to have that caring attitude..." she muttered. "It's like this: Tarantulas used the word "Children" to describe the Vehicon Generals today, and I can't shake it off!" the fem-jet explained.
Primal Prime hummed in thought.
"Perhaps you feel he isn't appreciating your efforts?" he suggested.
Spy Streak shook her head.
"Nah, that's not it... I keep feeling like he's not telling us something about ourselves; in my case, it's as though I HAD children!" she explained further.
Jetstorm had finally located Spy Streak but kept his distance when he noticed she seemed to be talking to herself.
"What the slag?" he began under his breath. "Who's that crazy femme talkin' to?" Jetstorm asked.
Primal Prime paused to think; something about how Spy Streak spoke and carried herself was familiar...
"Spy Streak?" he asked.
"Yeah?" she sighed.
"I'm going to suggest something that may come as quite a shock to you..." Primal explained.
"Go ahead, it's not like my day can get any worse..." Spy Streak replied.
Primal Prime took in a calming breath. "Does the name... "Snowstalker" ring any bells?" he asked.
Cheetor's jaw slackened.
The name echoed repeatedly in Spy Streak's processor, growing louder and louder as images flashed before her optics! She witnessed a love story: True love between herself and Cheetor, the birth of their twins, and ultimately, their return to Cybertron!
Spy Streak was writhing in agony as the images and sounds became too much; her senses were overwhelmed!
Jetstorm witnessed the femme's pained writhing and screaming, concern evident upon his features.
"SPY STREAK!" he shouted, jetting over to his comrade. Transforming, Jetstorm cradled Spy Streak in his arms.
Primal Prime had felt the influx of memories going into Spy Streak's processor; she WAS Snowstalker!
"Maximals... We now face a grim truth: one of our own, possibly more, have been turned against us. But Snowstalker CAN be saved! LET'S MOVE IT!"
"Are you okay, fem-jet?" Jetstorm asked Spy Streak. The femme's optics adjusted to the sight of the Vehicon General holding her.
"Y- Yeah... There's just one problem..." she replied.
"What's that?" Jetstorm asked, quirking an eyebrow. An Energy Web shorting him out answered his question.
"The problem, I can assume, is that you remember whose team you're ACTUALLY on?" Rattrap said with a smirk as he and Blackarachnia walked up to the Vehicon. Spy Streak looked down at Jetstorm, still confused.
"That may still be an issue, cheddar-lips," Blackarachnia said, raising her hand to swat the rodent.
At that moment, Primal Prime landed with his flightpack. Transforming back into beast mode, he gestured for Blackarachnia to follow suit.
"Spy Streak... If I may, let me show you a trio that might be familiar," Primal Prime suggested. From behind the jet, three felines transformed into their humanoid forms.
"Mom?" Aurora asked, tearing up.
"Have you come back to us?" Shadow asked, biting his lip.
Cheetor walked up and looked the Vehicon in the optics. "Snowstalker... It- it is YOU, isn't it?" he asked.
Spy Streak looked the cheetah up and down; his form was different, but...
"Ch- Cheetor?" she asked. The conflict in her logic circuits was overwhelming her senses...
Tarantulas was witnessing everything through his monitoring system.
"This can't be happening! Megabolt and Mirage, go to the following coordinates and terminate Spy Streak! SHE IS ABOUT TO BETRAY US!" he ordered over the commlink.
Cheetor's eyes lit up; he could SEE the recognition in the Vehicon's optics!
"Snowstalker..." he said with a smile. He gently took Spy Streak/Snowtalker's hand when blaster rounds started impacting around them!
"Mirage, ACCELERATE!"
"Megabolt, CONQUER!"
The "Twosome of Trouble" arrived on the scene, ready to off-line their traitorous "Ally"...
Spy Streak knew who she was, but more importantly, WHAT she was...
Her Spark started glowing as latent energy from the Oracle's initial reformatting radiated from the other Maximals...
"I... Am...TRANSFORMED!" she announced. Spy Streak's form began to warp and shift, her armour chipping and cracking until she was no longer a jet... Instead, she was a female techno-organic white tiger! Her Spark glowed even brighter, a pure, white light emanating from within as she achieved her humanoid state.
"Whoa..." Aurora and Shadow gasped in unison.
"I don't think she's done yet, kids..." Cheetor whispered to his children. "Your mother is TICKED!"
Cheetor was right on the money; Snowstalker was angry...
"Tarantulas perverted me to his twisted designs and kept me from the ones I love most..." she hissed, baring her fangs. "I will not allow such a heinous crime to go unpunished!" Snowstalker announced as her balled-up fists began frosting over...
Megabolt took a cautious step backwards.
"Megabolt, Mirage, I'd pick up that scrapheap you call a teammate and run away if I were you... Because Pit has no fury like a mother ENRAGED!" Snowstalker screamed, her voice echoing off every surface as a blizzard began to form...
"Holy slag..." Rattrap whined.
Megabolt took another step backwards and looked at the stasis-locked Jetstorm...
Mirage, to his credit, kept his cool. (No pun intended)
"I'm not afraid of you!" he decreed. Snowstalker's eyes narrowed...
"Then you will die braver than most..." she said, a cold edge to her voice. (Again, no pun intended)
The blizzard grew even more fierce as Snowstalker took slow, deliberate steps towards her foe, large ice crystals forming in her wake...
Megabolt didn't hesitate any longer; transforming, he magnetised Jetstorm to his hull and rocketed back to the Citadel!
"Hey, where are you goin'?!" Mirage complained to his ally. He then felt a horrible shiver run down his spinal process... And not from the blizzard.
Turning around, Mirage came face to face with the female tigress; she was giving him the most piercing stare imaginable... He gave an audible gulp.
"Help..." he squeaked.
Later on, Snowstalker was refamiliarising herself with her fellow maximals.
"You don't remember what happened after we landed, either?" Primal Prime sighed in disappointment. Snowstalker shook her head, an ashamed look on her face.
"Well... At least we're a family again, right?" Aurora asked. Cheetor frowned.
"I doubt Tarantulas will just let that be the case, Ora..."
Tarantulas was fuming as he witnessed Tankor and Blastcharge towing in a frozen Mirage.
"Jetstorm's already in the restoration module; wait for Mirage to thaw out, then he can take his turn!" Tarantulas ordered. Saluting, the Vehicons dispersed.
Tarantulas was mad enough to transform... And yet, he didn't.
"You win this round, Primal Prime... The war, however, isn't over..." he hissed calmly.