~{ Beast War Chronicles }~ ~{ A Better Time & Place }~ By Eliot Lefebvre Blackarachnia tapped her foot impatiently. "Well?" she asked, no longer able to contain herself. "Well..." began Tarantulas, "I'd think it's alien. Very much that. But a weapon? Nonononono. It's more likely some sort of transport device." "Through what?" asked Blackarachnia. *And tell me something productive this time,* she thought to herself. "Ah. Well, this is going to sound corny, but... offhand, I'd say time and space." "You're wrong," said Blackarachnia. "It doesn't sound corny, it sounds just plain stupid. There's nothing in this world or the next capable of that." "Err... the Quintessons did it more than once, I'd like to point out..." "Whatever." "Anyways," continued Taratulas, excited, "we DO know that neutrinos exist, and those things travel so fast they actually travel back through time!" "Get to the point." "What I'm saying is that if this thing COULD get enough power, and it COULD build up enough energy, it could get it moving at the right speed so that it could travel through time! And after that, space is small potatoes." "So you're saying that theoretically, I could travel to the time of the dinosaurs on Earth?" "Theoretically being the operative word. You see, to actually PROJECT enough energy to make the device work, you would need a massive power source." "Like the generator of the Soundwave." "Right, like the gen..." Tarantulas looked at her. "You... ah... actually are going to TRY this thing out?" She raised an eybrow. "That was the idea," she said, a little puzzled by the question. "Why else would I want to find out about it?" "Scientific curiousity?" She laughed. "Thanks, Tarantulas. It's been a while since I heard such a good joke." Tarantulas sighed. *Some people will never learn,* he thought. Aloud, he said, "Won't Megatron think that something is happening when he sees the power for the ship flickering?" "Of course he'll notice something's going on. But by that point, I'll have been in the past, and made sure that I defeated him, or one of his plans went wrong... I'm not sure at the moment. I'll figure it out later." Tarantulas nodded. "I take it it'll just be the two of us and your little cabal, then?" "How did you know about my -" "Face fact, Blackarachnia. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together." She began to say something, then stopped. "All right," she said. "Have it ready for my departure within three hours." She turned to leave, then, as an afterthough, turned back to Tarantulas and said, "You DO know how to control that thing, don't you?" "Of course I do," said Tarantulas. Satisfied, Blackarachnia turned and left the room. "I just have to figure it out," muttered Tarantulas to himself. * * * * * * * * * * The planet that the Axalon and the Soundwave had landed on was artificially created. Therefore, one could expect that things like disease, disasters, and the ecosystem were carefully maintained by the creators. However, this did not apply to climate. Therefore, due to the excessive energon levels of the planet, energon storms were common. The simplest description of an energon storm is the idea of a storm that lashes out with pure energy, relentlessly. Needless to say, most people would prefer to be inside the Axalon. Stormcloud, however, was not one of those people. "Move the scanner to the left," he said to Skyvine and Bonecrusher. The pair of them nodded, hefted up the large device, and moved left with it. "NO! That's too far. Bring it back to the right just a little bit." With a grunt, the pair of Maximals lifted the device and set it down a few klicks to the right. "Not THERE!" exclaimed Stormcloud. "Move a little - a VERY little - to the left." Skyvine grunted. "Ya know, Stormcloud," he said indignantly, "call me uncooperative, but I'm thinkin' that it'd be nice for ya to be frozen by indecision when we AIN'T in the middle o' a freakin' energon storm." "Point noted," said Stormcloud. "Now, just a little - very, very, VERY little - to the left." Nodding, the other two moved it a nearly inperceptible distance from its previous position. "Perfect," said Stormcloud, hooking up a large cord to the device. "We can now monitor the storm from inside the safety of the Axalon." "Good," said Bonecrusher, heading back for the ship. Skyvine and Stormcloud transformed and followed him. * * * * * * * * * * Tarantulas finished fiddling with the wires. "This ought to work now," he said. "Though I'm not entirely sure that it will." Blackarachnia nodded. "Perfect. Now, I want you to send us back to the point when I was attacking the Axalon a few weeks back." "But - you were nearly killed then! Why -" asked Bloodclot, confused. "No, I was nearly killed there," said Drill Bit, wincing from remembered pain. "Exactly the point," said Blackarachnia, waving a claw in the air. "If I can travel back in time to then, we can stop Shockwave with the help of our past selves. Then, we - our past selves - will crush the Maximals, while we - ourselves - will travel forward to now and witness us as the rulers of the Predacons!" Turning back to Tarantulas, she asked, "Have you set the coordinates yet?" "I think so," he replied. "You THINK so?" she cried, outraged. "You said you knew how to work this thing!" "I do! I just don't know how to work the time/space-travel part of it." "We're all going to die," moaned Manterror. "Will you shut up?" asked Terrorsaur. Juliet shrugged. "What have we really got to lose?" "Thank you," said Tarantulas, bowing briefly to Juliet. "Though it would have helped if you had Onyx Primal around. Where is your little assassin friend, anyhow?" Juliet shrugged. "You know Onyx. When he doesn't want to be found, he can't be." Tarantulas shrugged, then stood over with the group of Predacons. "It'll send us in a moment." The twin lenses on the side flickered briefly, then lanced out with a pair of pure white beams. A large white globe grew to encompass the eight Predacons standing there, then suddenly winked out in a flash of light. The generator room was empty again. * * * * * * * * * * "Oof!" Megatron winced as he heard Scorponok slam into Inferno. "What in Inferno happened to the power?" he shouted. A half-second later, the lights came back on. Scorponok and Inferno untangled themselves from each other, then Scorponok walked over to the computer console. "Apparently, sir, there was a massive demand for power in the generator room!" shouted Scorponok. "Why are you shouting?" "Errr... just trying to emphasise the situation, sir." Megatron nodded. "Inferno, I want you to go down to the generator room and see what is happening in there." Inferno nodded and saluted. "At once, my Queen." He walked off, his rotor twirling clockwise. "Would it be so hard," growled Megatron, "for him to call me King?" * * * * * * * * * * Park's View was, under normal circumstances, a quiet town. It had a normal town hall, a normal economy, and the people there were friendly. Most of them lived there just because, in their own words, "It's nice to live in a good old normal town." Obviously, this meant that all residents that were present were signifigantly suprised when eight giant robots suddenly appeared in the sky with a flash of light, then slammed into the ground. By the time these robots began to converse, these people would already be at their phone, calling family, friends, news stations, the police, and probably the Witwickys. "This," growled Blackarachnia, "is not the Axalon." Tarantulas scratched behind his head. "No, it isn't," he said sheepishly. "Nor is it a few weeks ago." "Ahh... yep, that's true." "Nor is it the same planet." "Err... quite." "CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?" she bellowed at him. The numerous people at their telephones relocated the call to underneath their beds. Blackarachnia calmed down. "Sorry, I just needed to get that out." "You not going to hurt Wazzzpinator?" asked Waspinator expectantly. "Not just yet, anyways," she said. "Where are we?" "Somewhere you don't want to be," said a red Lambroghini Countach, screeching past the eight suprised Predacons and transforming. "The name's Firecracker. Prepare to get wasted, Decepticons." "We're not Decepticons!" shouted Manterror. "We're Predacons!" He was cut short as a missile exploded behind him. "Works for me," said Jetifre, his massive jet form streaking past them. "With you all, they would be a 13-member gestalt team by now, wouldn't they?" "What are you babbling about?" asked Bloodclot, firing his shoulder cannons. "We aren't a gestalt team!" "Yeah. We're all stupid enough to believe that, aren't we?" shouted Sideswipe, slamming into Bloodclot. Bloodclot stood up slowly, but Sideswipe transformed and uppercutted him, knocking him down. Drill Bit tackled Sideswipe, but Sideswipe's rocket pack roared to life, sending him and Drill Bit careening into the sky. "L-l-l-look!" shouted Tarantulas, pointing down the street. "M-m- more of them!" He aimed his legs and began to fire. Grimlock winced as the bullets ricocheted off of him. "Me Grimlock no like you any more!" he shouted. "Then again, me Grimlock no like you before, either!" He transformed and charged into Tarantulas, knocking him over. Arcee unfolded slightly behind him. "Don't kill them, Grimlock, just disable them!" She was knocked back as Blackarachnia kicked her hard. "Be quiet, stupid!" hissed Blackarachnia, drawing her launcher from subspace. "You're giving my gender a bad connotation!" Arcee glanced at Blackarachnia's chest. "So glad that you avoided that pitfall," she said sarcastically, launching herself at the female Predacon. Blackarachnia leaped into the air and prepared to fire, but was knocked down as another Autobot blasted her. "Nice try, Decepticon," said Powerglide to Blackarachnia, "but no 'con has what it takes to beat me!" He was cut short as Terrorsaur lanced out with a series of blasts. "Care to rethink that opinion?" asked Terrorsaur, transforming. His twin cannons flipped onto his shoulders and blasted out. "Get real!" shouted Powerglide, lancing out with his concussion bombs. Arcee leaped down and grabbed Blackarachnia's web launcher, then fired at Terrorsaur. The twin assault sent Terrorsaur spinning out of control, and he smashed into the ground. Juliet transformed from serpent mode and brought her arm cannons on-line. "Back off!" she shouted at Arcee and Powerglide, lancing out with her arm cannons. A blast hit Arccee, and she fell to the ground, nearly blown in two. "Are you all right?" Powerglide asked Arcee. Juliet lanced out again and blasted off his arm. Grimacing, he fired a pair of concussion bombs, then dragged Arcee away from the battlefield. Juliet dashed over to Blackarachnia, helping her up. "I suggest we retreat," said Juliet. "I'm inclined to agree," replied Blackarachnia. "Aww, don't leave yet!" shouted Doubletake as he and Dragon unfolded behind the pait of them. "We haven't done a dance routine!" "Shut up," snarled Blackarachnia, blasting Doubletake with her leg-guns. Doubletake staggered back, clutching the smoking holes in his chest. He glanced down towards the leaking holes. "Does this mean you won't be my Valentine?" he asked weakly. "PREDACONS, RETREAT!" screamed Blackarachnia, springing into the sky and flying off. The still-concious members detached themselves from their current battles, gathered up their wounded, and flew off after her. Jetfire landed and transformed. "Who were those guys?" he asked. He glanced at Grimlock, dented all over and badly wounded. "And how did they become so powerful?" * * * * * * * * * * Nightpounce gaped at the display. "Err... Stormcloud, you'd better come see this," she said into her comm. "The sensor's energy level readings are off the scale!" "Where?" he asked her. "Right in the vicinity of the Soundwave." "I'll be there as soon as I can." Nightpounce nodded, then turned back to the computer. Snarl leaned over Nightpounce's shoulder. "What's up?" he asked her. "Certainly not your IQ," said Bandit, grinning slightly. Trailblazer, sitting nearby, chuckled. Stormcloud and B'Boom walked in. "Any idea what's causing the erratic readings?" asked Stormcloud. "High energy levels?" suggested Bandit. "You think?" snapped Nightpounce at Bandit. She turned back to Stormcloud. "I'm not sure at the moment. But it seems to be throwing up a lot of anamolies." "Such as?" "The cellular decay rate of the flora and fauna in the vicinity is erractic. Some of them seem to have been sped up to an incredible pace, while others have been slowed down until they almost seem to be going backwards." "Amazing," whispered Stormcloud. "I'm a little worried about it, though - the readings seem to be showing that it's -" The only one who would ever know what Nightpounce was going to say after that was Nightpounce, because a second later a pure white beam lanced out, engulfing the Maximals in the room and pulling them out in a small flash. * * * * * * * * * * Spike licked his lips as the waiter brought him the huge sub. "Looks good," he said. "You aren't actually going to EAT that thing?" asked Carly incredulously. Spike laughed. "No, Carly, I'm just going to sit around and stare at it." "Spike, that thing is hardly healthy. You can actually FEEL your areteries clog when you eat it." "That's kind of the idea behind it." He smirked at her. She put her head in her hands. "Sometimes, I don't know why I married you." "Thanks." They both chuckled. Spike picked up the sandwich and began to take a bite. "Trouble brewing," said Carly, glancing at the doorway. Walking into Subway was a ten-foot tall red robot, with a large red sigil on his chest and a confused expression on his face that somewhat mirrored that of the patrons. "What? You've never seen an Autobot before?" asked Cliffjumper, narrowing his gaze. "I'm not going to kill anyone - that's the Decepticon's department. I'm just here to see someone." That seemed to satisfy (or at least placate) the customers. They settled back to their eating. Cliffjumper walked over to Spike's table. Spike sighed. "What is it now, Cliffjumper?" he asked. Cliffjumper narrowed his gaze somewhat. "You know, it hurts me that every time I come to see you you assume it's bad news." "You're right, Cliffjumper. What brings you here?" "Bad news." Spike glared at him. "You think you're funny, but you're not." "Hey, I didn't say you were ever wrong. I just said that it hurt." Spike groaned. He could see that yet another perfectly enjoyable afternoon was now perfectly shot. "What's up?" "Some new Decepticons, calling themselves Predacons, just showed up out of nowhere and nearly trashed a bunch of Autobots. The odd thing was that they seemed to transform into organics." "Gotcha. I'm coming." He grabbed his sub. It looked like he would be at the Ark for a while - and eating there was not an idea he relished. "Right behind you," said Carly. Spike looked at her. "Carly - Daniel's babysitter -" Carly put her hands on her hips. "Spike, Hot Rod is watching Daniel." "To be honest, that was the part I was worried about. Hot Rod is not exactly someone I want to watch my two-year-old son." Cliffjumper motioned for the door. "Are you coming, or will you entertain everyone with your marital bliss for a few more hours?" Spike nodded and headed after Cliffjumper. "Honestly, Spike, one of these days I half-expect you to wind up being part of an Autobot." "Yeah, like that's going to happen. Me as a robot's head?" They chuckled. "Irate ten-foot robot here," snapped Cliffjumper. They walked outside together. Cliffjumper transformed, and they both stepped in as Spike took a large bite of his sandwich. With a slight growling, Cliffjumper took off down the street. "They'll be back," announced the waiter that had just served them. "How are you so sure?" asked a patron. "They didn't pay." * * * * * * * * * * Blackarachnia, meanwhile, was exercising a needed skill for every Predacon leader. "You are an IDIOT!" she bellowed at Tarantulas, smacking him in the head. "No, I take that back. That's an insult to idiots the world over. You are WORSE than an idiot! You send us back in time, and you don't even know how to GET US BACK?!?!?" Tarantulas shrugged. "I figured that we could get your past self to -" "SHUT UP!" she screamed at him, kicking him in the face and knocking him over. "If I want you to have a suggestion, I'LL PROGRAM IT INTO YOUR WORTHLESS BRAIN!" She sat down. "Sorry," she said. "I just needed to get out some agression, and Waspinator is nowhere to be found." Tarantulas nodded. "Er... might I make a suggestion as to where we are?" "Yes," she said. "Well," he began, "upon our arrival, we landed on a long, asphalt- paved horizontal surface. This was the Earth equivalent of a road back in the 20th century. Since cars weren't invented by humans until later on in the 20th century, we can assume we are fairly well along. "However, when we first arrived, our assailants considered us to be the Decepticons, our ancestors. The Autobots and Decepticons didn't arrive on Earth until 1,984 years after their common era began - or, as they would say, 1984. This further puts us along the timeline. "Furthermore, I noticed that among our assailants were a pair named Firecracker and Arcee. Arcee traveled to Earth from Cybertron in 1992. Firecracker transferred in 1995. So that puts us at least that far along. "But there's more. When Manterror said that we were Predacons, the large white one - whom I recognized as Jetfire - referred to a Decepticon subgroup of the same name. The Predacons, a quintocombiner team, transferred from Cybertron in early 1997. So, I can say with relative certainty we are in the United States of America in the year 1997." "United States of America?" asked Blackarachnia. "Sort of a pre-United Countries of Earth thing. It created the UCE," replied Tarantulas. Blackarachnia nodded. "Interesting," she said. "But we will have to find a way back as soon as possible. And I want to be back instants after we left. Otherwise, Megatron will get suspicious." *No more than he already is,* though Tarantulas. * * * * * * * * * * The Atlantic Ocean is, on a cosmic scale, fairly lousy as far as water goes. However, that is on a cosmic scale. If you are not an omnipotent being, then it can seem quite large. Especially so if you are dropped in it without warning. Cybershark felt the water engulf him, and instantly, he reacted. He was a Maximal warrior, and therefore was able to fight anywhere, but water was his element. He rocketed forward, grabbing Nightpounce and Stormcloud, then swimming to the surface. Nearby, Orcanoch surfaced, holding B'Boom and Snarl, with Trailblazer on his shoulder. "Good," said Cybershark. "I'm going back down to get -" He was cut short as Bandit swam to the surface, knife clenched in her teeth. Spitting it out, she looked at the two suprised males. "What's this, then?" she asked. "Haven't you ever seen a capable female before?" Cybershark stammered. "Well - it, ah, isn't that - well it is, but - what I mean is - that is to say - to put it bluntly - ah -" Bandit shook her head. "Masochists," she muttered. Orcanoch regained his composure. "Any idea how we're going to get to shore?" "Not the slightest," replied Cybershark. "I don't even know which way the shore is." "Halt!" shouted a voice from behind them. They turned to see a small blue and white jet skiff and a small blue and yellow hovercraft moving towards them, weapons trained at the Maximals. "Topspin here," said the jetskiff. "Of the Autobots. You can either surrender now or surrender when you're smoking piles of scrap." "While the latter is extremely unlikely," said Bandit, putting her hands behind her head, "I'll concede that the former sounds very attractive at the moment." Topspin's radio crackled on. "Have you got them?" asked Broadside. "Yeah," replied Topspin. "They weren't any fun, though. They just up and surrendered. How do you like that?" "Just fine!" replied Broadside. "I'll be by with the others to pick them up shortly." Topspin turned to face the Maximals. "Don't go anywhere, or we'll shoot." "Where are we going to go?" asked Bandit sarcastically. "We're in the middle of the ocean." Topspin sighed and shifted a little. "I'm bored too. Could you just play along, for sanity's sake?" "No," replied Bandit. Topspin sighed and shifted again. * * * * * * * * * * Broadside finally arrived, after what seemed like an eternity. "Finally!" said Topspin, transforming and flying up to the deck. "They were getting annoying." Wheeljack aimed a group of tractor beams down towards the eight Maximals, uncermoniously bringing them up onto the deck. Stormcloud staggered to his feet, and was practically bowled over by the sight in front of him. Standing there was a tall robot, easily three feet taller then the robots around him. His paint sparkled beneath the bright afternoon sun. Beneath his chest, a barely visible blue glow could be seen. "I am Optimus Prime," he said to Stormcloud. "Who the devil are you?" Stormcloud didn't exactly have a response to that. He did have a response, though. "Optimus... Prime? Is it really you?" "Last time we checked," replied Jazz. "Could you answer the question?" asked Prowl. Stormcloud's jaw was practically touching the deck. "Prowl too? Then... what year is it?" "1997, by Earth reckoning," replied Optimus Prime. "Why?" Stormcloud did not reply to that. "1997... then... the Predacons must have traveled... which would mean... and that would mean..." Jazz grabbed Stormcloud's shoulder. "Look, bro," he said calmly. "I don't mean to seem like I'm ragging on you or nothing, but it would be nice if you could quit blowing wind and get down to brass tacks, seeing as how you popped up through a type of anamoly that we thought we cleared up already." "Sorry," said Stormcloud apologeticly. "But I'm from over three hundred years in the future. You can understand how I'm just the slightest bit disoriented." "Three... hundred... years...?" asked Jazz, agape. "That's what I said," replied Stormcloud. "Autobot or Decepticon?" growled Ironhide, now rather suspicious of the newcomer. "Maximal," replied Stormcloud. Ironhide raised an eyebrow. "Ah've never heard of it," he said. "Wait three hundred years," said Stormcloud, smirking slightly. His smirk disappeared. "Err... if I'm here..." He scratched his chin. "You wouldn't happen to have seen others like us, would you?" "Yep," said Ironhide. "Led bah a female with breasts thaht make Dahlly Pahrton blush in inaduhquecy." "Slag," muttered Stormcloud. * * * * * * * * * * *It's amazing how many ways you can smash things.* This was the only coherent thought that Ramjet could - or had bothered - to string together as he ripped through another Air Force jet. Most of his other thoughts were along the same lines, but they were little more than pure emotions. "Get away from here!" shouted a fighter pilot at the Decepticons as he strafed them ineffectively. His reply was in the form of Starscream blasting his engines, making his plane blossom into a pillar of flame. Much to his credit, he made no sound as he died. "Sorry, little man," said Starscream, a malicous grin on his face as he blasted two more fighters. "But we've got to donate this energy to our favorite charity - us!" "You got that right!" screamed Terradive as he blasted at the plant. Starscream liked the way the new four jets thought. Windrazor was unscrupulous, but loyal to Starscream and Megatron - the second of which Starscream could do without. Afterburner was cool and level-headed. And Eagle Eye and Terradive were brute force with radar and a jet engine. As Terradive lashed out at the oil rig workers, sending them scattering, he heard a loud buzzing behind him. Turning, he saw a large wasp hovering behind him. "Wazzzpinator and companions are going to steal energy. Back off and we won't hurt you." Terradive did the closest thing a plane can do to raise an eyebrow. "Oh no!" he said in a mocking tone. "There's a big insect behind me!" Laughing, he rocketed towards Waspinator, powering his weapons. Waspinator shrugged his front two legs. "Don't say Wazzzpinator didn't warn you!" he said as he darted to one side. Terradive was shocked as his shots went astray of Waspinator. Turning, he prepared to fire again. "Have fun in ocean!" said Waspinator as he stabbed his stinger into Terradive's back. Terradive jerked forward, twisting in pain. Then, his thrusters suddenly cut out, and he plummeted down, exploding against the oil rig. "Who are THEY?" asked Starscream, grabbing Terradive's memory module. He didn't want to have to give Terradive a new backup. Shoving the module into subspace, he aimed his null rays at Waspinator and fired in a cone around him. A missile exploded in his back, and he spun around to see a black and gold female hovering there, launcher in hand. "Starscream," she hissed. "I'm going to enjoy this the second time even more then the first." "What are you babbling about?" he asked her, blasting in her general direction. "I have never seen you before in my life." He shot upwards and sprayed at her with laser fire. She dove and twisted to one side. "Not in your life, no," she replied, blasting at him again. "In your death." Blackarachnia's grin vaporized as laser blasts pounded into her back. "Don't turn your back on someone who can teleport!" shouted Skywarp as he slammed into her with blast after blast. Screaming, she rolled away and slashed a claw at him. It cut deep into him, and he fell into the oil rig as well. He recoiled into the air from his collision, then he exploded into a ball of flame. Starscream grabbed Skywarp's module as well. This battle was not going well at all. Two of his men were down already, and the attackers had only just been engaged. Windrazor, meanwhile, was spinning furiously to avoid Terrorsaur's assault. Transforming, he dropped in mid-air, drawing his laser. Terrorsaur, unprepared for the sudden change, flew past Windrazor. Aiming, Windrazor lanced out. Terrorsaur transformed and rocketed upwards, away from Windrazor's beam. Flipping his cannons onto his back, he blasted Windrazor. The body never even hit the oil rig - it exploded in mid-air, shards of metal falling into the ocean. Starscream grabbed the memory module and began to get worried. "You like to ram things, eh?" said Bloodclot to Ramjet. "You're my kind of guy!" He transformed to robot mode and fired at Ramjet, who spun away from the missiles. Twisting to face Bloodlcot, Ramjet rocketed towards him, prepared to cleave him in two. Bloodclot stabbed him blade arms through Ramjet. Ramjet cried out as he lost control of his systems. Firmly gripping Ramjet, Bloodclot hurled him straight at a girder. Ramjet's body was sheared in two as it hit the girder. Starscream grabbed the module as it slung forward. Four of his troops down. He shoved the module into subspace and charged his null rays. Eagle Eye and Afterburner lashed out with their weapons at Waspinator. Waspinator transformed and flipped backwards, ending up behind the pair of Decepticons. Loading his missile launcher, he blasted Eagle Eye into a fireball. Afterburner transformed and grabbed the memory module. Bringing his rifle on-line, he blasted below Waspinator. Laughing at the laugh of aim that seemed apparent, Waspinator rushed forward to slash Afterburner to ribbons. He was cut short as Afterburner punched hole after hole into him. "I never miss," he said. Dirge's roaring engines reverberated in Terrorsaur's audio receptors. Aiming his rifle, Terrorsaur blasted twice at Dirge, but missed. Turning again, Dirge was shocked as his wing was shattered by the next blast, sending him tumbling downwards. Terrorsaur's next shot utterly oblitherated Dirge's body. Thundercracker's sonic wave crashed into Terrorsaur, disorienting him. Grabbing the module, Thundercracker grabbed Terrorsaur by the shoulders, then hurled him at the girders. Luckily for him, Terrorsaur only bounced and sank into the ocean. "RETREAT!" shouted Starscream. Thrust began to fly towards him, but Blackarachnia and Bloodclot destroyed his body. Starscream grabbed the module, and began to head off. He did not have to wait long before Afterburner and Thundercracker were flying shotgun. The trio of Decepticons shot off away from the battlefield. (Well, it wasn't exactly a field, but you get the gist of it.) "You saved us!" said an estatic rig worker, running towards Bloodclot. "No, we just changed the leadership of the destroyers," replied Bloodclot, spearing the human on his blade arm. The human convulsed once, then limply hung there. Bloodclot glanced around. "Anyone else want to do something stupid?" The workers shook their heads frenetically. "Good," said Blackarachnia. "Now pump me some oil!" The workers worked the machinery furiously, motivated by either awe or fear (probably a synergy of the both). * * * * * * * * * * "Ah," said Perceptor, looking at the plans that Stormcloud had just drawn up. "You realize, of course, that the plans are rather... ah... imaginative, to put it kindly." Stormcloud grinned, then got up and headed out. "Think about them. Maybe someday you'll use them for something." Perceptor looked over the plans. "Autobot City... has a rather good ring to it..." *He'll learn,* thought Stormcloud, walking down the halls of the Ark. He still wasn't entirely sure about where he should go in the ship, but at least the layout bore enough of a resemblance to the Axalon to allow him easy movement. He walked into the small room that he and the other Maximals had been given. "Any progress on getting us back, Nightpounce?" asked Stormcloud. The slender female shook her head. "Not in the slightest way," she replied. "I've analyzed the energy patterns, broken them down into formulas, illustrated them, and even tried rolling multicolored dice. I don't have any idea how to get us back." "Scratch two geniuses," replied Stormcloud, settling back into his recharging bed. "If I had known it would be more than three hundred years until I got to go back to the Axalon..." "Then what?" asked Nightpounce, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I would've said good-bye to Vixen, at the very least." Nighpounce looked at him quizzically. "You really do care about her, don't you?" "Immensely so." He leaned back. "Do you have any idea what that's like?" "I used to," she replied. He looked at her. "Who was it?" She swallowed nervously. "It's unimportant," she said dismissively. "I doubt that," said Stormcloud, "otherwise you'd tell me." Nightpounce said nothing, but she was obviously shaken. Stormcloud thought for a moment. "It was Primus Trion, wasn't it?" he asked her. She said nothing. Walking over to her, Stormcloud put his hand on her shoulder. "It's all right," he said to her. "I'm a friend." She sank her head. "Yes," she whispered. "It was Primus Trion." Raising her head again, she looked at Stormcloud. "I first met him before he was leader of the Maximals. He was ambitious, charismatic, romantic - I guess you could say he swept me right off of my feet. We were completely inseperable. "When Fortress Maximus left the Maximals, Trion took charge, keeping me nearby as his science officer. Even then, he was still normal. We were the command unit at that point, my tactics and his drive. "But as time grew on, we became more and more... distant. When we went on this mission, I somewhat hoped to help us get back together. Instead, it just deepened the rift between us. Until you killed him." Stormcloud was agape. "I'm sorry - I had no idea -" "Don't be sorry," she told him. "By that time, I barely even knew him anymore. The person that I had been infatiuated with was a very different person then the one that landed on the planet." She turned to him. "I feel glad for you. Me and Trion were almost destined to fail. But you and Vixen... you still have your whole lives stretching out ahead of you. I wish the two of you nothing but luck." He looked at her sympathetically. "I wish things had worked out." Nightpounce nodded wistfully. "So do I." * * * * * * * * * * "Ya can't actually BELIEVE that load of bullslag they fed ahs!" shouted Ironhide, rising to his feet in anger. "Calm down, Ironhide," said Prowl. "I'm just saying that we have no reason to think that they're lying about where they're from." "From three hundred yeahs in the future? Ah'm gonna hahve a hahd time swahllowing all of thaht." "I can understand that," said Prowl calmly. "But they have no good reason for lying to us. It's not as if we're laden with energon or something similar." "Yah've got a point," said Ironhide reluctantly. Sitting at the head of the table, Optimus Prime was silent. He was not sure what to make of these newcomers. Their story seemed to be one of truth and genuine good will. However, the idea of time travel was a little hard to swallow. In the end, it all came down to Optimus's personal judgement. And that was what had Prime worried. "Their motives are highly dubious," said Red Alert, scowling slightly. Nightbeat rolled his eyes. "They didn't have any motives. They had a freak event during a scientific experiment. I don't think that they really could be considered under the 'dubious motives' category." "Me Grimlock know that they look like other attackers, so me Grimlock say we SMASH!" "Me Sideswipe say shove it." "Sideswipe full of aluminum pastrami!" "Was that an insult?" "Me Grimlock no like you!" "Fine by me!" "Me Grimlock smash SIDESWIPE!" "Me Sideswipe remind Grimlock who has piledrivers for arms!" "Grimlock no care." "Then Grimlock has a death wish." "ME GRIMLOCK FIGHT!" "ME OPTIMUS SAY BE QUIET, BOTH OF YOU!" bellowed Optimus at his two bickering subordinates. The pair was suprised by the sudden outburst, and jumped back slightly, then quieted down. Optimus sat back down. "I know that none of us are sure what to make of the newcomers. And I'll be the first to admit, I don't trust them entirely myself. But if they are enemies, then second- guessing ourselves is exactly what they would want. "I'm going to give them the benefit of a doubt. To this point, they haven't actually done anything against us. They could have fought with Seaspray and Topspin, but instead they went along cooperatively. They don't seem to want to hurt us any more then we want to hurt them." "Speak for yourself," noted Sunstreaker, arms crossed. Sideswipe glared at his twin. "We'd rather solve this nonviolently, Sunstreaker. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and life." Optimus waved a hand to silence the twins. "We need to figure out what these... 'Predacons' are up to, in any case." Bluestreak chuckled. "Please. If they're really descendants of the Decepticons, do you need to answer that question?" * * * * * * * * * * "Work faster!" barked Bloodclot at the humans. Blackarachnia was leaning over Tarantulas, looking at his schematics. "You see," continued Tarantulas, "because we carted something we weren't supposed to in the time travel, we left a sort of temporal rift. If I can use this oil rig to project enough energy, we can pull ourselves back through the rift, a few seconds after we left in the first place." Blackarachnia nodded. "A shame we couldn't have used that tool better... but, I am now at risk of never having another chance to finish my plans. So, I'll go along with this plan." She frowned. "Though I don't like it. Why can't you just pull us to where we originally wanted to go?" "That," replied Taratulas, "is because of the rift. I can pull us through it, but... it's more like a closing door then a subway depot. We can get through if we're lucky, but it'll just let us go back, not give us a chance to go anywhere." She shrugged. "Quantum physics are not my forte. I'll just trust you to do your job." "I always do," giggled Tarantulas, bobbing up and down slightly. * * * * * * * * * * "Explain this idea to me again," said Stormcloud, holding his chin. Nightpounce and Perceptor sighed. "The basic theory is," said Perceptor, "time travel leaves a temporal rift for a short time afterwards. That's why it's so elusive to master, because the rift wreaks havok with time travel." "What Blackarachnia is probably trying to do," said Nightpounce, cutting in, "is to pull us back through the rift to the time where we all came from. This could work, but they would need the same amount of power to pull us back through as it took to send us here." "Ah," said Stormcloud, nodding. "So we need to find a place where they could get a lot of power in a short amount of time." "And nearby," added Wheeljack. "From what I've studied, these Predacons are powerful in combat, but there flight abilities are limited in comparison to those of the Decepticons, So, it couldn't be more than a few hours away to be convenient. The rift will close in 24 hours." "From what I've studied," continued Spike, "the closest source of possible power is an offshore oil rig, only a couple of miles off the coast. I'm betting that's where the Predacons would strike." "That's not all," added Mirage. "I was by Decepticon Headquarters a couple days ago. Aparently, most of the Decepticon jets were being rebuilt after a disasterous raid on that same oil rig. Catch this - they were stopped from attacking by a bunch of robots that transformed into organics. Sound familiar?" "Far too much so," replied Stormcloud. "How do we get out there? Most of us can't fly." Spike smiled. "Can you say 'Cowabunga', Stormcloud?" * * * * * * * * * * "Finished," proclaimed Drill Bit. "What do you think of my latest piece de resistance?" "I think it had better work or you're in deep slag," replied Blackarachnia. "Are you nearly done, Tarantulas?" She scowled. "And it had better work right this time around." "Oh, it will," replied Tarantulas. "Last time, I was working with machinery designed by someone else. This time, I'm working with machinery designed by ME. We'll get back through the rift." "Perfect," said Blackarachnia. "Next time, I'll have to be a little more cautious with alien artifacts." "At this rate," grumbled Terrorsaur, "there won't be a next time." * * * * * * * * * * "What the heck is this?" "It's called a surfboard," said Nightpounce. "Err..." "Get on the damn board, Dives," said Bandit, leaping into the ocean on her board. Nightpounce followed, and Stormcloud reluctantly shoved off, balancing barely on his board. "See, Stormcloud?" said Nightpounce, grinning. "It's fun!" Stormcloud growled. "This must be a meaning of the word fun that I was not previously acquanted with," he grumbled. "I just hope the others are going to be on time." "They'd better be," said Nightpounce. "Otherwise we're all screwed." * * * * * * * * * * Manterror's head snapped up and turned to face Blackarachnia. "You know how you told me to be the advance lookout?" he said in a slightly worried tone. "Yes," replied Blackarachnia. "Why?" "Well, in advance... look out," replied Manterror as he dived away from where he had been standing. Nanoseconds later, that spot erupted into explosions as Nightpounce and Stormcloud blasted at that very spot. Bandit crept unnoticed in raccon form up the same girder, staying out of sight for the moment. Stormcloud leveled his launcher at Blackarachnia. "I would suggest you unconditionally surrender, so both of us can get home safely," he said. He was greeted by the sounds of multiple other weapons being trained on both him and Nightpounce. "I would suggest that you improve your mathematics," suggested Blackarachnia. "Two against eight is decidedly bad odds." Waspinator jerked once, then fell forward limply, an energon knife embedded deep in his back. From behind him, Bandit reached over and pulled the knife loose. "Ain't knives wonderful?" she asked to no-one in particular. The sudden disabling of one of their teammates caused all of the Predacons whirl around and take their weapons off of Stormcloud and Nightpounce. "You idiots! Aim at the other Maximals!" snapped Blackarachnia. Realizing what was happening, the Predacons turned back to aim at... empty space. Blackarachnia pressed her missile launcher against Bandit's throat. "Where did they go?" growled Blackarachnia. "Six Flags over Flushings," replied Bandit, scowling. The pressure on Bandit's throat increased. "Let's try this again," snarled Blackarachnia, now beginning to anger. "Where are they?" "The Little Maximals room," replied Bandit. "Don't disturb them." Still more pressure. "One last time. Where. Did. They. Go?" "It hardly matters now," said Tarantulas, standing at the console for the massive antenna the oil rig had become. "The timer is set. The rift will open soon." "I don't CARE!" snapped Blackarachnia. "I want to PERSONALLY crush them beneath my heel!" She turned back to Bandit. "Now, tell me, WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?" "Why not ask that big white jet?" suggested Bandit. In suprise, Blackarachnia turned around and saw a large white jet swooping over the oil rig. A large hatch opened on it, and out poured a multitude of Autobots, with five Maximals in the lead. B'Boom and Orcanoch landed with a resounding boom, charging their weapons. Bloodclot raced towards the duo, blade arms spinning vicously. B'Boom leaped up and swung upwards on a girder, while Orcanoch dove to one side. Dropping, B'Boom delivered a series of his missiles towards Bloodclot. Bloodclot, spun to one side, then thrust upward with his blade arms, slashing through B'Boom. The large Maximal shuddered as he slid onto the blades. Bloodclot had forgotten Orcanoch. Orcanoch lanced out with his dual photon cannons, then, as Bloodclot turned, punched the Predacon in the face. The punch sent the Predacon reeling, making him drop B'Boom. Both B'Boom and Orcanoch punched Bloodclot in the face simultaneously. The Pred's face split into a demented grin, wavered back and forth for a couple moments, then collapsed. Snarl nimbly bounded his way down, his cannon resting lightly in his hand. Drill Bit lanced out with an energon bolt from his drill, and Snarl converted to Tasmanian Devil mode, making the blast go wide. Flipping back into robot mode, Snarl attacked. Drill Bit was suprised by the spontenaeity and the ferocity of the the attack Snarl delivered. He pushed off with one foot, springing away from the raking blasts Snarl had shot, and went into a spin kick towards Snarl. Ducking low, Snarl came up and grabbed Drill Bit's leg, then swung the Predacon into a girder. With a roar, Drill Bit rolled around and stabbed at Snarl. The stab dug into Snarl's chest, and Snarl cried out in pain. Snarl grabbed his cannon from where it lay, as the drill dug further into his chest. He began to bring up the cannon, but was cut short as the drill began to pierce the casing of his motor control center, and his arm jerked sporadically. Fighting the lack of control, he swung his cannon right at Drill Bit's head. Drill Bit's eyes flickered a little, and his drill withdrew a little. Snarl slugged him in the head again, and Drill Bit fell. Snarl forcefully yanked the drill out, and he winced as the drill slashed deeper into his chest. He staggered away from Drill Bit, clutching the gaping pit in his chest. Trailblazer landed gracefully on the rig, and was greeted by a spray of blasts from Juliet. He reacted almost instantly, but that "almost" was enough time for Juliet. Laser blasts tore into Trailblazer, and he lost his grip on his rail gun, sending it spinning across the rig's deck. Juliet launched herself forward, preparing to finish her job. With a slight grunt, Trailblazer brought up his leg in a roundhouse kick aimed directly at Juliet. Juliet was knocked away with a slight yelp, and Trailblazer dove for his rail gun. Skidding to a halt, Juliet traced a path of laser fire in front of Trailblazer, keeping him away from his gun as she raised to her feet. Ignoring the pain, Trailblazer thrust his hand out for the gun, rolling away from the fire path. Loading a couple of slugs, he advanced towards Juliet, firing relentlessly. The blasts dug deep into Juliet, and she cried out in pain. Then, she collapsed to the ground from pain. Blackarachnia glanced back at her troops, being cut to ribbons by the combined forces of the Autobots and the Maximals. *This bites,* she thought to herself. "Now, let's go over that 'surrender or die' bit again," said Nightpounce, training her laser rifle at Blackarachnia. Reluctantly, Blackarachnia raised her claws in surrender. Nightpounce grabbed her arms and tied them together. Tarantulas also raised his arms meekly. "The rift will be reopened in a few seconds," he said to the Maximals. True to his word, a few seconds later, the sky itself seemed to rip open as a thin glowing line traced across it, then split open into a large funnel of energy. The Predacons flew in, or were hurled in by willing Autobots. "I'm sorry that we couldn't stay any longer," said Stormcloud to Optimus. "It would have been... interesting." "It already has been," replied Prime. "Now get going. You're needed in your time, and I in mine." Stormcloud nodded. Then, transforming, he and the other Maximals entered the funnel, and became nothing more than brief flashes of light on the funnel's surface. And then nothing. "Destroy it," said Prime. Grimlock nodded, aimed, and blasted the console. It erupted into a shower of sparks, and the funnel vanished. *There is so much you could have taught us,* thought Prime. *But it is not time for us to learn it yet. If we are patient, then we will learn all of your wisdom in due time.* Prime turned back to the Autobots. "Let's get out of here," he said to them. * * * * * * * * * * Inferno reached the large double doors that led into the generator. He touched the small side panel to open them. Nothing happened. "Computer," he said, "emergency open generator doors. Authoriztion designate Inferno, code zero-blue- alpha-two-niner." With a beep, the doors slid open, and a burst of light came out of the door. Inferno shielded his eyes, then he glanced in to see Blackarachnia and seven other Predacons lying on the ground, obviously in need of repair. However, compassion was not something that Inferno had been programmed for. "What have you been doing in this area without the Royalty's permission?" he growled. "It worked!" shouted Tarantulas gleefully. "We're back to our own time!" "What do you mean?" asked Inferno quizzically. He was cut short as Blackarachnia and Tarantulas both unleashed massive firepower on him. Alone, neither robot was weak, but they were not enough to bring down Inferno. Together, they were. Inferno's body exploded into a mess of limbs and body parts. "Edit those last few seconds of his memory," said Blackarachnia to Tarantulas. "I want him to think that there was a bomb that he prevented from going off... at the cost of himself, almost. That gives us safety from him and an alibi for the energy drain all in one." "Excellent," said Tarantulas. "I'll get right on it." * * * * * * * * * * The Maximals tumbled out in a flash of light. Snarl winced as he fell, his chest wound becoming more severe by the minute. "Take him to the med room," said Nightpounce to Orcanoch, who complied, with B'Boom not far behind. "You really would make a good leader," said Stormcloud as the other Maximals staggered out. "I spent years learning from Primus Trion," she said, a slight smirk on her face. Stormcloud smiled. "May happiness find you one day or another, my friend," he said, then left the room. Nightpounce grinned as Stormcloud said it, but when he had left, she took out a small datacube. Activating it, an image of Primus Trion appeared, in a noble pose, with Nightpounce standing nearby. With a tear in her eye, Nightpounce stroked the small image, then said the only words she ever had really wanted to say to Primus Trion. "I love you." * * * * * * * * * * "You," snarled Megatron, pointing at Blackarachnia, "had better have a good explanation." "I certainly do, me leige," said Blackarachnia. "I and my companions were walking along the corridors when we noticed a Maximal spy leaving the generator room. Investigating, we found a large energon bomb, set to detonate the ship by drawing power off of it''s nearest power source." "That would explain the drain," mused Megatron. "When Inferno arrived, the bomb was about to go off. In his own words, 'to save the Royalty', he took the blast for himself. We all took damage, but Infeno saved us from complete destruction." Megatron snarled. He KNEW that Blackarachnia wasn't telling the truth. But, he couldn't take her out here, since he would appear unstable psychologically, and he hardly needed his subordinates to use that against him. "Very well," he growled. "Go to the CR Chambers and get patched up." Blackarachnia nodded, and the assembled Predacons (and one disassembled Predacon, Inferno) walked (or were carried) to the CR Chambers. "She's lying, you know," said Headlock, standing nearby. "Of course I know she's lying," replied Megatron. "But if I say that outright, then I'll appear to be unfit as a leader." *You already do,* thought Headlock. Aloud, he said, "She really screwed you over, then? I can see that you aren't at all pleased about it." "No," snapped Megatron sarcastically. "I'm thrilled as all get out that two of my subordinates are plotting against me, and succeeding. But the fact of the matter is that she covers her tracks enough so that trying to stop her would loo like I was volatile, and suspicious of everyone surrounding me. That was Galvatron's downfall, and it will not be mine - if I can help it at all." Headlock nodded. "I suppose you would like me to work against her, sir?" he asked, bowing slightly. "Just do your job," replied Megatron. "I want her to know that she CANNOT hope to defeat my power." Headlock nodded, then converted to beetle mode and scurried out of the room. * * * * * * * * * * A small beep disturbed Blackarachnia's musings. "Enter," she said. The doors to Blackarachnia's personal quarters slid open with a soft hiss. Headlock glanced at Blackarachnia, then walked into the room briskly. Stepping up to her desk, he laid a small recording pad on it. Blackarachnia looked at him quizzically, then picked up the recording pad and began to scroll through it. "What is this?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised in question. "A complete history of my combat records," replied Headlcok, smiling slightly. "Think of it as my resume." "For what?" "To join with you against Megatron," he replied. "Why she asked, somewhat suspicious. "You're one of Megatron's more loyal troopers. He may not like you, but then again... neither do I. I would suggest you reconsider your offer if I were you." "In other words, you won't take me?" "No." Headlock grinned. "You still owe me a favor, Blackarachnia. And I think this is how I want to use it." She thought for a moment. "You want to overthrow Megatron that much?" she asked, somewhat suprised. "Yes," replied Headlock. "His leadership has led us to downfall after downfall. He is unable to deal with you himself, and so he sends subordinates while he sits in his command chair and gives orders. He is unworthy to be leading us. And therefore, I would be willing to usher in a new leader." Blackarachnia grinned. "You're thinking like me," she said. "Resume accepted. I'll expect you to address ME as your commanding officer from this point on?" "Of course, empress," he replied, bowing low. "Very well done," she said, nodding. "You are dimissed." With a nod, Headlock walked out of the command room. As the doors slid shut, he chuckled silently to himself. "You think you have control, Blackarachnia," he said silently to himself as he returned to his quarters. "You think that you have dominance over those under your command. But what you don't realize is that this has mdae you proud beyond belief. And you will soon learn that pride does indeed come before the fall." Headlock reached his quarters and stepped in, then laughed silently to himself.