~{ Good Intentions }~
By Eliot Lefebvre

Scorponok glanced up as Inferno entered the room.  "What do 
YOU want?" he snarled, then was cut short as he noticed the 
burn marks on Inferno's body.  "Let me guess.  Your precious 
Royalty was really pissed off when you told him that you failed."

"Affirmitive," said Inferno, dropping an arm on the floor.  With his 
one good arm, he helped himself over to the repair table.  "Would 
you be so kind as to fix me?  I doubt that the Royalty would be 
pleased if I used our ship's energy in the CR Chamber."

Scorponok nodded.  "I know how you feel.  This sort of thing 
happens to me when I have to deliver the reports as well."

"It was not undeserved," said Inferno, staring straight at the wall.  
"Our mission was a failure, and I was placed in charge.  I 
assume full responsibilty."

"I'm not saying THAT," sighed Scorponok.  "I just wish we could 
do something to get on Megatron's good side."

"It would seem that the only way to do that would be to defeat the 
Maximals."

Scorponok walked over and picked up a small laser welder.  
"Yeah, but even with your strength and my brains, how are we 
going to defeat the Maximals?"

A soft laugh came from the doorway.  "I think you'd be better off 
with INFERNO'S brains and YOUR strength."

Inferno and Scorponok both turned their heads at once.  
Standing there was Blackarachnia, grinning in her beautiful - and 
dangerous - way.  "What do you want?" snarled Scorponok, 
fusing Inferno's arm back into place.

"Oh, now THAT'S awfully accusatory towards someone who 
wants to help you," said Blackarachnia, stepping into the room.  
"I just want you two to get back on good terms with Megatron."

"What are you going to do?" asked Inferno, a bit of curiosity 
evident in his otherwise emotionless voice.

Blackarachnia grinned again.  "A few weeks ago, Scorponok, 
Tarantulas, and I finished devising a powerful weapon for 
Megatron - the Ion Pulse Cannon.  It is capapble of destruction 
unlike ANYTHING on this pitiful planet."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Scorponok 
and Inferno in unison.

"Well... wouldn't Megatron be pleased if somebody hauled that 
big cannon over to the Axalon and destroyed it?" asked 
Blackarachnia with a smirk.

"But - the Royalty has not ordered us to -" stammered Inferno.

"Oh, come now," sighed Blackarachnia.  "Scorponok is second in 
command.  If he gives you an order, it's interperted from the 
Royalty, isn't it?  And besides, he never ordered you NOT to do it, 
did he?"

Scorponok and Inferno stood there, staring at her.  "She's got a 
point," said Scorponok at last.

"Of course I do," said Blackarachnia.  She tossed them one last 
smile, then waltzed out of the room.

"Now, where did we put that cannon?" asked Scorponok, rubbing 
his claws together.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Rattrap picked up the small energon crystal, then turned and put 
it in the small holding canister on Cheetor's back.  "It's not much," 
he sighed, "but hey, you take what you can get."

"Hey, it's a living," said Cheetor with a grin.  "Where's 'Razor?"

Rattrap shrugged.  "Said she was going off to look for more 
crystals.  She oughta be back soon."

Cheetor and Rattrap both turned their gaze skyward as they 
heard an eagle's cry.  Airazor swooped in low, then cried out, 
"Airazor, MAXIMIZE!"  With a flip, she transformed into robot 
mode, landing a few feet away from Cheetor and Rattrap.

"When I'm right, I'm RIGHT," said Rattrap with a smirk.

"You won't believe what I found," said Airazor.  "Not far from 
here, I found a small cave that's FILLED with energon crystals!  It 
almost looks like a natural landform."

"All right!  Nice work, Airazor!" exclaimed Rattrap.  "Did you get 
any of the crystals free?"

"I couldn't," she replied.  "The opening was pretty small, and my 
beast mode wasn't suited to get in there.  I had to transform.  I 
was lucky I got as close as I did without going into stasis lock."

Cheetor was bouncing ecstatically.  "No problem, 'Razor!  
Rattrap's beast mode can get in the without trouble!  Wait 'til we 
tell Optimus!"

"Eh, hold it right there, kittycat," snapped Rattrap.  "We've got 
Predadorks movin' in from the south end."

Cheetor glanced over.  "Aw, slag, you're right!" he exclaimed, 
detatching the energon canister.  "Cheetor, MAXI -"

Rattrap slammed his paw over Cheetor's mouth.  "Hey, hey, 
HEY!  They haven't noticed us yet, so let's wait and see what 
they're going to do."  He removed his paw from his mouth.

The trio of Maximals watched the two Predacons walking along.

Scorponok glanced behind him at Inferno.  "Isn't that thing 
heavy?" he asked.

Inferno grunted.  "It is no burden if it helps the Royalty," he said, 
raising his head.  He grunted from effort again.  "Although it 
would be nice if you would carry it for a little while."

"Ha!" laughed Scorponok.  "Your beast form is much stronger 
than mine.  Besides, I'M second in command!"

Shrugging in a way that only giant red fire ants can, Inferno 
continued to lug the cannon along.

Airazor, Rattrap, and Cheetor all stared at each other.  "This is 
bad," said Rattrap.  "Whatever they're carrying can't be good."

"I'll radio Optimus," said Airazor, flipping on her comm.  
"Optimus, this is Airazor.  Come in."

~This is Rhinox,~ crackled Rhiox's voice over the comm.  
~Optimus's out at the moment.  What's up?~

Airazor glanced back at Inferno and Scorponok.  "Megatron's two 
number-one lackeys are lugging some huge device in the 
direction of the Axalon.  I'm not sure why... it doesn't seem like 
they've got any back-up.  What are our orders?"

There was silence for a moment.  ~Can you avoid engaging 
them?~

Scorponok saw something out of the corner of his eye.  Scuttling 
around, he saw the three Maximals.  "Maximals!" he screamed.  
"Scorponok, TERRORIZE!"  The scorpion stood and folded, then 
the snarling visage of Scorponok was visible, arming his missiles.

Inferno eased the cannon onto the ground.  "Inferno, 
TERRORIZE!" he cried, and the fire ant contorted and raised, 
and the odd, grinning face of Inferno appeared.  His rotor twirling, 
he opened fire along with Scorponok.

"I don't think that's an option," shouted Airazor.  "Airazor out!"

"Rattrap, MAXIMIZE!"

"Cheetor, MAXIMIZE!"

The two remaining Maximals transformed, then brought their 
weapons to hand from subspace.  "Think they're going to 
prepare?" asked Rattrap.

"They've got Dinobot, Rhinox, and Optimus over there!" replied 
Cheetor.

"Like I said, think they're going to prepare?"

Airazor shook her head and rocketed skyward.  Scorponok 
launched a pair of missiles at her, but Airazor twisted aside and 
launched a pair of her wrist missiles at Scorponok and Inferno.  
The missiles exploded scant inches from the Predacon's feet.  
Scorponok and Inferno aimed at Airazor, but were cut short as 
Cheetor and Rattrap fired from behind a rock.  "I'll engage the 
female in the air!" shouted Inferno, crouching slightly to launch 
himself skyward.

"No!" snapped Scorponok, running over to the cannon.  "I've got 
a better idea.  Help me with this."

Inferno looked at Airazor for a moment, then went to help 
Scorponok.

"I don't get it!  What's so great about that cannon?  Why isn't 
Inferno going for Airazor?"  Rattrap shrugged, and continued 
firing.

"If Inferno's following an order to disengage, it MUST be 
powerful!" shouted Cheetor.  He took another shot at the pair of 
Predacons, then ducked back behind the rock as Inferno 
returned fire.

Inferno boosted the cannon onto its stand.  "Do you know how to 
work this?"

Scorponok primed the cannon, and grinned devilishly as the 
cannon hummed to life.  "You bet I do," he said, smirking.  
Aiming the cannon, he slowly increased the power as he aimed it 
at Airazor.  For a few moments, he had to track Airazor's 
movements, then finally got a target lock on her and pressed the 
trigger.

Airazor glanced down at the cannon and saw the cannon fire.  
Before she even had time to react, the blast smashed into her.  A 
massive fireball filled the air, almost like a second sun.

"AIRAZOR!" shouted Cheetor and Rattrap at once.

In a few seconds, the fireball disappated, and a severely battered 
Airazor appeared in the sky.  Her right arm and left leg were torn 
away, her body was covered in dents and scorch marks, and 
there were gashes all over her.  She hovered for a moment, then 
hurtled to the ground.

As Airazor smashed into the ground, Cheetor and Rattrap looked 
at her with horror.  "Rattrap, go get her!" snapped Cheetor.

"No way, kittycat!" replied Rattrap sharply.  "You're faster!"

"You're smaller!"

"No, no, and NO!"

Cheetor sighed, then hefted Rattrap off the ground and hurled 
him towards Airazor.  Rattrap flailed wildly, then skidded to a halt.  
Scorponok readied his cyberbee and launched it dead at Rattrap.  
Grabbing Airazor's inert body, Rattrap frantically leaped behind 
the rock, then drew his rifle out of subspace and blasted it.  The 
bee hovered for a moment, then crashed to the ground.

"You'll pay for that when we get back to the Axalon," snapped 
Rattrap, waving a finger at Cheetor.

"Save it.  Do you still have your hologram projector?"

Rattrap nodded, and pulled it out of subspace.   "Why?"

"You'll see," replied Cheetor.  "Airazor, does your flight unit still 
function?"

Airazor tried to move her head up slightly, but was unable to.  
"...yes..." she gurgled.

"Great," said Cheetor, ripping the half-exposed flight unit out of 
her and beginning to attach the hologram projector to it.  "Sorry if 
that hurt, but it's our only choice."  Finishing the attachment, he 
sent the hologram unit flying off, projecting the image of Cheetor 
and Rattrap running away with Airazor.

Scorponok grinned and whirled the cannon towards the image, 
targeting the trio in the crosshairs.  "I'm bringing this baby to full 
power!" he exclaimed, increasing the power even more.  The 
cannon began to shake slightly.

"Are you sure that's safe?" asked Inferno.

"Hey!" snapped Scorponok, shaking wildly with the cannon.  "I'M 
second in command!  I know what I'm doing!"  He slammed 
down the fire button, letting loose a massive blast.  The cannon 
began to spin on its tripod, and Scorponok with it.  The blast 
hurtled towards the three images, and a huge explosion erupted.  
When the smoke finally cleared (and the cannon stopped 
spinning), Scorponok and Inferno looked at the spot where the 
Maximals had been.

Nothing was there but burnt ground.

"All right!" shouted Scorponok ecstatically.  "Not even parts left to 
be shattered!"  He deactivated the cannon.  "Beast mode," he 
said, and converted back into a scorpion.  Inferno followed suit.

"Now pick up the cannon and carry it to the Axalon!" barked 
Scorponok.  "With three of them destroyed, they don't stand a 
chance!"

Inferno boosted the cannon back onto his back, and the two 
Predacons continued their trek towards the Axalon.

Behind the rock, Cheetor peered out and breathed a sigh of 
relief.  "They fell for it."  He turned to Airazor.  "Can you 
transform?"

"...no..." she hissed.

Cheetor sighed.  "Beast mode."  He converted back to cheetah 
mode, and boosted the inert Airazor onto his back.  "I wish you'd 
stop doing this.  We'll have to get you back to the Axalon before 
stasis lock sets in."

"Beast mode," said Rattrap, converting back to rat mode.  "I just 
tried the comm.  Whatever that thing was, it threw up so much 
interference that the signal just ain't reflecting."

Cheetor sighed, then began bounding towards the Axalon, taking 
an alternate route to the one Scorponok and Inferno were taking.  
Rattrap sprang after him.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Optimus stepped in the room.  "I came as fast as I could," he 
said, glancing at Dinobot and Rhinox.  "What's up?"

"Inferno and Scorponok have been spotted moving towards the 
Axalon carrying a large device," said Rhinox.  "And after Airazor 
signaled us that, the line went dead, so we can assume that it's a 
weapon."

"It is unfortunate that we lost Cheetor and Airazor," said Dinobot 
morosely.

"We lost Rattrap, too," snapped Rhinox.

Dinobot stared intently at him.  "Your point being...?"

"Don't count those three out yet," said Optimus, walking over to 
the confrence table.  "They can think pretty quickly when they 
need to.  Any idea what they're carrying?"

"From the brief photograph of the device that Airazor transmitted 
us," hissed Dinobot, "it appears to be an Ion Pulse Cannon.

Optimus gaped.  "I thought the Soundwave's main pulse cannon 
was destroyed in the crash."

"It was," replied Dinobot.  "The Predacons must have built a new 
one."

"Where would they have gotten the resources?" asked Rhinox.

"I have no idea," growled Dinobot.  "Might I point out that if we 
had spent less time gathering excess energon and more time 
setting up surveillance posts on the planet, then we would have 
seized the resources before the Predacons and CRUSHED 
them!"  He made a clenching motion with his fist.

"It's a moot point now," said Optimus.  "But this also raises 
another question: why did Megatron send out the cannon 
already?  It's hardly an optimum time.  Now that we've spotted 
them, we've got a pretty good chance of countering it."

"Sounds stupid, short-sighted, and pointless," said Dinobot, arms 
folded across his chest.  "Sounds just like the same old 
Megatron."

"This is not the time, Dinobot," said Optimus.

"It almost seems as if Inferno and Scorponok did this of their own 
accord," pondered Rhinox.  "But then again, it's not like them to 
have an original thought.  I doubt they even know what the word 
'original' means."

"In any case, we've got a problem on our hands," said Optimus.  
"Radio Tigatron and tell him to get down here and lend us a 
hand.  Dinobot, Rhinox, I want you to pool your knowledge and 
try to keep any effects from that thing to a bare minimum.  I'll try 
to engage them from the air."

The air hatch of the Axalon opened.  "Prime jets, maximum 
burn!" he shouted.  His jets roared to life, and as the wind beat 
against him, he soared skyward.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Megatron glanced up with suprise as Blackarachnia rushed in, 
obviously distressed.  "What is the matter, Blackarachnia?" 
asked Megatron suspiciously.  "Did you try to eat Tarantulas 
again?"

Blackarachnia glared at him.  "Whatever he said, that DIDN'T 
happen!"

"Of course not."

"It DIDN'T!"

"Is there a point to this visit?"

"Yes," she replied.  "Scorponok and Inferno have left, and have 
taken the Ion Pulse Cannon with them."

"WHAT?!?!?" bellowed Megatron.  "What did those morons have 
in their heads?"

"Very little," suggested Terrorsaur idily.

"Inferno was muttering something about obeying the Royalty's 
true wishes - I would guess that they went to try and destroy the 
Maximals."  Blackarachnia's panic carried through to her voice.

"The tactical losses - I will make that fool 'BUUUUUUURN', as he 
is so fond of saying!"  Megatron stood tall.  "We will meet them at 
the Axalon at once.  If they are close to victory, my leadership will 
carry us to a final victory.  If not... then I will save them to 
PERSONALLY kill."

Megatron leaped from his throne.  "Terrorsaur!  Tarantulas!  
Waspinator!  Blackarachnia!  Assemble outside!"

"Fight?  A fight?  Wazzpinator like fights!  Wazzpinator, 
TERRORIZE!"  The hovering wasp converted to robot mode, 
giggling in anticipation.

*A perfect oppurtunity to prove Megatron unworthy as leader,* 
thought Terrorsaur.  "Terrorsaur, TERRORIZE!"  From his perch, 
Terrorsaur lept to the ground, rifle drawn and a malicious grin on 
his face.

"My beautiful cannon - Inferno and Scorponok will pay for it's 
untimely destruction.  Tarantulas, TERRORIZE!"  The spider 
flipped up and transformed into robot mode, an odd look of 
anticipation on his face.

Blackarachnia, already transformed, followed the procession of 
Predacons out of the Soundwave.  The grin on her face was 
unmistakable.  It was the grin of someone who knew that they 
had won.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Scorponok sat in front of the Axalon, still in scorpion mode.  
"Megatron is going to be thrilled," he said.  "Scorponok, 
TERRORIZE!"

"Inferno, TERRORIZE!"

The two Predacons stood there, setting up the cannon.  "Are you 
sure it's going to work?" asked Inferno.

"I've set it to let out a low-level ion pulse to disable Sentinel's 
targeting system," replied Scorponok.  "The Maximals don't stand 
a chance."

"Guess again!" shouted Optimus, rocketing in overhead.  Flipping 
his arm cannons out of their protective housings, he opened fire 
on the two Predacons.  Scorponok and Inferno dived away, and 
Optimus brought himself lower, preparing to destroy the cannon.

"Inferno, engage him and stop on my signal!" shouted 
Scorponok.  The grin on Inferno's face grew, and he launched 
himself skyward, rotor twirling wildly.  As Scorponok dove over to 
set up the cannon, Inferno charged at Optimus, firing madly.  
Optimus rolled to one side, and let loose with his full firepower 
towards Inferno.  Twisting, Inferno avoided the barrage, and let 
loose with another volley of shots.  This time, Optimus was not 
quite so quick, and the shots clipped his shoulder, sending 
shards of metal flying.  Inferno let his gaurd down, and charged 
full at Optimus.  Taking his opportunity, Optimus drew his sword 
from subspace, and slammed it into Inferno.  The Predacon 
spasmed at the shock, and withdrew.

Inferno glanced down, and saw Scorponok quickly wave him 
away.  Firing a few parting shots at Primal, he flew away, 
descending towards the ground.  "Not so fast, Predacon!" 
shouted Optimus, blasting at him.  "You don't think you can get 
away that quickly, do you?"

Scorponok grinned, and pressed the trigger.  Optimus glanced 
down and saw the blast headed his way, and cut out his engines, 
throwing himself away from the blast.  The massive ball of 
energy sheared into his left side, and he felt a massive pain rip 
through him.  His right engine sputtered as he spiraled 
downwards, the left side of his body a charred mass of metal.

"Yes!" said Scorponok, pumping his claw in the air.  "Two down, 
five to go!"  He shoved the power lever as far up as it would go, 
and aimed the crosshairs at the Axalon as the cannon shook.

A pair of quasar blasts hit the ground in front of them.  Turning, 
they saw Rattrap and Cheetor standing there, Airazor and 
Tigatron behind them.  "Get Airazor inside," said Rattrap.  "We'll 
nail these two."  Tigatron nodded, and picked up Airazor, then 
dashed towards the Axalon.

Scorponok whirled the cannon towards the two Maximals.  "Get 
ready to die, worms!" he shouted.

Optimus saw the situation unfolding as he crawled towards the 
Axalon.  He activated his shortband comm, still unaffected by the 
interference from the ion pulse.  "Dinobot, Rhinox, do it NOW!"

With a sinister smile, Scorponok hit the trigger.

The blast did not fire, and the violent shaking of the cannon 
increased.

"What's going on?" asked Inferno, yanking the sword out of him.

Scorponok glanced at the Axalon, and saw a small antenna 
protruding from the top.  "They've interfered with the energy 
discharging system!" he realized.  "The energy buildup is unable 
to be released!"

"What exactly are you saying by this?" asked Inferno.

"This thing is now a high-powered BOMB!" Scorponok screamed, 
running away from the cannon, now quivering uncontrollably.  
"Get away!"

The two Predacons, Cheetor, and Rattrap all dove away as the 
cannon flashed once, then exploded in a hail of metal fragments.  
The shockwave swept over the battlefield, then all that was left 
was a little debris and a lot of smoke.

"Bad," said Scorponok flatly, staring glumly at where the cannon 
had been moments before.

"Very bad," added Inferno, staring at the re-emerging Cheetor 
and Rattrap.

"Oh, it is bad, yessss," said Megatron, stepping onto the 
battlefield in beast mode.  "Especially for you.  Megatron, 
TERRORIZE!"

The massive T-Rex swung apart, then reformed into the terrifying 
Predacon leader.  Behind him, the other four Predacons came 
out of beast mode, weapons at the ready.

"Megatron!  You've come to save us!" exclaimed Scorpnok.

Megatron's gaze harshly fell on Scorponok and Inferno.  "The 
only reason that I am saving your pitiful little hides is because I 
am currently lacking in troops, and I need every soldier I can get.  
Not to mention, I would much rather take out my revenge on you 
PERSONALLY."

Inferno and Scorponok gulped.

Megatron then looked at Cheetor and Rattrap.  "Annhiliate them," 
he intoned.  The Predacons unleashed their firepower upon the 
two Maximals, and they were flung backwards, skidding to a halt 
as they hit the ground.  Picking themselves up, they brought their 
weapons to bear and unleashed their firepower upon the 
Predacons.

Before he could attack them, another barrage of firepower was 
unleashed upon the Predacons.  Rhinox, Dinobot, and Tigatron 
had left the Axalon, and were now firing on the Predacons, 
Dinobot with his eye beams, Tigatron with his quasar cannon, 
and Rhinox with his chain gun.  Optimus, still partially functional, 
let loose with all of his weapons that were still functioning.

Caught between the crossfire, Waspinator and Terrorsaur were 
cut down, blast marks covering their bodies.  Growling, Megatron 
blasted his T-Rex cannon at Primal, knocking him back down.  
Tarantulas launched a pair of missiles at Cheetor and Rattrap.  
Cheetor was hit,. but Rattrap blasted Tarantulas away, then 
helped Cheetor back to his feet.

Scorponok glanced towards the Axalon, and saw the cannons 
rising from the top of the ship.  "The ion pulse must have 
disappated!" exclaimed Scorponok, panicked.

"Beast mode!" shouted Megatron, and he flipped back into T-Rex 
mode.  "Predacons, RETREAT!"

Megatron glared at Scorponok and Inferno.  "And when we get 
back," he snarled, "you and I are going to have a bit of a talk."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment.  Then, they 
converted to beast mode and grabbed Terrorsaur and 
Waspinator, then scurried after Megatron.  Blackarachnia 
grabbed Tarantulas, and the Predacons withdrew into the forest.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Optimus stepped out of the CR Chamber.  "It only took a few 
minutes to repair?" he asked, somewhat astonished.

"Well, I boosted the efficiency of the reconstruction process," 
said Rhinox with a shrug.  "Couldn't have done it without all of 
that excess energon to power it."

Dinobot grunted in acknowledgement.

"What's our status?" asked Optimus, stepping over to the other 
CR Chamber where Airazor rested.

"Cheetor and Rattrap are already back to full operating status," 
said Rhinox, checking a datapad.  "Airazor should be back on-
line in a couple hours."  He tossed Dinobot another cocky grin.  
"All thanks to that 'excess energon' that we could have forgone 
for building resources."

"Enough about the damn energon!" snapped Dinobot.

Rhinox shrugged.  "Just felt like rubbing it in."  He turned back to 
Optimus.  "The Ion Pulse Cannon is utterly destroyed."

"Did you locate where the Predacons were getting their 
resources from?" asked Optimus.

"Yes," replied Rhinox.  "We sent out a small hunter/seeker drone.  
Cheetor and I got everything we could from there, and then 
destroyed it."

"Good.  That means the Preds are going to have trouble 
rebuilding that cannon ever again."

"I still don't quite understand, though," said Dinobot.  "Megatron 
would know that such a weapon would be better used at another 
time.  He had nothing to gain from this attack.  Why did he order 
those two to attack us?"

"I don't think he did make the order," said Optimus.  "From what 
the scene looked like, Megatron was really pissed off at the two 
of them.  I'd bet someone - probably Terrorsaur - instigated them 
into taking the cannon on their own.  That would leave two of 
Megatron's chief lackeys between a rock and a hard place."

"That sounds like Terrorsaur," said Dinobot with a sinister 
chuckle.

"Now," said Optimus, "let's get everyone - including Tigatron - 
into the confrence room.  We'll need to get that energon that 
Airazor found.  And -" he glanced at Dinobot "- we'll need to set 
up survey routes to search for resources."

The three Maximals headed towards the confrence room.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Why, hello," said Blackarachnia to Inferno and Scorponok, both 
trudging towards Megatron's confrence room.

"Blackarachnia!" exclaimed Scorponok.  "How did Megatron find 
out what we had done?"

A nasty smile played across her face.  "Why, didn't you figure it 
out?  I told him myself."  Her grin widened.

"But - why -"

"Let me try and help you understand this very simple concept," 
said Blackarachnia slowly and patronizingly.  "If two of 
Megatron's top officers take one of his most valued weapons, 
then he's going to be furious.  Of course, his officers wouldn't 
take it unless someone suggested it to them, since they have all 
the imagination of a cinder block.  And once they have taken it, 
Megatron wouldn't know unless someone knew about it and told 
him.  Of course, in this situation, the person who told him 
becomes the faithful, loyal follower, and his two top officers 
become suspect of treason."

The two Predacons stared at Blackarachnia, agape.

"Oh, come on," she sighed.  "Did you think I would help you out 
of the goodness of my heart?"

There was a long pause.  "Is this a trick question?" asked 
Inferno.

Blackarachnia folded her arms across her chest.  "You know as 
well as I do that I don't have a heart, and wouldn't help you even 
if I did.  It's called subterfuge, you two.  Someday, I'll really show 
it to you.  Someday."

With a cocky grin, Blackarachnia walked off.  Scorponok and 
Inferno looked at each other, then walked into Megatron's 
chamber.

Megatron turned to face them.  "What were you thinking?" he 
asked sternly, the rage evident in his eyes.

"Well, sir -" began Scorponok.

"My Queen -" began Inferno.

Whirling around, Megatron grabbed them both and pinned them 
against the wall.  "You have destroyed our most powerful 
weapons, damaged three Predacons severely, and if it wasn't for 
Blackarachnia, you probably would have gotten yourselves 
destroyed, weakening the Predacons!"

Megatron threw the pair of them to the ground, then stepped 
back.  "Now, I want you to figure out your story.  If I don't believe 
you..."  He said nothing more, only clicked his powerful claw 
menacingly.

Scorponok and Inferno turned to face one another.  "What in the 
world are we going to do?" he hissed, trying to hide his fear.

"I wish I knew," sighed Inferno.

"I'm waiting," said Megatron.

It was a long time before anyone spoke.

Out of the corner of his eye Scorponok could see Megatron 
standing impatiently, tapping his foot.

"We're going to get lynched, aren't we?" he whispered.

Inferno shrugged.