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Episode 2: Sleepers Wake
POW!!
Waspinator scrambled around the floor to find his head.
Icefire slowly brought her fist down.
"You lied to me!!!"
"Waspinator not understand! Waspinator SAVED bird-bot. Bird-bot should be happy!"
Icefire shook her head. "Are you or are you not a Predacon?"
Waspinator picked up his head, and stuck it back on his shoulders. "Waspinator was Predacon, but not any more! Waspinator quit!"
Icefire gave him a questioning look. "Weren't you talking about someone named Megatron earlier?"
"Yes. Megatron led the Predacons, but Waspinator was ignored. And blown up a lot. But Waspinator has plans; good plans! Waspinator is smartest of all!"
Icefire gave him a long, thoughtful look. "Megatron was your leader!?" She thought on that for a moment. "Well, you did save my life there. That's not precisely a Predacon thing to do. In fact, that Atlas and Scavenger weren't the most heroic characters I've ever encountered, yet they claimed to be Maximals."
Then they both turned back to the three stasis pods they had managed to escape with from Megatron's old lab.
Icefire smiled. "Well, let's help some friends out, eh?"
She went to each of the pods and entered some information into the controls.
The computer spoke up. "DNA scan, already complete. Stable environment detected. Prepare for release."
At that, each of the three gave a little hiss and eased open.
Two tusks and a fin poked out of the first one. A whale appeared before them standing, shakily, on elephant legs.
It shook its head violently. "No!...Stay back!" it began to shout.
Two huge red wings extended from the second. A monstrous red fish stood on the legs of a bee.
"No...No!" It began to shake, as if fighting off restraints. "Not back in the box!! PLEASE!!! For the love of Primus, NO!!!"
From the third a green, striped body emerged. The head turned to look back at them and hissed. The dinosaur craned its neck to face them and roared menacingly.
"No..."whispered Icefire.
"What is wrong with blend-bots!?" Waspinator cried.
"My best guess is that they're re-experiencing the last moments recorded by their memory: Being forced back into the pods."
All three of the bots looked in their direction.
"Stay back, I tell you! Get away from me!!"
"Won't...go back in!!"
"ROAAAR!"
And then they charged.
Scavenger and Atlas were belly-down beneath a table. A bat creature flew circles around the room with a bug thing, while a red barracuda flopped around on the floor.
"Well. This is just plain dumb," Atlas snapped.
"I'm not cleaning up after a fight again. It's your turn this time," Scavenger replied, gazing upward at the freak show.
Atlas shot him a dirty look.
The three bots at Waspinator's base scrambled around the floor tackling each other repeatedly. The dino jumped on the fish-bug, and roared in its face. The fish-bug responded by slamming his wings repeatedly into the reptilian offender. The dino leapt back from the assault, and found himself a few feet taller than usual. Looking down, he found that where he had landed provided him with a top view of the whale-elephant. Suddenly, the whale-elephant it reared back, sending him flying. It then squinted at the fish-bug, which was scrambling around the floor, trying to get used to supporting the weight of its giant head. The whale elephant lowered its head and charged at the it. Icefire and Waspinator circled overhead uneasily, unsure of what to do. Suddenly the fish-bug realized it could use its wings to fly, and it took to the air.
"What now!?" Waspinator cried.
"You take the fish with a bee up its butt," Icefire ordered. "I'm going to try to break up the other two."
Waspinator circled it very quickly and zipped outside as the fuzor followed him. Icefire dove at the dino, knocking it into a wall, just as it was regaining its footing. She gave it one more chop to the head and spun, firing at the whale-elephant. In response, he charged at her, taking her blasts in stride. She leapt at the last second, and he also had a close encounter with the wall of the cave.
She reached over to the groggy Cybertronians and shook them.
"Repeat after me: Maximize!" she shouted. Already being in bot mode, nothing happened to her, so the two just gave her blank stares. She sighed. "Infantile protoforms...Beast mode!"
She dropped them, and finished in her falcon mode, ready to give a proper demonstration. Both of the bots jumped up excitedly.
"Beast mode!" they both shouted.
Nothing happened, though they looked over their bodies just to be sure. Upon finding nothing, they looked back to her expectantly.
She shook her head in exasperation, but continued. "Icefire, Maximize!"
She flipped around, ending up in bot mode.
The two bots, a bit more unsure this time, shouted, "Icefire, Maximize!"
She felt a tap on her shoulder. "What you doing?"
She turned to answer, and screamed, leaping back in shock. As she caught her breath, she suddenly recognized the big, giant head she was looking at.
"You're the fish with a bee up its butt!" She gasped.
"I'm Injector," he replied tartly, giving her a disgusted look. "Waspinator," he gestured at the bot hovering next to him, "helped me out." Icefire noted that he gestured with his left hand, as his right one was encompassed by the stinger for his beast mode.
He walked over to the other two bots. "What are your names?" he asked.
The whale-elephant stood tall. "I am Torca, a warrior of the...the...hmm...." he trailed off.
"Maximals?" Icefire suggested hopefully.
"Yes, Maximals," he said happily. "That sounds right."
The dino paused for a moment. "It....might be Razor Claw," he hissed. "I...I'm not...entirely sure." As he spoke, it became apparent that he was struggling. His frequent pauses made it sound as if he was in great pain.
"Of your name?" Icefire asked.
"Of...anything," he answered, frowning.
"We'll help you out with that," she promised. "Moving on...That," she said gesturing, "is Waspinator, our commanding officer. My name is Icefire."
"Oh!" Torca and Razor Claw said together.
"That makes a lot more sense," Torca said. "Torca, maximize!"
He stood tall, and saluted.
"Razor Claw, maximize!"
The parts moved around and turned, but in the end, he was left in the body of a wolverine.
"What!?" He shouted. "Where are...my arms!? My...two legs? And weapons!?"
Icefire walked over to Razor Claw, and put her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said. "A tyrant did this to you. If it's alright with you, I'd like to perform some tests on you; see if I can find your robotic innards or even some weapons in this mode."
"Uh...yeah...I guess," he said, somewhat dazed. He followed her to one of the consoles, with head hung low.
Atlas had his sword extended. "Don't even think of coming this way!" he shouted. "You stay right where you are!"
The barracuda flopped closer to him, trying to get to the stream.
"Are you listening!?" Atlas bellowed. "I said stay there! I'm warning you!"
He planned on saying more, but he had to stop and dive beneath the two fuzors flying around the base.
"Aren't you done with them yet!?" Atlas shouted at Scavenger.
Scavenger fired a couple more blasts upward. "I'm working on it! Good thing I patched the ceiling up earlier though, isn't it?"
Atlas scowled. "Less talking, more working." And he swung his sword a couple more times.
LATER...
Injector dragged one of the stasis pods to the opening to the cave.
"Here's hoping this unholy mess never infects another Cybertronian."
He lifted one end, and let the fluid pour out. The greenish liquid flowed down the mountain and vanished into the ground. As he dragged it back, he passed by the other two pods, still full of their milky-white fluid.
The rest of the Maximals sat around in bot mode, and Razor Claw in dino mode, all of them working with one mass of parts or another. While previously there were a handful of consoles, now only two remained. Icefire looked up to the returning Injector.
"Thanks Injector! That, with the parts from the malfunctioning consoles, and parts from that," she said, jerking her thumb at the humongous gun in the center of the room, "should be enough for us to get an excellent communications and scanning tower going."
Injector looked at it. "If you ask me, I still think we should have left it capable of firing."
Torca, amidst a mass of wiring, shook his head. "No. We need these parts now. This way, we can detect this ‘Atlas' character if he chooses to attack, and maybe someday, we can call for reinforcements."
"More likely, a ride home," Icefire put in.
Injector shrugged. "Fine. But I'd still rather be able hit him with it when, not if, he comes."
"Okay, everyone step back," Icefire called out.
She raised two connectors. Everyone quickly took a step back from everything. She stuck the connectors together, and they crackled with energy. Torca began to type away at a console.
"Does scanner-gun work?" Waspinator asked hopefully.
Torca looked up with a puzzled look on his face, glanced over everyone, looked back at the console, and typed some more.
Razor Claw sniffed the air. "Something...is wrong..."
Icefire joined Torca at the console. She scratched her head, glanced at everyone, and looked back at the console. She scratched her head again.
"Hmph. Now that's an odd error," she wondered.
"Error? Waspinator not like errors! Waspinator gets blown up when there are errors!"
"Don't worry Waspinator, the sensor array must be have some sort of loop in the output," she said.
"Good," he responded worriedly. "Then maybe Waspinator not get blown up this time."
BLAM!
Parts of Waspinator went flying.
"Don't bet on that, Predacon!" A voice snarled.
Torca and Icefire's heads snapped to look at each other.
"That was no error," Torca whispered in horror.
"There really are twice as many bots here as there should be!" Icefire whispered.
"TAKE COVER!!" Injector roared, grabbing Razor Claw and diving behind the scanner array.
Torca and Icefire from blaster fire ducked behind the console. Atlas, in bot mode, slowly hovered into the cave's opening, his jet pack roaring. Scavenger stepped into the doorway, his drill-guns rapidly firing. Two fuzors flew up to Atlas's side, one with interesting cargo.
"Buzzclaw, maximize!" A praying mantis-lizard transformed, with ion blasters on his wrists. He began trying to take aim at the Maximals.
"Noctorro, maximize!" A bull-bat fuzor transformed and pulled out a gun. His brilliantly green eyes flashed like fire. He dropped a red barracuda out of his hands.
"Poison Bite...Maximize!" And he transformed in midair, his transformation finishing in shape of another beast.
"Poison Bite," Atlas ordered, turning to the scorpion, "disassemble this...thing," he said, waving his hand at the scanner array.
"Hnh, hnh, hnh," Poison Bite laughed, almost growling.
"Razor Claw, maximize!" The dino switched into his wolverine mode.
Injector slapped him in the head. "What's a wolverine got that a dinosaur doesn't!?"
Razor Claw snarled back. "If you...want to know...ask Icefire. I'll...be busy."
He leapt out from behind the scanner, roaring.
Atlas laughed. "Destroy him!"
Four guns unleashed their power upon one small Maximal.
"Hold your fire!" Atlas ordered. "Everyone, pull back! Wait for the smoke to clear!"
The smoke had filled the room to the point where visibility had reached zero. As it all began to settle, a single growling laugh became audible.
"Heh heh hah heh...Heh ha ha ha!!"
The Maximals were hidden out of sight, but Razor Claw stood in the center of the room. Now understanding, Injector smiled.
"Why can't YOU do anything like that!?" Scavenger shouted at Poison Bite.
"Now!" shouted Torca.
The Maximals leapt out, guns blazing. Atlas's squad all ducked for cover, except for him.
"Atlas, vehicle mode." He dropped and his treads began to spin, kicking up a cloud of dust. He charged straight for Torca and Icefire's position, with Razor Claw in his path.
"Come on cowards!" Scavenger shouted. "Follow your commander's example!"
They all charged forward to follow Atlas.
Suddenly, Torca leapt over the console, shouting, "Beast mode!"
He landed, lowered his head, and headed straight for Atlas. Razor Claw looked ahead of him and saw the tank. He looked behind him, and saw a rampaging elephant. He charged out of the way and finished his charge by tackling Scavenger. Icefire leapt to the air and began a firing contest with Buzzclaw. The two flew circles around the scanner, each trying to evade the other.
Torca and Atlas drew closer...closer...closer. Torca squinted slightly. Atlas snarled. At the very last moment, Torca leapt, pushed off the wall, and tackled Noctorro into the ground, pinning Noctorro's hands underneath his feet. Poison Bite leapt onto Torca's back, and with his claws, he grabbed onto Torca's tusks. Torca began to thrash around while Poison Bite began pulling with all his might. Unfortunately for Noctorro, Torca didn't step aside before he began to thrash about.
Atlas spun around. "COWARD!" he roared.
He began to pull forward, but one of his treads fell to pieces under fire from Injector. "Busted," Injector said, grinning.
"Atlas, maximize!" Atlas pulled his sword out. "I like your sword hand. It will make a grand souvenir when I rip it from your sparkless body."
Injector hardened his face, knowing he was against a superior swordsman. "Not very friendly to the new kids, are ya?"
"New, old, it makes no difference. Any way you look at it, you're mine."
At that, Atlas swung his sword at Injector. Injector parried with his stinger-hand, and lunged back at him with it. Atlas leaned out of the way, and brought his elbow into Injector's face. Injector stumbled backwards, and regained his footing. Atlas swung his sword again, and again, Injector blocked. This time Injector tried to follow through and punch him. Atlas ducked, and came back with an upper cut, sending Injector onto his rear. Atlas folded his arms and laughed.
"You're not doing so well." Atlas leaned forward, bringing his face close to Injector's. "Ah well...With a handsome profile like yours, one must have a flaw somewhere."
"By the time I'm done with you," Injector grunted with a smile, "You'll be eating your own slag."
He brought his stinger-hand up, aimed straight at Atlas's face, and fired. Atlas's head snapped back as he collapsed to his knees, screaming.
"ATLAS!" Scavenger shouted. He threw Razor Claw out the door.
"Poison Bite," Scavenger began, but paused. Torca was busy swinging the scorpion into the wall repeatedly, as he brilliantly continued to hang onto Torca's tusks.
Scavenger turned. "Buzzclaw, grab Noctorro!"
He then ran over to Atlas, and turned to Injector. "You'll pay for this, freak."
Scavenger grabbed Atlas and ran to the cave's opening with Buzzclaw by his side. Icefire shot at them, trying to chase them out. At the opening Scavenger set Atlas down and began returning fire at Icefire.
"Buzzclaw, get ready," he whispered. "Hey Poison Bite!! Release!"
Buzzclaw's jaw dropped, and he zipped out of the cave to catch Poison Bite in his other arm.
Scavenger grabbed Atlas. "This isn't over, Predacons. I'll return and tear you all limb from limb!"
And he vanished into the night.
All the pieces of Waspinator had finally been gathered.
"Will this really work?" Torca asked.
"Waspinator hopes so!" his head responded. "Waspinator spent a lot of time in CR Tank. Waspinator should know how it looks."
Torca and Icefire dumped all his parts into one of the stasis pods with the fluid.
"Will this really work?" Noctorro asked.
"It better," Scavenger asked. "It's his only chance. The computer certainly thinks it will though."
He lowered Atlas's body into one of the stasis pods full of the milky white fluid, while Buzzclaw set Noctorro into the other one.
Late at night, Torca sat typing at a console. Icefire walked over.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "I already set the computer to identify each of our signatures."
"You what?" Torca asked.
"Here," she said, and typed on the second, neighboring console. "See the readout of the inside of the cave? All these signatures are ours, and the computer can tell us who is who."
Torca nodded. "What about the enemy?"
"They have some sort of shielding in their base. I"ll have to input their signatures later. So, again, what are you doing?"
"I'm doing a readout of the sky. Using stars to see if I can pinpoint our location in relation to Cybertron."
Icefire watched the readouts of his calculations intently. Suddenly she pulled back in shock and amazement.
"No..." she whispered. "We can't really be...on Earth!?"
Just outside the doorway, in the darkness of night, a pair of brilliant, green eyes blinked.
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