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Episode 7: Mutations Part 3 - I Pledge Allegiance
Last time, on the Waspinator Chronicles...
Atlas squinted into his newly acquired stasis pod.
"A spark, but no core consciousness you say? I don't think I've heard of such a thing before..."
Scavenger shook his head, tapping away at a nearby console.
"Well, it seems reasonable enough...A core consciousness can act free of a spark. I suppose a bot can undergo enough immense amounts of damage to cause such a situation. Theoretically speaking, being in a stasis pod increases the potential of this happening."
Buzzclaw, amazed at what he saw, began to cheer on his teammate. "Right on, fish-face! Let's slag these Maximals!"
Poison Bite, hearing Buzzclaw's shouts, eased off his attack. He turned towards the noisy green lizard-bug. Buzzclaw paused, uncomfortable with the strangely disturbing stare he was receiving from his teammate.
"What're you doing? Finish off the Maximal already...And stop looking at me. You scare me."
Buzzclaw barely managed to dodge Poison Bite's blast. He dove, rolled, and crouched behind a tree.
Atlas squinted into a stasis pod again. This time, he was checking wires and connections covering Injector's head. The wiring lead to the still sealed stasis pod, the one which Atlas had been gazing into earlier.
"I believe," Atlas declared, "We are ready."
"Excellent," Scavenger grinned darkly. He tapped a few buttons, and the nearby machinery began to hum. "This should go relatively quickly."
Atlas frowned. "Relative to what?"
Scavenger blinked. "Uh...Don't ask questions. You're the leader; you lead. I'm the scientist; let me...uh...science."
Atlas nodded. "Yes, I see. That makes perfect sense."
Scavenger scratched his head, trying to figure out what just happened, as Poison Bite shuffled in the doorway, head hung low. The massive Icebird lumbered in right behind him.
Atlas grinned broadly. "Poison Bite! Excellent work!"
Poison Bite avoided eye contact with Atlas. "Uh...Buzzclaw's in trouble. He's still there with the Maxis"
With a tap of his claw, Poison Bite opened one of the spare stasis pods, revealing a greenish fluid within.
"Icebird, I'm going to need you crawl in here."
Icebird gave the solution a wary look.
"Trust me," Poison Bite said coaxingly. "Would I do anything that would hurt you?"
Icebird shook his head dumbly. "I don't tink so..." And he lumbered over to the fluid filled pod and laid down within it.
Poison Bite promptly sealed it and began hitting buttons on the controls at a rapid pace, almost laughing as he did so. Screams began to emanate from within, but disturbingly, they died out very quickly.
AND NOW, THE CONCLUSION...
"...And then once we're in and everything's in order, I take Injector and run," Torca concluded. He rose off his right knee, pain easing through his left leg.
Buzzclaw nodded, absent-mindedly rubbing the light rainwater off of the massive crack in his chest, also rose to his feet. "Good. No tricky stuff, got it?"
Torca squinted at his temporary comrade. "I will do what I must for the safety of myself and my friends."
Buzzclaw jabbed Torca in the chest. "I'm on my toes, every nanoclick of every solar cycle. NO ONE sneaks around behind me, got it?"
Torca tackled Buzzclaw to the ground just as a blast streamed through the space they had just occupied.
"No one, huh?"
Buzzclaw grunted. "When you're half elephant and half whale, you don't get the luxury of laying on top of me. Move it!"
The two rolled to their feet, facing the origin of the blast, and Poison Bite crawled out from the underbrush.
"So good to see you alive and fraternizing with the enemy, bug," Poison Bite said with a gleam in his eye.
"You're really happy? Because I thought it would have inspired you to shoot at me. KIND OF LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, APPARENTLY. But hey, we can switch if you really want!"
Poison Bite barked out a laugh. Faster than anyone could respond, Poison Bite launched himself forward. He slammed into Buzzclaw's chest, knocking him on his back. His stinger darted straight at Buzzclaw's defenseless head, and froze, hovering just centimeters away. All optics darted towards Torca's hand, which held Poison Bite's stinger in place.
Poison Bite snarled, "You want to share in his fate?"
"I'm not very selfish...He can have all of you that he wants," Buzzclaw wheezed out.
"SHUT UP" Poison Bite and Torca snapped.
"Get out of here," Torca ordered the scorpion.
"You know, I believe the proper response is, ‘Make me.'"
Torca almost smiled. "My pleasure."
Heaving the mutant by the tail, Torca lifted him and slammed him straight into the rain-dampened ground. With a grunt, he lifted Poison Bite again, and slammed him down on the other side of him. Torca lifted him into the air one last time, but as the Autobot arched over his head, Torca was bowled over by a greenish blur. Torca brushed mud off himself and forced himself onto his feet as Poison Bite faced him and laughed.
"You actually thought I'd waste my time on you two alone? I figured it was time for my newly reprogrammed teammate to join the fray," Poison Bite chuckled. "Allow me to introduce...Razor Claw."
Torca froze in horror as his old teammate, in wolverine mode, slowly stepped forward to stand beside the scorpion.
"What...What are you doing? Razor Claw? What's going on here?" Torca gasped out incredulously.
Razor Claw snarled back, spittle dripping from his lips. "Don't worry about it. My brother and I will take care of the both of you."
Buzzclaw scratched his head. "Hey, uh...Wasn't he the one with the speech impediment? I mean seriously, it actually hurt to listen to him before."
Razor Claw glanced at Poison Bite, who gave a slight nod. In the next instant, Razor Claw had Buzzclaw pinned against the ground and tore his claws into the fuzor, making repeated gouges into Buzzclaw's chest.
"TORCA!! HELP!!!"
Torca grabbed his rifle, only to have it sent flying from his hands. The source of the blast originated from the tip of Poison Bite's claw.
"Weaponless and wounded. This hardly seems fair," Poison Bite said happily. "Just how I like it."
"You pathetic mutant," Torca growled deeply. "You are deeply, deeply lacking."
"Eh? Lacking?"
Torca took a step forward. "You attacked two wounded bots." He took another step forward. "You brought another with you to help this pathetic venture." Another step. "And now that I am defenseless and weaponless, it is now that you're willing to face me one on one." One more step. "You are a coward. You lack courage. And because of that, you will fall."
"Idealistic fool!" Poison Bite fired from his claw, but he had waited too long.
Torca ducked the blast and darted forward, grabbing both claws and squeezing them shut, making sure to keep right one aimed away from him. Poison Bite's stinger jabbed forward, digging into Torca's chest. Torca screamed in pain and he turned his gaze upward. Rain poured freely over his body as sought the skies for hope. In an explosion of anger, he roared and drove his head downwards. The two massive tusks that jutted out rammed directly into the center of Poison Bite's body, piercing through him. Poison Bite screamed violently, shuddered, and fell limp. Razor Claw looked up and saw Poison Bite fall to the ground. His optics met with Torca's, and Torca knew he had to move. Numb from the cyber-venom, he staggered to his fallen rifle. Razor Claw calmly plodded towards the gun, snarling deeply with each step. Weakly, Torca fell to his knees.
"You...CAN'T..." Torca coughed. He reached forward with his arms and began to crawl.
Razor Claw laughed. "It's a shame...You really are so close to it. Imagine if could run. Do you think you could beat me there?"
Torca dug into the dirt and dragged himself forward, bringing him within a meter of his trusted rifle. Razor Claw took a few more lazy steps pulling even with Torca.
"What...are you...doing, Razor Claw?" Torca groaned.
"I'm finally having fun," he spat back.
Torca reached the rest of the distance, laying his hand on the water-soaked grip of the rifle, and Razor Claw's heel fell firmly against his hand.
"How sad. I really thought you were going to make it for a second there," Razor Claw laughed sadistically.
Suddenly something poked into the back of his head.
"Funny. I kinda had the same feeling about you," a female voice behind him said calmly.
BLAM
Raindrops turned to steam as they fell upon the still heated tips of Icefire's claw gun. Ignoring the limp wolverine body on the ground, she reached her hand out to Torca.
"Let's get out of here."
Torca, fighting the venom coursing through his body, shook his head. "We ... Buzzclaw ... His help."
Icefire turned to the Autobot, still lying flat on his back. She made her way over to him, and stared in horror at his mostly exposed chest. A voice at her side surprised her.
"We...have a duty...to Injector," Torca wheezed, standing at full height beside her.
Icefire shook her head in amazement. "Alright then. I'll carry him. But I need you to brief me on what's going on and why you're with this guy."
She lifted Buzzclaw into her arms, and his optics flickered into a bright and normal glow.
"Don't worry, damsel," he coughed. "I'll save you!"
She shook her head, dropped him, and stepped over him.
"Hey! Wait lady, I was just kidding!"
Atlas sat quietly in his chair, monitoring the screens as Scavenger worked away at various control panels. Suddenly there came a rapping, a rapping at their chamber door.
Atlas tapped a button on the arm of his chair, and a one of the monitors showed a view of Buzzclaw, drenched in the rain and clutching at his chest.
"Buzzclaw? What's going on!? Where's Poison Bite?"
Buzzclaw coughed and moved his arms, revealing his torn open chest. Atlas jumped to his feet in shock.
"What happened!?"
Buzzclaw wheezed. "Poison Bite...down. Maximals...hurt me..."
Atlas hit another button on his control panel and the main door slowly slid open. Atlas made his way across the room to tend to his wounded teammate. As the door slid open enough for him to see through, Atlas paused, noticing a strange look in Buzzclaw's optics.
"Computer," Buzzclaw called out. "Activate defense program Gargoyle, protocol J - 2 - 2 - 0."
Massive bolts of electricity came from the ceiling and slammed Atlas and Scavenger into the floor.
"AAARRRGGH...BUZZCLAW...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Atlas roared.
Torca and Icefire stepped in from just outside the edge of the doorway, each of them with a weapon aimed at Buzzclaw's head.
"I'm sorry, I had no choice," Buzzclaw said, hanging his head.
"THE TEAM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU, YOU FILTHY MAGGOT! BY THE TIME I'M DONE WITH YOU, WE'LL BE USING YOU AS A GARBAGE DISPOSAL!!" Atlas raged.
"Icefire, you're the technowizard here," Torca said.
Icefire nodded. "I'm on it."
She rushed over to the stasis pods, and glanced in one. She pulled back in shock, but quickly moved to the other one. A look of recognition passed over her face this time, and she immediately set herself to work on the control panel on the side. Atlas, realizing what she was doing, made eye contact with Scavenger. Scavenger shook his head. Atlas scowled even more deeply, if that was possible, and struggled to force words out.
"Computer ... Override ... Gargoyle, authorization ... Destron, code...D - 6 - 9..."
The beams cut out, and Atlas and Scavenger were left wheezing.
"Icefire, finish it up!" Torca shouted, as he stepped forward.
Out of everyone else's eyesight, Scavenger reached up to the console next to him, and hit a couple buttons in rapid succession.
Meanwhile, as Torca moved forward, his rifle tip went from Buzzclaw's head to Atlas's.
"Atlas, leader of the so-called Autobots, I Torca, representative of the Maximal authority on this planet, am placing you under arrest for secession, and attempting to alter the timeline."
"What do you think you're doing, boy?" Atlas growled. "I haven't altered a thing, and when I do decide to do anything, it will only benefit our kind. YOU are the traitor here!"
Buzzclaw tapped Torca on the shoulder. "What in the Pit are you doing? This wasn't part of the pla- I mean, nothing!"
Atlas paused for a second and blinked. "...What?"
"Atlas, the transfer is complete!" Scavenger shouted out.
Icefire shook her head unhappily and typed even faster. "Almost there..." she mumbled.
Atlas slowly turned and stared at Buzzclaw. "The PLAN. PLAN? This was A SETUP!?"
Buzzclaw shook his head quickly. "No, it's not like that at all! They ... I ... See, it's Poison Bite's fault!"
Atlas, still on his knees, kicked Torca's out from under him. With one fluid motion, Atlas pulled out his sword and drove it into the center of Buzzclaw's chest, and straight through the other side. Buzzclaw made a strange choking noise, and slowly slid off the blade, slumping into a pile on the floor.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Torca screamed. He lifted his rifle just in time to get riddled with blasts from the side. He collapsed to the floor with scorch marks covering him. Scavenger stood there with a broad smile on his face and his drill-hands still spinning. Both Autobots turned to face the stressed Icefire.
She caught their gaze, and triumphantly hit one last button. A whirring noise came from the pod, followed by silence. Her face quickly fell.
"Slag! Stupid machine! That should have done it!"
She kicked the uncooperative pod, and it popped open. Injector collapsed to the ground, wires and tubing popping free from his body and his huge freak-head. Icefire ducked behind the open pod door and poked Injector.
"Injector...Now might be a good time to wake up, buddy..."
A loud explosion erupted, and she peeked around the pod door.
"Out of our way, Autobots," a voice boomed. "We are here to claim our third member!"
Poison Bite stood in the doorway, with Razor Claw by his side, in dino mode.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Atlas demanded.
Icefire ducked back behind the pod door and poked Injector further.
"Injector...Please...."
WHAM
Icefire peeked back around the pod, and pulled back just in time to dodge Scavenger's body, which slammed into the back wall with enough force to put him halfway through it. As she tended further to Injector, Razor Claw dashed right by her. She glanced up at him as he vanished down the hallway, but her attention was grabbed once more at the sound of roars of anger. She peered around again and saw Atlas saw trying to crawl away, while Poison Bite held him by the ankle with his left claw. His right claw and stinger alternated between blasting him and filling his body with cyber-venom. All the while, Atlas grappled at the ground, trying to pull away. She turned back to her patient at the sound of a cough.
"What's...going on?"
She hugged Injector. "Thank Primus! Come on, you grab Torca, and I'll grab Buzzclaw."
"Buzzclaw?"
"It's a long story. Just trust me on this. And we'll need to be quick...Poison Bite's on a rampage."
Injector nodded, still clearly woozy and disoriented. "Ok, let's move."
He stumbled forward, glanced around until he saw Torca, and made a rush for it. Icefire rocketed forward, scooping up Buzzclaw into her arms. As she turned to look for Injector, she was met with a blinding fire. Poison Bite had taken a break from Atlas to try to stop their escape. She stumbled backwards, clutching Buzzclaw's limp body close. The next sound she heard was a roar.
"ANIMAL!"
Injector, carrying Torca in his good hand, darted forward. Poison Bite turned just in time to Injector's gun hand pointed directly at his optics. The dart flew forward, piercing his head, and Poison Bite stumbled around, pain coursing through his body. Injector hovered closer.
"Not much fun, is it?"
He gave Poison Bite one last kick, leaving him on his back. As he flew over to Icefire, he extended his gun-arm.
"Let me help..."
With Buzzclaw hanging over his gun-arm, Injector turned his back to Icefire.
"Hang on tight."
"Can you really carry us all?"
"Do I have a choice?"
She shrugged, and blindly reached forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. Injector's massive wings buzzed, and the team lifted into the air, heading slowly back to the Maximal base. Icefire quietly sighed and leaned her head on Injector's shoulder in relaxation, glad that the day was finally over.
Moments later, a bear and a dinosaur charged out of the Autobot base, and into the downpour, carrying a mangled scorpion between the two.
Noctorro stirred. He lifted his head, and managed to make out the image of Scavenger quietly setting Atlas into a CR pod.
"Sir?" He asked wearily.
Scavenger shook his head. "We will have our revenge on them all...On the fuzor, on the rest of the traitors, and especially on the mutant..."
"Yes sir," Noctorro mumbled.
His vision blurred again as his head fell back to the floor, and everything went dark again.
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