Botanica’s creation rose to its feet. The energon storm around it intensified, lighting up the entire room like a Christmas tree. The creature gazed at the Maximals with wide eyes that glowed like twin suns. It jumped off the table it had been seated upon, landing on a pair of clawed feet.

"By the Code of Primus! Botanica, what have you done?" exclaimed Silverbolt with a fearful voice.

The creature stood on the floor, energon still pouring out of its tormented body. It growled and groaned with a distorted, almost guttural voice. The Maximals were keeping a safe distance, readying their weapons if it became necessary. Botanica transformed to robotic mode, doing the same. But then, she realized something....

Gazing at the monstrosity before her, Botanica saw a twisted image of RedStreak. The sheer energy it gave off with near-atrocious power was overwhelming, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. Beyond the optics bursting with lethal radiation, Botanica saw the face of a being in total agony.

"Wait! Don’t shoot! It’s in pain!" Botanica yelled to the others.

ThunderClaw shouted back, "Well tell it to put out the light show if it wants help!"

Black Arachnia ducked as another energon beam blasted above her head. Groaning angrily, she said, "That does it! I’ll taking care of this while we’re still functional!"

With that, she shot out an energy web directly at the monster. It howled, struggling to break free of its prison. Rattrap jumped while it was distracted. After landing within an arm’s reach of the critter, the rodent twirled about on his wheels, lashing out with his tail, hitting it behind the knees. It knocked the creature down on the floor and out cold.

"Nice tail work, Rattrap." Cheetarus Prime complimented his quick moves.

The energon storm ended in a sudden flash, though the instruments still crackled with residual charges. The beast trapped within the black widow’s webbing twitched, crying in pain. Botanica was the first to approach it, believing that a part of this thing was still Maximal...and even human.

"There, there, little one," she spoke gently to it, "The pain is over." When she put her hand upon its head, a small jolt of energon zapped her back. Botanica let out a brief cry, her fingertip burned. Apparently he still had a little bite....

Carefully, she peeled away the webbing coating his body. Beneath it, the creature’s technorganic composition was revealed, but along with it were the organic organs clearly visible within the uncovered torso, slowly pulsating as energon surges flowed over their moist surfaces. The body began to stir again. The organs began to quiver, and, like an immune system, organic goo covered them over.

The Maximals watched with interest at the transformation happening. "What in the Matrix is happening to him?" asked Cheetarus.

Botanica replied, "I think I know. The technomatter is reacting to his organs. It’s literally grafting them into RedStreak’s body...."

The goo dried, and a sheath solidified over the technorganic organs. Then, like a final, magical touch, red fur grew over it with metallic components poking through. Color returned to the whole body. The creature reawakened, it’s eyes still aglitter with energon power.

The Maximals approached the reincarnated being, who was just as weary and confused as they were. Cheetarus stared at him, seeing RedStreak’s face alive again. It was almost too real to be real. For a moment, it was as if his former comrade were online. "RedStreak?" Prime spoke the name.

"What?" The creature stood up and looked at Cheetarus. Suddenly, Cheetarus remembered now - this was not RedStreak - this was Adam. The eyes, colored blue-green instead of yellow, belonged to Adam now. "Where am I? What’s...happened to me?" he asked.

Before their very eyes, they watched RedStreak’s body change further still. Adam’s eyes developed further, dark pupils forming in the middle with a white cornea around the edges. The human-Maximal hybrid clenched his stomach and groaned in pain. Metal plates started popping out of his legs, arms, and back, exaggerating his robotic characteristics further.

Adam looked at his hand and yelled. "Ahh! What have you done to me!"

"Calm down, Adam," said Botanica, raising her four limbs up, "Everything’s all right! You’re alive again, despite all else!"

"Alive?" Adam gauffed, "I’m a machine! I’m a freaking machine with motors and gizmos and...."

Suddenly, Adam let out a blood-curdling roar that echoed throughout the entire subterranean complex. An aura of deep red surrounded his body as his limbs began to change. Adam, inside of RedStreak’s body, transformed into beast mode. His robotic head ducked inside his chest as a fox head deployed, revealing a pair of angry red eyes and a foaming mouth.

Before anyone could make a move, it lashed out at Botanica. The plant-bot was thrown back into a wall, a few sparks jumping from her damaged shoulders. The technorganic monster gazed bitterly at the other five Maximals, appearing to prepare for another pounce.

ThunderClaw growled back at the monster. With fast reflexes, he pulled out an energy rifle from a stowage pod behind his back. "Time to take this slag-head down!" he yelled. ThunderClaw pulled the trigger with a loud click.

The fox’s eyes widened. It jumped to the side in a blur of red, letting the spray of plasma fire hit the wall. The blast hit the wall with a loud explosion. When the fire cleared, a large hole leading out into the main corridor was exposed. Before ThunderClaw could fire again, the frenzied fox jumped out, immediately running off.

"You dummy!" Rattrap hollered at ThunderClaw, "Now you let the thing out!"

"That’s not just some thing!" Botanica stated as she struggled to get up. Once on her roots again, she pointed a finger directly into Rattrap’s face. "That thing is a human being! It’s Adam! Not some mindless monster!"

Hollers came down from the halls, adjoined by howls and snarling. Cheetarus aptly pointed out, "Guys, we’ve got a bigger problem! That thing....Adam, is terrorizing the populace! Let’s move!"

As the Maximals ran off to deal with a ravenous creature, there were other major events going on within the Universe. Omegracon was preparing an appropriate vessel for his latest prize....

Deep within the same chamber that held the Autobot matrix of leadership, Omegrcon set to work utilizing a small portion of iron and titanium he extracted from the Earth’s core. He forged alloys into specialized components, creating machinery that eerily resembled limbs and torso plates.

As his tendrils compiled together a monster of his own making, the matrix bolted down to a steel cylinder glowed red. Inside it, a twisted ball of crackling positrons pulsed in a rhythmic pattern, alive with power. It was another piece of Omegracon’s master plan; It was the spark of darkness....

"Soon, very soon, my pet, you shall be alive once again...under my guidance, you shall be a mighty warrior...one to rival the power bestowed upon Galvatron." Omegracon said.

The last components were fused together. Black transmetal armor coated it’s whole body from head to toe. On one arm was a mighty cannon coated in gold, on the other were twin rockets shining a dull red in the dim light. Also, just above the eyes, was a weird icon - one resembling a crescent moon with a star in the middle.

A pair of tendrils reached down to the torso plate, pulling a well-hidden latch. The chest opened up, exposing a dark and empty chamber. "Now, to complete my greatest accomplishment." said Omegracon. The cables holding the matrix disconnected. The tendrils wrapped themselves around it, holding it firmly. The matrix was lower inside, illuminating the lifeless body. The tendrils then released it, giving up the matrix to Omegracon’s creation.

The spark came online. The body spasmed as electricity ran through its arms and legs. As its eyes opened, beams of red light shot out, illuminating the entire chamber. A yell spewed forth from its mouth, the creature awakening for the first time.

It sat up, metal grinding against metal. It glimpsed at its hands, startled at first, but then a toothy grin began to appear on its face plate. Then, with a mechanical moan, its torso plate began to close, sealing inside both the spark of darkness and the matrix of leadership.

"I’m....I’m alive! YES!" the new transformer cried out with joy. He flexed his hands, then his arms and legs. His new body was quite pleasing to him. "Hahaha!" a familiar maniacal laugh filled the air, "Oh the joys of conquering death! Now I can reclaim Cybertron once again!"

A mighty voice deafened the transformer. "Do not embrace the new life I’ve given you so quickly, my minion," Omegracon said. As the transformer got up and searched the room, a brilliant beam of red light came down on him. The transformer writhed in pain, falling to the floor.

"AHH! What...what are you doing?! Release me at once!" he demanded.

Omegracon’s laugh bellowed across the entire room, the floors and walls shaking. "You dare to make demands from the progeny of Unicron? You are a fool, but you are also mine to deal with. You are mine...now and forever."

The transformer yelled in pain, refusing to give in. Were it not for the matrix within him, Omegracon’s power would of extinguished his spark. Then, without warning, Omegracon let out a gasp.

"YOU ARE NOT COMPLETE! WHERE IS THE OTHER?!"

The red light vanished from the room, giving the transformer a moment to recuperate. "What are you talking about? Where are you, so I can crush you myself?" said the transformer, raising up his golden cannon.

The red light returned. Omegracon was not pleased. "You are a fool! I am all around you...I am Omegracon! Your idle threats do not bother me, but I MUST know where the other is?" the mighty Omegracon demanded to know.

The transformer hollered in pain, holding on until he begged for Omegracon to stop. "I don’t now! I don’t know!" he exclaimed. Then, a memory escaped his mind. The transformer remembered something...from his past life.

"Optimus..."

Again, Omegracon ceased torturing his creation. Slowly, he began to realize what had happened. The other spark...the one called Optimus, must of escaped my clutches in the Matrix! I need him in order to fully harness the Matrix’s power....

Looking down at the transformer, Omegracon decided to turn this to his advantage. "You...must do something for me, my minion." he said, "Find the other that was linked to you...find the other half of the axis-spark."

The transformer bellowed in a rage, "Never! I shall never take your commands! Megatrons were born to lead, not follow!"

"Then," calmly said Omegracon, "You shall suffer for all eternity...Megatron"

The icon upon the transformer’s head began to glow bright red. The same pain was forced upon him once again, reaching down into his very spark. Megatron let out a scream of agony. He tried to raise his cannon, but his limbs would not obey. Omegracon was fully in control of his body....

"You are proving difficult to control, Megatron, but I have taken precautions against that. The crest I have put on you will ensure that you are forever loyal to me...and that any treachery or betrayal you attempt..."

The crest icon grew brighter, causing Megatron even more pain.

Omegracon finished, "Will utterly destroy you. Obey me...and I might consider sparing you the pain. Now go and find the other...the one called Optimus...Megatron."

Megatron was released at long last, but whenever his thoughts grew bitter toward his master, the crest of Omegracon began to glow as a warning to him. "Know this, Omegracon," Megatron warned his overlord, "I conquered an entire people, subjugated billions of Maximals. Can you ever be sure that I will remain in you grasp forever?"

With that, Megatron flew off and away from Omegracon. The progeny of Unicron watched as the former Predacon neared the transwarp conduit leading to Cybertron. "And know this, Megatron," he muttered, "My father was master of your namesake...and unlike him, I will not make the mistake of letting you live for long..."

Near the hydroponics bay, a crowd of botanists hollered and scattered at the sight of a fox the size of a large wolf coming at them. "Ahh! Run! A monster!" one woman cried out as she dashed out into the open heart of the complex.

The Maximals came running to the rescue, but about a hundred human soldier barged in before they even got a foot inside the agricultural center. They were all armed with plasma rifles set to maximum blast and with a full charge to boot.

"No! Wait!" Cheetarus tried to yell, but it was no good, the humans were on it in mere minutes.

"They don’t know it’s one of their own that they’re shooting at !" Botanica shrieked.

ThunderClaw huffed, saying, "How are they supposed to know? Adam is just another beast to them?"

"We have to stop them from hurting him then!" said Cheetarus Prime, immediately dashing into the hydroponics bay. The other Maximals quickly followed in suite, also hoping to stop a potential blood bath.

A broad circle of armed men and women were gathered around a beast caught in the corner between a stand of tomato plants and a ceramic wall. The creature stood its ground, its muzzle snarling with over a dozen metallic teeth glimmering like diamonds.

Commander Carter raised his arm in the air. "All right men...set guns to narrow-beam and aim to kill." His units obeyed unquestionably, raising up weapons that were at lethal capacity. The micro-generators of their plasma rifles began to hum, the energy within building up for a single blast. Laser scopes aimed for the creature’s

Carter cautioned his troops. "Now, with no sudden moves...ready...aim...."

"STOP!" Cheetarus yelled out. A single gunwoman was startled, her finger slipping on the trigger. The plasma rifle jolted, letting loose a large blast of plasma fire. The beast jumped to its right, the blast grazing its shoulder as it burned away the floor.

In a nano-click, the beast got on all fours and started roaring loudly. Its eyes lit up with the most ferocious rage anyone ever witnessed, a rage that wanted nothing more than to tear up and consume everything around it. Yet....despite all, the creature did not attack.

As one officer began to raise their gun up, Botanica put her hand on the barrel of the weapon, saying "Wait moment."

"WAIT? THIS MONSTER’S ABOUT TO TEAR THIS BASE A NEW HOLE AND YOU TELL US TO...." commander Carter’s yelled with a vein visibly pulsing on his forehead.

"This monster is ADAM!" Cheetarus yelled into the human’s face.

The commander was stunned. "You’re insane! How? You’re telling me that thing is...."

The creature growled lowly...but other things began to come from its mouth. "I...I am not...an...animal!" it struggled to say. "I....am...a human...being!"

"Adam?" Black Arachnia blurted out, "You’re still there?" The spider-bot approached the fox-creature, daring to approach it. She watched it bend its head toward the ground, its limbs and body twitching.

"Can’t...control these...impulses! Can’t...control!" Adam kept saying, struggling to keep himself together as foam started coming from his mouth.

Cheetarus approached from behind Black Arachnia, realizing what was happening to Adam. "Concentrate!" he told him, "I know from experience it’s hard, but hold down those feral impulses! Tame the beast within!"

Adam continued to struggle, muscles spasming. "Can’t do it. Too...weak..."

Botanica approached next to help Adam as well. "You can do it. Those impulses are a part of you now, just as your body and mind are. Calm yourself Adam, it is possible!"

Adam looked up at the Maximals surrounding him, trying to focus on what they said. The pain within him was nothing he’d experienced before - the urge to hunt, to kill, to fear - all too overwhelming. He did his best, concentrating hard to block out those thoughts.

Trying to keep himself from growling, Adam slowly and pain-stakingly muttered, "I...am...trans....formed."

In a flash of red light, the fox-creature changed, standing upon its hind legs as its front limbs were exchanged with arms, a second head emerging from deep inside. A strange calmness came over him, silencing those impulses at long last.

Adam looked down at himself, seeing himself as a humanoid once more. He still breathed rather heavily, the adrenaline, electricity, whatever that excited him still surging through him.

"I’m...I’m all right again. I think..." he said.

Looking out at the crowd, he saw many familiar faces staring at him. The armed soldiers finally put away their weapons, but their expressions remained the same. He stepped toward them, but they in turn backed off. They parted, revealing more faces staring at him apathetically. Adam walked into the crowd, seeing a few faces he recognized. A smile appeared on his face as he reached out to them...but those that he cared for backed away, staying away from them.

"Wait! I...I’m still human!" he tried to tell them, "Beneath this metal I’m still a person! A human being! One of you!"

The masses continued to part as he walked through them, no one coming near him. Adam tried appologizing, wanting someone to say something. "I didn’t mean any harm! I wasn’t able to control myself...I..."

Then it hit him like a meteor. They don’t believe I’m human. I’m not human to them anymore. I’m...I’m a monster to them....

Adam backed away from his former brothers and sisters, realizing he wasn’t one with them anymore - now that he wore this iron mask over his face. "I see now," said Adam, no longer gazing at the people around him, "I am one of...them now. I’m...I’m a monster!"

With his strong new legs, Adam leaped high into the air. On impulse, he tranformed, becoming a fox with helicopter rotors above his shoulders. For a brief moment, he hovered over the masses...then darted further upward, towards a large air conditioner duct.

"Adam! Wait!" Cheetarus Prime shouted.

The Maximals were quick to persue the confused and distraught human-hybrid that flew off in a mad escape. Silverbolt immediately switched to beast mode, taking with him Rattrap on his back. Black Arachnia shot up a thick strand of webbing to the ceiling, creating a rope for the others to ascend.

A tight shaft lead to the surface, the camoflagued cover left open by Adam. Everyone started a search, but surprisingly the kid hadn’t gone far. He was sitting in an elm tree on a rugged hillside, once more in beast mode, just gazing up at the mid-morning sun. Black Arachnia was about to run at him, but Cheetarus put up his hand.

"No. He’s had enough stress for one day. I’m going to try to talk to him." he told the others. Cheetarus Prime shifted down to his beast mode, leaving the others standing in a confused state.

ThunderClaw watched Cheetarus casually walk up to the base of the tree and put a paw on the branch Adam rested on. "What’s up with him?" he asked.

"I think he knows what Adam’s going through," Silverbolt said, "He went through a similar experience in the Beast Wars...one Optimus helped him through."

Adam looked down at Cheetarus with empty eyes. "Go away. I don’t want to be with you." he flatly told him.

"Please," Cheetarus spoke to him, "You’ve got to believe me...none of us intended this to happen. It must be painful...."

"What?" blurted out the fox-transformer, "Being riped apart from your own kind and being twisted into so kind of FREAK? Being turned into a monster that terrorizes everyone? Even myself...."

Cheetarus became a little tense, but steadied himself. This...friend needed his guidance. Optimus would of been more patient if he were here. I need to do the same. "Please Adam, it was either this or...letting you die. You’re too important for everyone."

Adam turned his head in the other direction. "Oh, I see," he sniffed, "I’m ‘the last diplomat’ and all!"

Suddenly a large pair of paws clamped down on Adam’s shoulders. He was shoved down from the tree and into the hard ground. Cheetarus was on top of him, pressing his full weight into him.

"Listen you!" Cheetarus snarled, "It’s more than that! I made a VOW that I’d protect every human on this planet! That includes you!" In the midst of his anger, Cheetarus stopped, calming himself down. "Adam...every life is precious. After all the death I’ve seen through the years...I hate to see any more fall than is needed."

Cheetarus’ ears flinched for a moment. He turned toward the western horizon, eyeing the rocky mountains there. In another minute, Adam noticed it as well. Against the backdrop of light-blue sky, they saw a swarm approaching, coming closer and closer.

He turned back to the other Maximals, noticing how they were all in robot mode. "SLAG!" he shouted, realizing a deadly mistake they made. The drones had detected their energy signatures, just like aboard the Sky Lynx.

Leaping off of Adam, he yelled, "Quick! Everyone back to beast mode and underground before they come!"

In the span of a millicycle, the whole gang shifted forms again and headed back into the air shaft. Cheetarus Prime began to run toward the opening as well, ready to join them as well. But then he noticed Adam wasn’t with him. Turning back, he saw the fox-bot looking up at the dark cloud approaching, just waiting there.

"Hey! What are you, nuts? We’ve gotta floor it!" Cheetarus told him.

"Let them come." Adam said softly, "Let them take me. I can’t live like this, not between two species...two different worlds...."

"ADAM!" Cheetarus growled.

High above, the sky itself started to rumble. A strange breeze began to sweep over the land. The Maximal looked up and noticed a chunk of the Earth’s sun was gone, the black void becoming larger and larger. A glitter of metal refracted the sunlight into his eyes.

"Oh no...Omegracon..." muttered Cheetarus.

While Adam remained fixed to the ground, a giant port opened on the side of the titanic moon above. Omegracon was readying his mega-distruptor again, preparing to fire once more. The spike was raised out, an eerie red light emanating out from the monster’s dark heart.

"Adam! We’ve gotta get out of here!" Cheetarus yelled. The human-hybrid stayed silent and motionless, preparing to surrender his life without a fight. "ADAM!" he yelled again.

As the fiery energy began to crackle from Omegracon’s weapon, Cheetarus made a dash straight at Adam. He snatched the foolish youth with lightning speed, cutting through the air like a supersonic jet. The cannon shot down at the Earth just a moment later, targeted for the site at McNeil park on Earth.

In mere seconds, the blast punctured through Earth’s atmosphere, creating a powerful wind radiating out in all directions. During the final moments, Cheetarus felt the heat at his back, growing hotter and hotter, but still he ran, carrying with him the burden of Adam’s body.

The beam hit, just as Cheetarus leaped over the crest of the hillside.

Rock crumbled all around them, dissolving like kindling in a raging fire. The mountains shook for miles around, causing trees to topple and buildings to fall. It was just like an enormous earthquake, but a hundred times worse. A hail of burning, molten rock fell from the sky as avalanches rumbled down crushed mountain peaks.

Amid it all, a single, clawed hand reached out over a rock, grasping on still....

Cheetarus moaned as he pulled himself up. When he got up to his chest, he threw Adam off his back, then rolled onto the gravel in his robot mode. Gasping for air, Cheetarus managed to mumble, "Oh Primus...I never, ever wanna go through that again."

When he and Adam got up, they saw the area they’d been standing on moments before. There was a large, gaping hole in the hillside, exposing the subterranean base beneath. They could hear the voices of a thousand humans crying out as the drones started coming in.

"Oh no! This day’s just gone from terrible to bad!" exclaimed Cheetarus.

The drone cloud immediately began to descend upon the defenseless base, weapons firing from both sides. The humans quickly set to work repelling the invaders, throwing every form of weapon at them. A hundred drones were taken down, but hundreds more continued to pour in, obeying Omegracon’s genocidal commands.

Cheetarus headed straight into the fray, pulling out his large blades once again. The drones targeted him as well, firing a wave after wave of strong firepower upon the cat. Most of their blasts were refracted elsewhere, some hitting other drones and blasting them to smithereens. Still the drones came like the tides of an ocean: relentless and unstoppable.

Below, the other Maximals were helping the humans defend their last stronghold against Omegracon, standing side-by-side gunmen with lasers blazing. Rattrap took out some special grenades, the latest in a long line of devices he developed. He threw them into the air, blasting large holes into the air clogged with mechanoids. But even his devices weren’t enough...after his last grenade went off more drones continued to fill the gaps left behind by their vaporized predecessors.

"Oh slag! We can’t stop these things!" he shouted, "We’re gonna die for real this time!"

Black Arachnia threw out many of her web-stars, entrapping over a dozen mindless drones. Just as she was ready to throw another, she caught sight of a family of humans running beneath a dangerously unbalanced ledge. The rock finally gave way, letting a boulder start to grind its way down.

Without another thought, she shot out a web that caught the huge rock just mere inches from the humans’ heads. They glanced at her and smiled in gratitude, quickly running off as Black Arachnia’s webbing began to give. The fibers finally snapped, the boulder crashing into the floor. "One less problem." Black Arachnia told herself.

While the drones, humans, and Maximals fought, Adam watched from just outside the crater’s edge, eyes frozen. For several minutes he just stared, almost oblivious to what was going on. He heard the sound of people...his people....screaming in terror.

Adam waited a moment more before his heart found its way back. He closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering the words, "I...am...transformed...." His body reacted, lighting up again as it shifted into a whole new form.

"Hang on guys! I’m coming!" he yelled.

Adam moved as swiftly as possible, stumbling over rocks but never falling along the way. Cheetarus was near a ledge not too far from him, still fighting hard despite the incredible odds. Repeatedly the Maximal had flung his weapons into the air, taking down a whole slew of drones before throwing them again.

He searched his body for something he could use to fight with. As a drone neared him, Adam raised up his arm - but nothing happened. There were no lasers, no rockets, no talons popping out, nothing! "Come on!" he groaned, concentrating again. "There’s got to be something I can use against these bozos!"

The drone fired directly at him, carving a hole into his stomach. Adam was thrown back into a small boulder. The drone turned away, presuming the humanoid to be dead. He wasn’t, but it wasn’t as if he were invulnerable either. He slowly got up, feeling a pain in his chest. Looking down, Adam saw a large, sizzling crater that went halfway through his body with circuits sparking inside of him as this strange greenish goo oozed out.

Cheetarus had seen the whole thing, unable to believe it! "Adam!" he yelled out. He dropped his weapons and headed straight for Adam impulsively. Several drones turned about in mid-air, seizing the moment to take down another transformer. They fired on him without mercy, leaving scars on the Maximal’s skin that jolted with electricity.

A stray blast hit the wall of the crater, sending down an avalanche of gravel and sand over Cheetarus’ body. Adam was in total shock as the rubble swept over the Maximal leader, burying him up to the waist and trapping him there.

Frozen where he was, Adam saw many other things as well. The drones were laying seige to the base, destorying equiptment, setting fire to the hydroponic crops, and completely obliterating what had been the homes of over a thousand humans. The remaining fighters were wounded and losing to them, and the other Maximals were cornered. The drones raised up their arms, activating their blade weapons as they closed in.

Those feral impulses rose up in Adam once more, but they were paled in contrast to the anger boiling out of his spirit. As Adam gritted his teeth with clenched fists, the sparks flashing inside his body grew stronger. The large wound in him closed up without leaving a scar.

Suddenly, all the drones stopped where they stood, halting their rampage. They turned their optics upwards, toward the limb of the crater. The Maximals did the same, and noticed Adam standing there alone. Something started to happen as well - a strange blue-white glow began to eminate from the lone warrior, a light growing brighter and brighter.

In the midst of his rage, Adam began to glow with a mysterious aura of energy forming around him. The energy, a vaporous energon, sparked from the surface of his skin. Over his head, tiny lightning bolts jumped from his long ears. It surged within his body, continuing to grow stonger and stronger...

Then, as the storm of power neared its apex, Adam yelled out over the crater edge, "You...leave...my...friends...ALONE!"

The storm of power was finally released, blasting out in all directions. A huge thunderstorm of energon radiated out from Adam, striking down each and every drone around him. The drones held up their arms to their faces, trying to block the wave of power. It short-circuited them, sending their bodies into a frenzy before dissolving into nothing.

Gigantic lightning bolts shot down the last drones, sending their parts flying all over the place. The Maximals ducked...but strangely enough, the energon storm wasn’t affecting them at all!

In the span of just a few minutes, an entire cloud of drones numbering a hundred thousand was wiped out completely. The energon storm evaporated as quickly as it was formed, leaving Adam standing over scorched ground.

He looked out over the base, amazed to see that it still stood. Inside, the Maximals were looking up at him, as were the eyes of a hundred, hundred humans. Then, quite spontaneously, a huge cheer was let out for Adam.

"Hoo-hoo! Way to go fox-man!" shouted Rattrap. From behind, ThunderClaw actually slapped the rodent on the back, cheering with him.

Then, from behind him, Adam felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Cheetarus Prime standing over him. Adam’s face brightened at the sight of the Maximal leader alive and well. Cheetarus had several burn marks and even bruises on him, but overall was just fine.

"You did a great job Adam. You saved the day, for all of us." Cheetarus congratulated the human.

Adam looked at his hands, still rippling with energon surges. "Yeah...though I’m still not sure...how I did it." A feeling of weariness overcame Adam at once, leaving him light-headed. Cheetarus Prime caught his as he passed out in exhaustion.

"Whoa! We’re definitely going to have to look at you about that." he told Adam as he began to doze off.

Deep in space elsewhere, a shadow crossed through the transwarp conduit between Cybertron and Earth. Traversing thousands of light years in mere seconds, it emerged on the other side, near the planet Cybertron.

Even in the direct light of the Cybertronian sun, the shadow, a strange craft with sharp angles and broad wings, was dark as the blackness of space. At the front of what appeared to be a large air duct, there was an icon of a red star and a red crescent glowing dimly.

Then, like magic, the shadow craft started becoming transparent, invisible in the darkness out here. A strange laughter began to echo out as it glided past an orbital defense platform, preparing to infiltrate the world below....