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Bringing Back The Hero "Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell them bad and good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence." Those were the words that immediately sprung to Nightshade's mind. She remembered holding Dinobot's hand. She remembered the soft, rapidly dimming glow of his optics. She remembered the peaceful look on his face as his spark had floated up the Matrix. Nightshade felt well up in her eyes again. He had only been dead for three days, so the memories were pretty fresh. Her body trembled with pain. Every time her mind turned to the late Dinobot, those words were always with that memory. They had been his last words. Nightshade didn't think she could ever forget those. She looked around to make sure no one was watching. It was pretty easy for some one to sneak up on her in this forest clearing. The raptor squeezed her eyes shut. No, not again, don't cry. Don't cry. Dinobot went to a better place. He is happy. Don't.... She repeated those thoughts over and over in her head, trying to console herself. Every time she thought about her dead friend she almost always cried. Right now she was trying to break that habit. Nightshade took a few deep breaths and then walked towards the base. She heard footsteps behind her in the grassy ground. The raptor whirled around. Her eyes saw nothing but trees and shadow. Then shadow and two yellow eyes. "Hi, Phantom" she said. "Greetings, Nightshade" the Transmetal replied. Nightshade looked him over. Phantom grinned back at her. No doubt he had watched her regain her composure with avid interest. Satin's child had been quickly put under the "Nosy Spy and Thief Who Everybody Wants To Kill" category. The fox/raptor seemed to have no emotion whatsoever. But Nightshade remembered seeing the way Phantom's face looked when he had seen his father die. It had been filled with pain and grief. Probably much like mine was, the dromeaosaurus thought. His sister, Cloud Runner, had also looked the same way. The only thing different was that Phantom had recovered more quickly than his sister or Nightshade. Or at least he had seemed to. "Lovely day, isn't it?" Phantom replied. His voice..... so much like his father's. "Yes it's quite nice" Nightshade answered. "I will now quit the pleasantries. Optimus sent me to get you, he said there are four stasis pods falling in this area" the dog replied. "Is anyone else in this area besides you and me?" Nightshade asked. "No, but Optimus or Cheetor will probably come" Phantom replied frankly. " Which co-ordinates are they at?" "E-33, E-25, D-98 and E-12. I'll go to the one at E-33 and E-25, since I can fly." "Good." The two of them set off. Nightshade ran through the forest, nimbly dodging the trees and rocks that lay in front of her. Even though the raptor was very quick on her feet, it still took her a long time to reach the stasis pod in sector E-12. When she finally did, she was met with an awful sight. The pod had fallen right into a large rock. It's front was completely broken. Nightshade glanced at the silvery protoform inside the pod. The protoform was wrecked and scarred, with a leg broken off and an arm twisted the wrong way. There was no way that thing could be rescued. With a sorrowful glance, Nightshade continued onwards. The way to the other pod, the one in sector D-98, was just as hard as the first. "Phantom to Nightshade, do you copy?"asked a voice that came form her com-link. "I copy" Nightshade replied. "The two stasis pods I went after are both so damaged that they could not work right, and the protoforms inside them were already dead" informed Phantom. "As was the one I got to, in sector E-12" the black raptor said. "Sad. Well, I'll meet you at the pod in D-98 then" said Phantom, winking off his com-link. Nightshade continued onwards. She smelt smoke in the distance. She heard the cackling of burning timber. Nightshade checked the wind direction. The smoke was coming from in front of her. There was a fire where the stasis pod had landed! Increasing her speed, the raptor ran through the closely knit trunks with the quickness of a chipmunk or a mouse. Suddenly, she came face to face with a wall of red, twisting, ravenous snakes. Nightshade saw Phantom run up beside her. "I don't think we should go forwards" the fox cautioned. "The protoform is probably burned to cinders." Nightshade sighed. No matter how callous, Phantom had a point. "Optimus is not going to like this" she said. "We could at least put out the fire. Actually, I can't, but your gun can freeze things on impact as well as just shoot bullets." "What for? Fire makes ash and soot that bring nutrients to the soil" Phantom said with a grin. Nightshade replied with another well thought out retort of her own. "Yes, but soil can get nutrients in other ways and right now it is destroying the homes, and lives, of many animals. Besides, Optimus would lock you in the storage chamber if you didn't." Phantom mumbled something under his breath. He transformed into robot mode and sprayed some white, freezing gas all over the flames. The black bot only stopped until the fire was out and the flames had silenced their mutiny to a few smoky hisses. "Humph. You seem oddly prone to wanting to save a life today" commented Phantom, who transformed back into beast mode. "I just don't want to see any more people die" Nightshade replied, her mind forming an image of the velociraptor. A long, loving sigh escaped her lips in spite of herself. Slag, what is happening to me. Why does he haunt my thoughts like this?! "Ah, I see, I see" said Phantom with a knowing smile that was very vexing. "You see what?" the raptor replied, a little rudely. She knew that the dog had guessed a very private emotion, one that she didn't even know the full extent of. "I see that," the fox/raptor said as he pointed with his long raptor claw over towards the trees ahead. It seemed like a bit of fire, no more like a piece of fire, was moving toward them. It didn't spread when it touched the trees, nor did it go off into separate paths. It just moved towards them. Definitely not the way fire should act. The two bots looked at each other, then back at the strange entity. The thing finally came close enough so the two observers could define it. It was small, about Phantom's size, and it had four, long, delicate legs. It had a lengthy, curving tail, which was held high like a flag. For eyes the creature had a small ring of gray, with large, black pupils, looking like two coals surrounded by smoke. It had two pointed ears, a coal black nose, and ash black claws on it's feet. The odd thing was, the creature was completely covered, head to foot, with flickering, moving fire. It also did not seem to be the least bit in pain. "Hello....." began Nightshade, who was still staring at the creature. What is it? She asked herself. "Greetings and salutations, mortals" said the thing in a crisp, commanding, feminine voice. The female whatever's gray eyes registered amusement. "I suppose I should go back to my beast mode, if it will loosen your tongues" she said with a smile. The two of them nodded. "Beast mode" the thing said. Abruptly, the fire disappeared and all that lay in it's place was a silky furred cat with wings. The cat was a short-hair and it looked like a human bred cat, and like an abbyssinian, but it's fur was unlike any Earthling cat Nightshade had every seen. The cat's fur was a brownish red, with a flame like pattern going down the length of it's spine. In addition to the odd fur, the cat had large, feathered, dove-brown wings. "What kind of cat are you?" "How did you get those wings?" "Why in the world were you covered with fire?" "All that fire should have killed you, but it didn't. Why?" The cat again looked amused with their reactions. "Greeting and salutations again, my speech- ridden mortals." The roaring of jets was heard above, interrupting Firecat's speech. Nightshade glanced up to see Cloud Runner, Phantom's golden twin, land herself gently on the ground next to them. "Hi, sorry I'm late. Optimus sent me to get the new Maximal and...." Phantom glared at his sister and motioned for her to be silent. Cloud Runner looked a little confused, but still obeyed. "As I was about to say" the cat said, glaring at Cloud Runner "I am Firecat, for obvious reasons. In answer to your questions, my pod entered this planet's atmosphere and caught on fire. It also, a while back, had suffered a radiation leak. The combination of these two things caused my protoform to be inhabited by a vast amount of unspeakable power, which I call magic. I can also transform into an alternate mode, the fire mode you just saw, which I like to call my elemental mode. The reason I have these wings and why my fur is so..... different is because, having a vast amount of power, I was able to choose my own beast form. It is quite handy. I have always admired cats for their power and grace, so why not give it wings?" Firecat laughed at this. Nightshade glanced at Phantom, who had been staring at Firecat ever since she had arrived. Whether he was metaly assesing her or if he just thought she was good looking, Nightshade did not know. "And now that I am here, I am interested to hear how you arrived on this planet. Will you tell me your story?" asked Firecat, with an odd mixture of "tell me all the information" and "I am only listening because I have to listen" in her voice. The three of them told their audience of the Predacons, how they had started the Beast Wars, the fact that they were on ancient Earth, and finally about how Dinobot had saved the human race. Firecat listened with aloof interest, hardly asking questions, just looking at the three of them with her smoke gray eyes. "It seems rather pointless" Firecat said, stretching a cat stretch and yawning a cat yawn. "A war is of no concern to me, I do not think I will join you Maximals, or fight for your pitiful cause of upholding all that is good, when you yourselves wreak havoc upon this planet. So I bid you to go on, tell no one that you know me, and to carry on with your foolish squabbles. I will be out gliding amongst the stars and doing other things which you should not even bother to comprehend." Firecat turned around and was about to leave. "You're leaving?" Nightshade said, scarcely believing her ears, "you're leaving your own people to go...... gliding amongst the stars? When we are fighting a war to defend this planet and ourselves, a war that you could help stop, you are leaving us?!" "You can't do that" Cloud Runner chorused. "You have to help us fight this war. It's your duty." "My dear raptor and half raptors, you Maximals are not "my people." I am my own person, neither Maximal, nor Predacon. I am something much more. And, yes I can stop your war, but why should I? It is not my war. You started it, you finish it. It is not my duty at all to fight with you." Phantom finally spoke up. "You say you have a lot of magic, fiery one, but what else can you do, other than become invincible to your element's power?" Firecat's gray eyes flashed with anger. "You doubt my words?" she hissed at Phantom. "In a nutshell" the fox said "yes." The feline looked him over. "You are much more foolish than you look, then" Firecat said. "Behold, the sky shall turn black." Just as predicted, an inky blackness swept the skies like a flock of black birds. "Do you know what you're doing?" Nightshade whispered into Phantom's metallic ear. "I'm hoping that she'll leave us with something useful if we push her enough" Phantom replied. "Be careful, brother. You play a dangerous game" his sister whispered to her sibling. "Impressive, but night coats the sky in a similar fashion" the male fox said to the feline. Firecat glared at him. The sky settled back to a normal, sapphire blue. "Then watch, as the ocean shall rise from it's bed, and fly towards us." Suddenly Nightshade saw a large amount of water come swirling through the sky, and hover over them, a blue bird of prey. "The tide does that, though not to that large an extent" Nightshade observed, quietly slipping into Phantom's game. The water disappeared back to the ocean with an angry swipe of the cat's paw. "The mountains shall crumble and-" "Earthquake" Cloud Runner quickly said. Firecat snarled. "Your ignorance is beginning to vex me, mortalssssss" growled the cat emphasizing that last word with a hiss. She slobbered some greenish spittle. The fluid landed on the ground and burned a hole right through it. Acid spit, Nightshade noted with some concern. "A certain type of cobra can spit poison" interjected Nightshade. Phantom nodded at her with approval, then rounded off his game. "We now see that you have powerful magic. You have power, but not enough smarts to figure out something original to do with it. Obviously, you must do something nature has not thought of first, and prove yourself original and powerful, because you have power, but not cleverness." Firecat looked like she was falling for Phantom's twisted logic. Her hair stood on end. Her ears were laid back against her skull. Fangs of pearl and ivory glinted in the dappled forest's light. A steady repetitive rumble emanated from her chest. Firecat's breath came fat and furious, so fast that tendrils of smoke curled out of her nostrils whenever she exhaled. Firecat looked mad enough to kill one of them at any moment. The black raptor tensed her muscles, ready to jump or run at a seconds notice. Firecat might not be very smart, and she might be very proud, but she was powerful and had a nasty temper. Both of those things were not good. "Then gaze upon my cleverness, for I have thought of a thing nature has not thought of first" Firecat cried triumphantly after a few tense minutes. "Watch, as I tear open the fabric of time itself, and create a porthole so that any may pass through and redo deeds of the past." Then, a small purple hole opened up in front of Nightshade. As it opened, a loud ripping sound was heard, Nightshade, Phantom and Cloud Runner covered their ears. The vortex grew bigger and bigger, until finally it was the size of an elephant. "Well, m'lady, you have proved yourself both powerful and original, we are sorry for ever doubting your words" Phantom said quickly, his eyes still on the porthole. "Good. And, I might as well give you a few words of warning about this vortex. I will only keep it open for four days and four nights, after that I will shut it down. Not inconsequentially, the time it is now within the vortex is the time it is now, only approximately four days ago. When one day passes in this space of time, another day will pass in that space of time. If you wish to rectify your deeds, you must remember exactly what happened on exactly what time on exactly what day. If you do decide to use it, you will be teleported back in time, but only at this very same spot. If you are spotted by your past selves, you will perish, for reasons I will not even bother to tell you. So do not try to make contact with your past selves, or else you will suffer the consequences. That is all the advice I will give you." With that, Firecat jumped into the air and took off and disappeared from their sight. "This is great" yipped Phantom. "Yes" Cloud Runner cried as she flipped into the air. Nightshade felt the same way that they did. She knew exactly what she wanted undone, what time it had happened at, and what day it had happened on. They would go back and save Dinobot's life. "Let's see" Phantom thought out loud "dad died three days ago. So we have to be in this pothole by........ tomorrow at sunset, but probably earlier." The fox grinned and did a little jig. Nightshade jumped up in the air. The raptor and the two half raptors both walked away. Both of them never saw the pair of golden eyes that appeared from the bushes behind them. ******************************** "Firecat magic have big. Make she vortex time. Nightshade, Phantom Cloud Runner and into vortex go at tomorrow set sun earlier or. Life Dinobot's back bring they." It took a little while for Megatron to process the information, but once he did, he laughed out loud. "You are saying that a winged cat that uses magic, has been tricked into making a vortex that rips through the fabric of time, and Nightshade and the two bastards are going to avenge Dinobot's death?" Dippy nodded. "Ha. Dippy try to lay off eating week old bird guts before bedtime, will you?" The purple t-rex laughed again. Then Megatron's face turned grim. Why had that little moron decide to play such a stupid joke on him? Did Dippy honestly think he could fool his leader? Why come in right now, when he had said that he was not to be disturbed by anyone? Megatron reached out with his hand and, with one easy swipe, grabbed the troodon's neck and throttled him. "That will teach you to think you could make an idiot out of me, you little...." Megatron started, but a call on the ships communicator stopped him. "My Leader" said Crimson, with a smart salute. "Yesss" Megatron replied. "I was over in the Maximal's territory My Leader, and I saw a giant purple vortex. The female bat said she also smelled three Maximals, the female raptor and the bastard children, and that they had been in the area recently. The she-bat also said she smelled a different smell that was like a cat and a bird mixed together, although she could not identify it." "Err, thank you Crimson, that will be all" Megatron replied as the ship's communicator winked off. The Predacon leader turned to Dippy and said, in much softer tones, "now Dippy, would you be so kind as to tell me all that you heard about this vortex? It could be quite useful to us, yesss......." ********************** Firecat landed on a mountain ridge, gasping and panting for breath. It was as if her oxygen transmitter systems had almost shut down. She felt her energy slowly drain away. Her wing muscles failed her, and she landed on a mountain ridge, populated by a few plants. She managed to stand on her four legs for a few more seconds, then she collapsed on the rocky precipice. What is happening to me? She tried to comprehend why she was so weak, but she couldn't. Firecat heard a voice speak up. "Warning; power levels down at twenty five percent." It took her a little while, but she finally figured out that the voice was talking about her. What do I do? What do I do? The feline twisted and turned trying to get up again, but her legs refused to obey. A bird, a type of hawk, flew down and perched on a ledge near hers. The bird was a dappled brown, with razor sharp talons and a grim-reaper beak. Firecat's smoky eyes stared up at the amber hawk's ones. The bird screeched, almost saying "hurry up and die, stupid cat." The feline's breath was coming faster now. A rustle to the left of Firecat betrayed the presence of two starving coyote. They stared at her with hungry, oak brown eyes. Firecat saw ribs poking through their lusterless coats. The largest coyote, a male, barked and snarled at the perching hawk, who screeched valiantly back, but, after a few mock charges from the coyote, flew up into the air. Firecat saw the hawk circle above her, letting the two dogs know he would not be frightened off so easily. These animals are planning to eat me, was the thought that finally came to the cat's brain. It was not a pleasant thought. Foolish creatures. I am their master. They know not who they deal with! I can fend them off with my magic, Firecat thought. She pictured the two coyote's skin being ripped away from their flesh. She brought to mind an image of the hawk being dumped in a pool of lava. She grinned, awaiting the screams and whimper's of the terrified animals. Nothing happened. Her magic did not work. She only felt more exhausted. The two coyotes settled a little below her, in a valley. She could hear their hungry howls as they walked down to the valley floor. The hawk came to rest in a frail, barren tree twenty yards away. The cat herself just lapsed into unconsciousness. ************************* Phantom's room was quite nice, once you got past the fact that there was a pile of bones and dead animals in the left hand corner. Then again, you'd also have to forget about his collection of half preserved animal pelts which had been sewn together and made into a type of mattress for his small, dirt surrounded bed. Also, the air vent was broken in his room, there was a hole in it just big enough for the fox to slip through, but it filled the room with musty, half used air. And of course, the only light in Phantom's room came from the hallway outside, so it was pretty dark and grungy. But Phantom didn't seem to mind this one bit. "The valley that the human race was spawned in is around a couple of miles from here" Cloud Runner said. "We should go around half an hour before sunset, just to make sure we get there in time" Phantom said. Nightshade nodded in agreement. "So, how do we actually save Dinobot? We can help him defeat the Predacons, but he will still be pretty beat up, and so will we" Nightshade said, after she had finished choking on the stale air. Phantom grinned at this. "Observe" he said, and he took the top off of his bed, which really was just a hollowed metal rectangle. Inside that hollow depression of his now topless bed, Phantom kept a lot of things. They smelled so bad, Nightshade didn't want to even know what they were. "I'm sorry my brother is such a pig" Cloud Runner whispered to the raptor. "It's okay, we all have our own individual tastes" Nightshade replied. "His just seem the weirdest." Cloud Runner nodded. "And tah-dah" Phantom said as he pulled out a belt. It was gray, with alien symbols on it. In the center was a piece of energon. One of the Predacon's belts. "I thought you, Rattrap and your mother stole them all from the Predacon base and then gave them to us so they could be destroyed" Nightshade said suspiciously. "And we did" Phantom replied "I just kept one in case of emergencies." Cloud Runner growled. "You little rat!" she snarled as she tackled her brother. The two dogs fell back into the four walls of the bed. The sound of metal thrashing upon metal and breaking glass was heard. "Guys, if you want to save your father's life then I think we should get started on this" Nightshade said. Two metallic fox heads popped up from the bed. The twins hopped out of the depression, and Phantom put the top piece of his metal bed back where it should be. Phantom, after putting the belt on the floor, threw his fur blanket over the his bed and lay down on it. "Umm, Nightshade, speaking of saving our father's life, should we?" Cloud Runner asked timidly. "Not to say that I don't want him back, because I do, but...... well..... he died a hero. Dad died a honorable death, one I know he would have liked to have. If we bring him back to life, what's left for him? Optimus said we'd be getting a message from Cybertron soon. If he's expected to go back to Cybertron, what's in store for him there? Having to be a Maximal, not being able to fight like a warrior should. Dad wouldn't like that. Maybe we should just let sleeping dogs lie, excuse the expression." She voices a lot of my concerns too, Nightshade thought. Those thoughts had been playing in the back of the raptor's mind, making what they were about to be doing seem wrong. "If I may quote dad on this ‘victors do not spurn opportunity'"Phantom said, mimicking his father's voice even more. "This is a once in a lifetime chance. We'll never get another like it. We should at least try to save our father, because we all care for him very much." He glanced at Nightshade as he said this. "There is a possibility that this plan will fail, and if it does, dad will still be dead, and we will still miss him. If it succeeds, father will be back alive. The Maximals will have one more bot to fight by their side. I'm sure he can die honorably somewhere else, in another war if we get back to Cybertron. All in all, I am going to do this. You don't have to come with me if you don't want. And believe me, this way is a lot better than going to the realm of the dead and challenging the lord of the dead, like you do on Kings Quest 6. Man may cross the porthole, to seek his master death. Man may go where death has trod and challenge like Sahara Zhad, he who reins beneath the sod, to spare a mortal's breath. I'm sorry, I've been swiping computer games from Cheetor's room and I played them all day yesterday" Phantom said to his confused audience. "Thank you very much Phantom" Cloud Runner said putting a bit of snarl into her words. "To get back to the subject at hand, I'll come too" the vixen said, a bit reluctantly. "I want my dad back." The twins looked at Nightshade, silently pleading their case. I want him back too, very, very badly, but Cloud Runner has a point. Oh, I hate having a conscience! My friend or my conscience, my friend or my conscience, my friend or my conscience.... my friend! "I'm coming with you" said Nightshade sternly, trying to banish the doubts that were screaming inside her head. "We're all clear on the plan?" she asked. "Go through the time vortex, run to the valley, help our father fight the Predacons, use the belt to regenerate" the kids recited, like school children reading words off a blackboard. "Good. We're all set" the black raptor said with a melancholy smile. Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the door. The three bots inside whirled around. "Hey Phantom" called Cheetor " you'd better get over to the control room. Big Green found a big alien energy thingy and he wants me, you and Cloud Runner to go check it out." The two young Maximals looked at Nightshade. "Do we tell?" Cloud Runner whispered. "I don't think we should" the raptor cautioned. "Optimus or Rhinox might not let us. They might want to study the vortex some more to see if it's stable or something like that. It might take too much time. And besides, there no reason why the whole fleet should get involved with this." "Come on Phantom"Cheetor called "Rhinox was really serious about this." "Alright I'm coming, feline" the whelp snapped. The door opened and he, Cloud Runner and Nightshade walked out. "Hi Cloud Runner" Cheetor said with a goofy smile that lit up his face. "Hi Cheetor" the Transmetal vixen smiled back. The two of them walked down the hallway to the elevator door, both staring into each other's eyes. My, my, my. The way those two are looking at each other they could almost be considered a couple! That cat always was kind of sweet on her. They always say "hi" as they pass or smile at each other. The two of them certainly seem to compliment each other very nicely. Both of them are young, and Cloud Runner is forceful enough to keep a handle on Cheetor if he gets to hyper. And Cheetor can get Cloud Runner to loosen up a bit. They do go well together, don't they? Nightshade glanced at Phantom, who seemed to have reached the same conclusion. His lips were curled back, revealing a row of pure white, metal teeth. He was growling a bit. The pup's yellow eyes glowed with unusual intensity. His four killer claws, the kind only a raptor could have, flicked up and down with a vengeance, as if he was imagining ripping Cheetor's flesh with them. Phantom glanced up and saw Nightshade looking at him, then walked quickly down the hallway. Nightshade could still hear him growling. Teenagers, Nightshade thought with a smile, as she walked down the hallway to her room, ready for the next day, and hoping against all hope, that her friend would come back with them. ********************************** "Do you think that the Maximals will ever figure out we bugged their base?" Serpentess asked of Megatron. "Probably not" the t-rex replied. "You did well, Serpentess. You will be rewarded, yesss." "But of course I won't get to be second in command?" said the cobra in a pouty voice. Megatron looked at her. "We'll see, Serpentess. If you stop poking fun at the way Inferno calls me "Queen"I might just consider it." "But it's so funny! Ha ha ha" the cobra said, with a forced laugh. The assassin sobered up. "You're planning to go back in time and stop their plan the way Dinobot stopped yours, right?" she asked. "Of course. And I will actually succeed in destroying the valley this time." "How many troops will you bring with you?" "Not very many. Inferno, Waspinator and Quickstrike." "What about me? Or are you only bringing the mindless people with you?" "Oh fine, you too!" "Yaaaaayyy! When will we leave?" "Before the Maximals, one hour before sunset." "Well, I relish the thought of what the new day will bring as I depart from your presence, My Queen." "Shut up" Megatron said, snarling. Serpentess just gave him a quick lived smile, then left.
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