Meters away stood the enemy, the monster who had slaughtered inncoents
for sheer pleasure. All that stood in the way of his task were two Predacons.
"Not nearly enough," he thought to himself darkly.
"Ahh, Tigatron. How nice of you to visit the Darkside." There was a long pause, as if Megatron
was trying to deepen an already depthless wound. I must confess,
though, that your visit comes as a surprise." A grin formed on the Predacon's face.
"How may I be of service?" The words sliced through Tigatron like raw Energon. There was
no doubt now that Megatron would die an agonizing death. The Maximal raised his weapon, aiming diretly
for Megatron's head. All he could say in reply, through clenched teeth, was
"You can die."
"Not likely, Maximal. Inferno, Blackarachnia, end this miserable creature's life." At his command,
the giant ant and spider leaped to their Commander's defense.
"For the Royalty!"
"You're going to regret coming here, stripes." In one swift move, both Predacon's locked their
weapons onto Tigatron and fired. To both their and Tigatron's surprise, though, not a single
deadly projectile left the confines of their respective weapons. A look of confusion
momentarily covered Inferno's face, while a look of disgust erupted on Blackarachnia's as she
quickly turned to face Megatron.
"You set us up!"
"Did I?" Megatron replied cooly.
"My Queen?" Inferno quizzed innocently just as Tigatron jumped in his direction.
"Beast mode!" he yelled in mid-jump, landing on top of the confused soldier. Tigatron bit into
Inferno's neck, drawing Energon. Simultaneously, the enraged Maximal dug his claws deep into
the ant's broad shoulder's. He tried to dislodge the deadly hold on his throat, but the pressure
was to great. In one swift jerk, Tigatron tore out half of Inferno's neck. As the shocked Predacon
fell to the ground, Tigatron jumped away in Blackarachnia's direction.
Pieces of small machinery and dirty Energon began to flow over Tigatron's paws as he faced
the female Predacon. For the very first time in her existance, Blackarachnia felt fear surge
through. To her credit, though, it did not show.
"If you think I'll go down that easy, then think again. Unlike mindless there, my primary
processer is fully functional." Tigatron stealthly inched closer to his prey.
"It won't save you any more than it did him, he growled." Blackarachnia actually took a step back.
Maximize." In a nano-second, Tigatron transformed to beast mode and charged at the Predacon. Just as
he came within striking distance, Blackarachnia let loose with a series of kicks to his face.
The Maximal stood his ground, the only sign of the attack being his head moving slighly back and forth,
as if purposefully in tune with blows. Another round of kicks focused on his mid-section. Like the
first attack, the Maximal merely stood in object defiance of the pain inflicted by the attack. He was
already numb beyond any type of mental or physical pain. The female decided to switch tactics, aiming her
pincer hands for his throat. As the blow came, Tigatron matched her speed and caught her right
arm in mid-blow. He looked into her eyes, and all that Backarachnia saw was cold death.
"Not nearly enough," was all that he said as he ripped her arm from it's socket. Blackarchnia screamed
in pain as sparks erupted from her right shoulder. With his right arm, Tigatron grabbed her by the throat
and lifted her off the ground, dropping the torn arm. He looked up into her eyes again, pure hate bearing into
her dark soul.
"You and your kind disgust me," was all that he said as he ripped Blackarachnia's left arm from it's socket. Another
scream barely managed to escape the Predacon's voice before her processor shut down. Still clenching her by the throat,
Tigatron threw the unconscious Predacon at the feet of Megatron.
"Bravo," Megatron said at last, clapping his hand and T-rex head together. Entirely disregarding the fallen soldier at
his feet, Megatron stood up nd approached Tigatron.
I didn't think you had such fire in you, Maximal. Very well done indeed. Yes. Drenched in Predacon blood and parts,
Tigatron aimed his weapon at the monster who had taken everything away from him.
"Not a step closer," he whispered.
"Or what? You'll kill me?"
"Shut up!" yelled Tigatron with a seething fury. "Now there will be redemption. Now justice
will finally be served. At my hands!" The Maximal began to squeeze his trigger, and in the
next nano-click, Megatron found himself crumpled to the ground. As he looked down at the smoking
wound in his chest, Megatron felt Tigatron's right foot slam down on his T-rex hand.
"I know that hurt," the Maximal said with a glint of madness in his eyes. "Now you will die."
With a look that Tigatron would take to his grave, Megatron met his gaze. And in the monster's
eyes, the Maximal saw his own reflection.
"Go on. Do it, the Predacon's eyes narrowed," kill me!" As Tigatron's fingers closed around the trigger, Megatron's turned his eyes to
the right, looking at the bodies of Inferno and Blackarachnia.
"But, oh my, what a mess we have made.
Yes."
"What? Tigatron asked in a half-whisper.
The tryant's head turned and stared directly into the eyes of the Maximal.
"Hmm, let's see, shall we? My base and the surrounding earth are scorched from your weapon's fire. Inferno is lying in pieces and stasis lock. And Ms. Arachnia,
well, I doubt even an extended stay in the regeneration pool will be doing her any good any time soon." Megatron's eyes grew narrow as he pressed his face
directly into Tigatron's"
"How positively Predacon of you, Tigatron."
"Predacon?" whispered the Maximal again, this time his words tainted with the barest echo of shame.
"Defender of the earth! Protector of life! Ha! Today you have shown just how much your honor
holds. Now go ahaed and finish your job. What's one more life,
anyway?"
Tigatron backed away from Megatron. Looking around and taking in the meaning of Megatron's words,
as if hearing for the first time in his life.
"Oh, there is one more thing, if you would be so kind as to allow me. Computer, activate
viewing screen for our esteemed guest." The computer replied as a three-dimensional screen
appeared before Tigatron.
"Computer, activate time-index alpha. Begin at my command." Megatron stood up, still clutching his
wound. "Watch, Maximal. I think you'll find this most interesting. Computer, begin playback." The
screen flickered to life, and Tigatron found himself reaching for it. For on the screen, images
of his friends lazily enjoying each other's company. What came next, however, made the Maximal recoil from
the screen in horror.
A creature that Tigatron had never seen before appeared within the parameters of the screen.
Alien. Hideous. Evil. The creature had several limbs, a tail that ended in what could only be considered
a pointed weapon, and a head that contained dozens of teeth. And yet, the oddest thing of all, was that
the creature seemed to somehow be made, in part, of Energon.
Tigatron watched helplessly as the alien advanced on his animal friends. Felt his stomach tighten
as the cretaure easily slaughtered the tigers one by one in ways that no being should have ever witnessed. And
in the end, all Tigatron could do was to crumple to the floor beneath him.
"As you can see, my dear Tigatron, we Predacons had nothing to do with the death of your "friends."
"But the weapon's fire patterns, the scorch marks ..."
"Oh, those we were responsible for. But nothing more." The only question that Tigatron could
summon was the simplest.
"Why?"
"I think your actions here today answer for themself. Know this, he alien you saw today was
not the first. Nor do I believe it to be the last. Take this news to Primal. Let him know that
a new factor has entered into the equation of the Beast Wars." Megatron turned and began walking
out of the command chamber, stopping only for a moment to look over his shoulder.
"Unless, of course, you would like to finish murdering me."
Without a word, Tigatron transformed to beast mode and ran past Megatron as fast as he could.
Megatron watched silently with no further taunts as the Maximal continued to run. As he
disappeared from Megatron's view, the Predacon turned back toward his comamnd chamber and the
difficult task that lied before him.
End
