Prince and a Princess



Lotus smiled, with a mixture of happiness and sadness. Optimus had grounded her for a week, and she had four more days to go. She had passed the half way point, but still.....four more days! That did not make her sentence any more bearable. She still wanted to get out of the base, and go out into the open air.



Lotus stalked around her quarters, glancing at everything she saw. It was useless, her room looked the same as always.



A small stereo was on a shelf on the left side of the room. Beside the stereo were three CDs, one Mariah Carrey's Butterfly, and the other the Titanic soundtrack. The third CD was entitled Smash the Pitt, a Cybertronian CD by a band called Matrixians. Cheetor had been nice enough to lend her some, he had had a whole stash of CDs in his quarters.



On her right, there was a small desk, with a small personal computer on it. Also on the desk was a clay vase. Lotus looked at the vase and grinned. Air Razor had been nice enough to craft that for her. "It's not that much, but I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate you giving me my family back" Air Razor had said. Lotus thought it was a very precious gift. There some wild roses in the vase which Nightshade had picked for her.



In the center of the room was her recharge bed, and above that a skylight. Other than that, a few posters decorated the wall. One was even a holographic poster, all in 3D, that Rattrap had given her. He had taken the most tasteful one he had. Even at that, it was not that tasteful, for it showed two serving bots in a bar, with a bunch of male bots gawking at them, and gambling. The caption underneath was "Try Your Luck at The Oil Changer" in blue letters.



Dismally, Lotus' thoughts turned to Optimus. He had imprisoned her in the base. But he had suffered for it and had certainly faced her wrath during that time.



Optimus had had things go missing, had a multitude of viruses get injected into his personal computer, and had had trash dumped on the floor of his room. Lotus could be quite a practical joker when she wanted to be. The nightingale smiled, that would teach Optimus to keep her prisoner.



Lotus tried to make sure Optimus was not too mad when he found out about all the little pranks she had played. Much as she hated to admit it, she still needed to be on his good side if she did not want to be grounded for a while longer.



She did not know why she did not like Optimus. There was just something about him that was so annoying. He tried to control everything, and everyone. That was understandable, he was a leader, but Lotus just did not like bots who bossed her around.



The emerald bot sighed, and looked at the skylight of her room. The sky was a pale, lovely blue. There was not a cloud in the sky. How she wished she could be flying, the wind whistling through her feathers! Ah, now that would be the life. She was a bird, and needed room to fly. If she stayed inside any more her wings would get cramped.



There was a knock on her door. In walked Rhinox.



"Hi Lotus" he said. "Optimus told me to make sure you're not planning to enter another virus into his computer. I had a slag of a time trying to remove the last one."



"Well, he shouldn't leave his door open then" Lotus replied, with a smile. "And why did he get you to fix his computer?"



"Because he doesn't know that much about viruses" Rhinox replied. "That's what I do."



"Oh by Primus!" Lotus said with mock horror. "He doesn't know about viruses? I thought he should. He is, after all, our all knowing and all powerful leader!"



"Now you stop that" Rhinox said with a slow smile. Lotus did.



"I know it must be tough for you to stay in here, but you have to" Rhinox said. "You did bring this on yourself you know, and you are getting your due punishment for it. You're lucky Optimus hasn't punished you even further for all the pranks you've been playing."



"I know" Lotus said reluctantly. Rhinox looked around her room, then stopped at her holo-poster.



"I can distinctly see Rattrap's touch here" Rhinox said, looking at it skeptically.



"He can be quite generous, once you get him to stop flirting" Lotus said, grinning at the look on Rhinox's face.



Rhinox gave a slow chuckle. "Here, I brought you this" he pulled an object out of his sub-space pocket.



Lotus took it and looked at it. The machine was obviously a video game controller. It was about six inches across and seven inches long. It had a smallish joystick sticking up from it, as well as four buttons, two on the left of the joystick, and two on the right. There was a screen near the top of the video game controller. The machine was black with gold trimming, the buttons were red, and the joystick was orange. Below one of the buttons in white letters was the word "start" and the other word "pause." Just above the screen, again in white letters, were the words "Mech-fighter."



Needing no further instructions, Lotus pressed start. Some cheap, arcade music filtered through the speakers on the back.



The nightingale looked at Rhinox. "Thanks!" Lotus said, nodding. "You're the best!"



"Well, I happened to find this old thing lying around" Rhinox said. "I used to play this like crazy when I was a kid, and sometimes I still do, which is why I brought it with me on this voyage. Since this was supposed to be an exploration vessel, we were allowed to bring things like posters and video games. It was supposed to make us feel more at home on a strange world. Most of our electronic things went off-line during the crash, but some of it still works."



"Everyone's been giving me stuff like this" Lotus said, feeling quite touched. "Rattrap and Cheetor gave me the posters, Air Razor gave me the vase, Nightshade gave me the flowers....and now you've given me this game. You've been treating me like I was some sort of queen or something."



"I guess you're just a likeable person" Rhinox replied.



"Or maybe there are some other people here who don't like Optimus" Lotus said. Noticing Rhinox's frown she said something different. "Either way, I'm very grateful to you all."



"I'm glad" Rhinox replied. "You have fun with that game, okay?" he said.



"You got it!" Lotus replied. Rhinox left the room.



Lotus smiled. Now she was in her "kick the crap out of anyone who comes in my path" mode, and was ready to kick some computerized butt.



Lotus turned her attention to the screen. "Choose character" it said in flashing letters. The game screen was small, but in surprisingly detailed color. Lotus moved the joystick around, and selected one of the bots on the screen that looked cool. It was a ninja, with wrist mounted missile launchers and a whip that looked like a cobra snake.



The video game selected another player for Lotus to challenge. Then, it got into an appropriate background, which was a cave lit by lava pools. It kind of reminded Lotus of Predacon territory. The game was about to start.



"Round One" the video game said in a static voice. "Nova versus Deepblack: FIGHT!"



The nightingale forgot all about the game. She had heard something in what the video game speakers had said. Nova.



Suddenly, a face sprung into view, as well as a name. The fact was white, with a brown frame surrounding it. The face had a nose and a mouth that seemed to blend together, both were short and stocky. It's optics were yellow. In it's mouth were some human-like teeth. There were two spikes on the side of the face's head, like dog ears.



That was the face. The name was Novablast.



"Deepblack wins!" said the computer, as some victory music played on the speakers. It was the video game that brought her back to reality. She stared at the game, and realized that she did not want to play it any more.



She did not know what she wanted to do right now, actually. Her flashback had left her sick to her stomach, and with many unanswerable questions shouting in her mind. Lotus had never had any flashbacks before, and had never had any need to question what her past on Cybertron had been like. Now she had. Lotus wanted to ignore the questions, but she could not.



Had Novablast been her friend back on Cybertron? Her lover? Had Lotus known him a lot or a little?



Lotus took out Smash the Pitt, stuck it into her stereo, and put it up full volume. If she could not silence her thoughts, maybe she could drown them out. And lose her sense of hearing at the same time.



Shouting, hysterical music washed over her, and a voice so synthesized it made her bones rattle crooned out the words to a love song.



"I wancha to hooooooold me! Oh baby puh-lease hold me! Until Unicron comes again. Awoooooo! Rock me in your arms like I first programmed baby! Awooooo! Let are sparks fuse as one, and let us visit the Matrix inside us! Awoooo!"



Lotus was beginning to think that the "awoooo!" part was the only chorus it had. She took the CD out of the CD player and put it back. She took out Butterfly, and put it in.



Now this is good, Lotus thought dreamily, as "My All" poured over her, purging the questions from her mind.



*************************



Rhinox heard the music from Lotus' room. He smiled. There was something immistakably good about Earthling music. Cybertronian music was good, but lately it had gotten loud, and too techno for his tastes.



In my day we still had all the good bands around, Rhinox thought with a reminiscent grin. We had the Two Ton Tenors, and Metal Man and his Five Cycle Band. Hah, those were the days when music had some class.



The rhino shook his head, mentally laughing about how much he sounded like an old bot, droning on and on.



When I was still in school, we had a saying. "Never trust anyone who's old enough to have bugs in his hearing circuits" it was. I was so full of life back then. Science and work hadn't lured me yet, and I was free to party day and night. I thought all my life would be one big bash. Now look where I am. On a planet, with a lab in my personal quarters, and conducting research on genetics. Boy, things do change. Sometimes they change to quickly for slow-moving bots like me to adapt, but, you have to adapt or be left behind.



Rhinox tuned his ears into the music once again. Earthlings, though considered somewhat inferior by bots, had some good points about them. Their music was one of them.



The giant turned back to his work. He was busy examining Tigatron and Jade's DNA. He still wanted to figure out if he was right about there being radiation underneath the energon that had morphed the two of them.



Just as he was about to peek through the glass of the microscope, Rhinox heard a knock on his door. He glanced over at it. Had Lotus gotten tired of her game already? Rhinox sighed. She reminded him of a miniature version of Cheetor, except one that listened to him, and had a grudge against Optimus.



That was one thing that worried Rhinox about Lotus' behavior, although he did not let her see it. It was plain to see that she resented Optimus for grounding her, but what if her grudge ran a bit more deeply than once first guessed? Optimus was a good, dear friend of his. Even though he had known Rattrap a lot longer than he had known Optimus.



"Hey Rhinox, can I come in?" came a voice, Rattrap's voice.



"Sure" Rhinox replied.



The door slid open, and Rattrap walked in. He looked around the room, his optics wide. Indeed, there was a lot to look at.



Rhinox's room was one of the larger rooms in the Axalon. It also doubled as a science lab. The original lab in the ship had been transformed into a prison bay, to keep prisoners of war.



In the room there were many things to spend one's time rummaging through, and a lot of things that the average bot would not understand. There were vials and flasks filled with liquid one a table to the right of the room. On the back wall of the room there was Rhinox's bed, but right now it was covered with medical files, science books and a whole book stores worth of material, all stored on small compu-books. The left side of the room was where Rhinox was sitting, another table in front of him. There was some more scientific equipment on that table, as well as a laptop for Rhinox to record his work in. There were also some shelves filled with more paraphernalia.



"Yeesh, buddy, where do yah sleep at night?" Rattrap asked, looking around him some more.



"I just fall asleep in front of my laptop" Rhinox replied. "Then I wake up in the morning revitalized and refreshed, and ready to work some more. It really saves a lot more hassle than actually getting up and walking to my bed."



Rattrap chuckled. "De bot dat never sleeps" he said, smiling.



"So why are you here?" Rhinox asked. "Do you want me to check the radioactive levels in your room again?" He smiled. He never really got a chance to be sarcastic in front of anybody, and Rattrap seemed to bring out a more youthful side in him.



"I just wanted you tah know that I shoved some junk under my bed last, and now de stuff's glowing!" Rattrap replied, a twinkle in his red eyes.



Rhinox answered with a slow laugh. It felt good to laugh, because he so rarely got to. He was the moral center and strong guardian of the Maximal fleet, and that was a serious job, not in the least bit laughable.



"Seriously, why are you here?" Rhinox asked.



"I was just wondering" Rattrap said. He took a breath. "Did Lotus tell you about de way to revive Marbelle through an energon overload? Did you think about it? Do yah.....do yah think it'll work?"



Rhinox sighed. The time for laughing was over. He was back to being sympathetic, friendly Rhinox. The sturdy rock to lean on when you are broken. The trusty pillow that helps you sleep easily. The overhanging cliff that shelters you in an emotional storm. Always there, always thinking of others, never once failing your expectations of what he should be.



Rhinox accepted his calling. He could not be a youthful kid again, even an imitation of one. He had seen too much, been to nice, and had too much of a reputation to live up too.



"Rattrap, an energon overload can put a bot off-line, if not administered properly" Rhinox said. "It is a very dangerous science, and one that was almost forbidden on Cybertron. If the energon overload did not kill Marbelle, then it could leave her with serious mental injuries. She might never be the same bot she once was."



The look of pain and anguish on Rattrap's face stabbed Rhinox in his heart, but he had to tell it like it was. What was the use of lying? Rattrap was a grown bot, he could take this. It would be better he know the risks now, then to go through with it, and find Marbelle with a mental handicap for the rest of her life.



"Got it, buddy" the Transmetal said, lowering his head. Rattrap took a deep breath, to steady his nerves. Rhinox put a hand on his shoulder, and Rattrap straightened up.



"I think you should talk this over with your friends" Rhinox said. "You need to make this decision as a group. I'm not saying that the energon overload won't work. It has been proven in the past that overloading a bot's circuits with energon does restore them to maximum health and mental capabilities. But, there is a risk, as with anything in medicine or science. You guys need to choose."



"Have you ever seen a case in where energon overloads have gone wrong?" Rattrap asked. "In the Great War or anything?"



Rhinox thought back to the time of the Great War. He had been one of the many nameless, faceless scientists in the Autobot army. Rhinox had had to be rushed through school and technical training. Still, during his school years, he had had a sense of innocence, as had the rest of his classmates. They did not expect that they had to join the Great War. They thought they were immune from the effects of the War. But, sadly, they were not. They had to ditch their innocence and be rushed into the Great War.



He had designed military weapons, such as heat seeking missiles with bombs attached to them that were programmed to explode as soon as they hit a target. With every weapon he had created, he felt his soul shrink bit by bit. I am helping to kill people, he had thought with a grimace. Oh, he never got to use the weapons, that was for the soldiers to do.



During the Great War, when he had been Trample, he had also dabbled a bit in germ warfare. That had been the awful part, the most horrid and despicable. Rhinox and his associates had created germs that were designed to melt bot's circuits after just getting a whiff of the gas, and other deadly viruses, much worse. And each as cruel as the last. He had truly abhorred himself for ever joining the Great War then.



But, Rhinox never remembered a time when he had seen a bot in need of an energon overload.



"I'm sorry Rattrap, I never saw anything like that" Rhinox said sorrowfully. "I was a scientist, not a medic."



"I know you'll do the right thing" Rhinox spoke comforting words. "Just trust in your heart."



It was odd, how many times he had spoken words like that. He had said them over and over again, to friends and companions. They were sounding just a bit tiresome to him. But he must never let anyone else know that. It was wrong for the rock to show any weakness. Rocks do not sink into the earth when others lean on them for support. Pillows can not cry, they let others cry on them. Overhanging cliffs are not supposed to crumble on top of the one they shelter.



Was Rhinox getting tired of being himself? Now there was an odd though. Very odd indeed.



Rattrap sighed. "I'll go talk it over with de Gang, like yah said" the Transmetal rat said.



Rhinox nodded, and Rattrap left.



He knew Rattrap had had some illicit dealings back on Cybertron, but he had never wanted to ask Rattrap about them.



When he had first met Rattrap, then called Locke, he had been a business man in a floundering business. His business was manufacturing home security devices, a rather odd move. Cybertron was still in a state of peace, even after the awful Recktor scares. Trample, know known as Rhinox, had lent Locke some money. Trample had owned a successful business, that of mining energon. He had luckily found a few energon rich planets, and had struck a gold mine, so Trample had had money to spare. Trample also had a little lab all to himself, where he could continue his studies of science in peace. The War had not dimished his love for science and technology. Locke had paid the loan back in a little while.



That would have been the end of their dealings with each other. Except that one night Trample saw Locke at a restaurant, teasing a serving bot like there was no tomorrow. Trample went over and said hello to the small bot, who had stopped in mid-tease, and stared at Trample in surprise. The two of them sat down and talked about anything that came up. After that night, a friendship was born.



Locke and Trample began to meet more often just to talk about things, and play poker occasionally. Trample always felt at ease when Locke was around.



One day disaster struck at one of his mines. It seemed some terrorist or something had set off an explosion, and destroyed most of his mines on that planet. There were only a few hundred that had survived. One of them was a bot named Optimus. He had been a supervisor, though not one Trample had hired personally. When the explosions had gone off, Optimus, managed to get the crew under his recruit safely out of harms way. Optimus was rewarded a medal of bravery.



After paying for the funerals of the bots who had died, Trample found his funds nearly depleted. He took what little money he had left and shut down the business, for ever since the bombing, he had been under a lot of suspicion.



The next thing that happened was that Trample went seeking work. Locke gave him a few pointers on where to get the best jobs, and even offered him a spot in his business. Trample had declined, because he was not the best door to door salesbot. After a few failures at getting a job, Trample had finally got one.



It was in the field of exploration, and one of the fellow employees was none other than Optimus, who used to work for him. The two of them scrubbed ships and repaired them, checked the engines and made sure everything was in working order before the ships left port. They had never gotten to go on a ship themselves. During this time Trample and Optimus became close friends. He was friends with other employees, but none as much as he was with Optimus. He admired the young bot's determination to get to work, and Optimus' willingness to accept a good counseling now and again.



Gradually Optimus and Trample moved up the ladder of success. Soon, Optimus would fly his first space craft, the Axalon. He chose Trample to be his second-in-command, because of his technical knowledge. Trample chose a promising bot, who had graduated with many degrees in science and tech, by the name of Nanowire to come on the ship as well. And of course, he chose his old drinking partner Locke to join them on the voyage. Locke happily agreed to come.



A few days before they were about to set out, Nanowire broke his leg. Nanowire was replaced by a bot named Whirlwind, who was his friend. At first, Trample had been skeptical of Nanowire's choice, but in the end he had accepted it.



And now, they were part of the Beast Wars.



Rhinox shook his head, and went back to looking at the microscope. But, he stopped. He decided it was time for a break, and slumped down in his chair, exhausted from the emotional pain he had just seen and the work he had to face.



That was not the case though.



"Rhinox!" Optimus called, bursting into his room. He had the frantic energy of a business man trying to close a tough deal. "There's been a stasis pod detected in sector T-87. I need you, Tigatron and Air Razor to get it right away. It's in Predacon territory, that's why I'll need your strength. If you need backup just call me."



Rhinox got up and sighed. His nap would have to wait.



*************************



"Jungura" came a voice over the cougar/eagle Fuzor's com-link. It was Megatron's.



"There is a stasis pod detected in your area" the Predacon leader said. "Do you know how to reprogram stasis pods?"



"Yeah" Jungura replied.



"Good" Megatron said. "Such a talent is quite valuable. I shall send Inferno and Crimson to assist you."



"Gotcha" Jungura said.



"Oh, and do watch out for Maximals" the leader said with a sigh. "They have an annoying habit of trying to get to a pod no matter how far away it is."



"Well, once they meet me, I'm sure that habit will be cured" Jungura said with a laugh. "Over and out" she said as she shut off her com-link.



The feline yawned and stretched. She had been basking on a rock, with the sun overhead. She around her. Jungura had been lying on another savanna, this one in Predacon territory.



It was really hard to tell the difference between what was Predacon and Maximal territory, but Jungura had it all worked out.



The cougar/eagle Fuzor had taken to wandering around a lot, learning all there was to know about the planet. She checked out every stone, and climbed every tree. Prehistoric Earth was just such a beautiful place, and she had wanted to know all about it. So, Jungura had been a partial globe-trotter. She had patrolled the farthest reaches of Predacon territory, and crept into Maximal territory too. So, now Jungura considered herself a navigator, able to find her place anywhere in Predacon territory, and remember how to get back.



Of course, Jungura had found a lair. It was near Crystal's cave, but the giant dragon had her cave higher up in the mountains. Jungura had made her lair in a valley, with Crystal's lair just above it. Jungura had obeyed Megatron's orders, and had been keeping an eye on Crystal. She had seen no suspicious behavior from the giant dragon, but one could not be too careful. Crystal seemed very aloof and secretive, the perfect type to gain power.



Jungura shook her head, and brought herself back to reality. She opened her wings and launched herself into the air. Sixty eight yards away was the stasis pod, looking like it had been gift wrapped for her. Jungura grinned and flew towards it.



When she reached it, she tried to land. Instead of landing, she fell and whammed her shoulder into the side of the pod.



"Ow!!" Jungura snapped, glaring at her wings. Why could she not learn to fly properly? It was so annoying. She all the other flyers for being able to fly so well. She even admired Demi-God's athletic ability.



"Well, I don't have time to dwell on faulty wings" she said. "Jungura, terrorize!" the Fuzor shouted.



She went into her robot mode. The red and black bot squinted her optics and looked down at the pod. It was partially beat up, but only the rear of the pod was affected, the rest of it was fine. Jungura typed in some reprogramming code on the pod's console.



"Programming codes accepted-" the computer began.



"Protoform inside is now a Predacon, I know, I know" Jungura finished, nodding with satisfaction.



She quickly checked over her shoulder to make sure there were no Maximals. Instead, she saw Inferno and Crimson flying towards her. She groaned. Those two! Whenever Jungura went near them she always got uneasy. Yes, Inferno and Crimson obeyed Megatron, but they were so mindless about it. They were stupid and had no mind of their own.



"Have you secured the pod for the Colony?" Inferno shouted at her.



"Yes I have" Jungura shouted back.



"Good, Our Leader shall be pleased with you, feline" Crimson barked.



The two bugs closed the distance between them and her. Despite herself, Jungura shuddered. When she looked into Inferno's eyes she saw no intelligence, no wit, and no humor. Only mindlessness. Crimson's gaze held the same stupidity. The two insects stood at attention in front of the stasis pod, waiting for the protoform to come out.



A DNA scanner shot out of the pod. It glowed, and beams of pink light shot out of it, as it scanned for life-forms.



What will this protoform be? Jungura wondered.



********************************



A cheetah trotted across the plains. It was hungry, and longed for some meat. Lions and other big cats had taken away his kills for the past few days. His ribs were showing and his fur was ragged.



He panted as his dust stained his legs. His mate needed food, for she was hungry, and ready to bear children.



Suddenly the cheetah stopped. He saw three odd creatures, creatures that stood on their hind legs. He sniffed the air. Were they food? His stomach growled. The cheetah felt so hungry he felt like risking his life just for food. Saliva began to drip down his jowls.



The cheetah walked towards them slowly. They were communicating in some way, making odd sounds. Suddenly, beams of light shot over him. He felt a somewhat cold feeling, and then the beams disappeared. The cheetah growled, he was getting quite disturbed.



Then, a large rock opened up. Terrified, the cheetah ran off quickly, risking a potential meal, but saving his hide.



*********************



"Malfunction in pod DNA scanning" the computer reported. "Skin and fur pigmentation unrecordable. DNA process can not be completed without pigmentation of skin and fur."



"What?!" Jungura cried. She did not know what to do in such a situation. There must be a major glitch in the pod.



"You must fix this, or the Royalty shall be displeased with you" Inferno said, stating the incredibly obvious.



Jungura bent down and typed in some codes. These codes were not the standard reprogramming kind, but were a virus scan.



"Unable to complete virus scan" the computer said. "Energy in stasis pod computer is insufficient for that procedure. Power levels are at fifty-nine percent."



"Slag this piece of junk to the Pitt!!" Jungura snarled. She looked down at the computer console. There had to be a way to get this pod to ignore the fact that the protoform's beast mode would have a non-colored fur or skin.



"Freeze Predacons!" came a low voice. Jungura looked up and saw Tigatron and Air Razor. On the ground there was Rhinox, his chainguns at ready.



Jungura looked at Tigatron. He looked very different now.



Instead of his face being a minty green, it was now an bright orange color. Also, his head was thicker, without the striped white tiger helmet. Tigatron had one thick eyebrow that made his face seem in a menacing scowl. His cheeks were narrowed, and he now had a nose, although it was merely a bump on his face. On Tigatron's forehead, etched out in black, there proudly stood the Maximal symbol. After his forehead came two things that looked like devilish horns, and were bright yellow. The small horns pointed at the side of his head. Tigatron's eyes were the color of mech-fluid, a light silvery blue.



Tigatron's torso was thick and he had a washboard stomach, all brownish, with some more orange stripes poking in at it's sides. The stripes started and the back and ended in points at the torso. The orange stripes went down all the way to the back of Tigatron's legs, and finally to his feet, which were yellow. Tigatron's hands were also yellow, and on his arms were some more orange stripes that stopped at his hands. Tigatron's arms were thick, as were his legs, and his feet were pointed.



As weaponry, Tigatron had a lot more than he had had in his old form. In his old form he had only had a quasar. Now, he had a large plasma blaster, and hand mounted cannon. The cannon looked like Tigatron's beast mode head, which was what Megatron's cannon had been like before he acquired his Transmetal mode. Tigatron also had two shoulder mounted cannons.



"Inferno, Crimson!" Jungura growled. "Attack them, while I get this pod to function!"



"You are not the Royalty!" Inferno said, indignantly. Just then, Air Razor's missiles knocked into him. "You shall burn, feather duster!" the fire ant cried as he rocketed into the air. Crimson also started shooting at Rhinox, who returned fire.



Good, Jungura thought. Now that those two morons were off fighting, she could get some work done.



Jungura hit some more of the buttons on the pod console. She had another idea. This time she would try to solve the problem by inserting a new color scheme into whatever animal the pod had selected. She typed in the codes that would allow her to change the animal's fur or skin pigmentation.



"Access granted" the computer said. On the console screen there were some strands of DNA, all with missing part and broken links. The cougar/eagle Fuzor stared at the stasis pod and a fearful frustration. How could it do this to her?! She had expected the computer to ask her a question about which color she wanted to chose for the creatures fur or skin. Now she had to re-create some strands of DNA!



Jungura glanced to her left and saw Rhinox battling Crimson. Jungura shot at the rhino with her two wing missiles, as well as her plasma blaster. As the blasts made impact Jungura sighed. A bit of her rage was gone.



A bullet from Tigatron hit her on the shoulder. Jungura growled and shot back, angrily. She then turned to the stasis pod again. She typed the codes to abort the mission, and the screen took away the DNA strands, and was a normal blank screen.



"Warning, spark will fade in twelve cycles" the computer said.



"Can anything else go wrong with this?!?!?!" Jungura screamed. In reply, a missile from Air Razor hit her on the back.



Jungura felt like weeping in frustration. There was no way out of this. She could not program color into the animal's DNA. She did not know how to do that. Her skills with pods were not that great either. All she knew were a few basic codes, and some even fewer advanced codes. That was it. She desperately wished she had paid more attention to her technology teacher when she had been in school.



As a last resort, Jungura typed in some more codes. She was trying to give the animal a color scheme, but she was using some different codes to tell the computer what she wanted of it.



"Choose two primary colors for pigmentation of animal" the computer said. Jungura laughed, finally something was working! The pod screen was ablaze with different colors.



She looked at them, and finally chose two colors. Black and white. They seemed good enough. Jungura wondered what kind of animal this would be, for she had not seen the image of the animal that was scanned as it had appeared on the screen. Inferno and Crimson had been talking too loudly for her to concentrate at the time.



"Processing information" the computer bleeped. Just for fun, Jungura shot at Tigatron some more, and then at Air Razor, as a way of celebrating her good luck.



"Information processed, protoform may emerge" the computer said. Jungura jumped in the air.



"You better head off Maxi-morons!" Jungura shouted. "The new Pred is on it's way! Get out, the lot of yah!" The Fuzor fired at a few of them as added incentive. The Maximals, being smart for once, took off quickly.



"I will kill you Predacons!!" Tigatron shouted. "You shall pay for abducting another of our comrades!"



"Put that up your cyro-pipe and smoke it!" Jungura responded, laughing. She saw Tigatron glare at her evilly, then fly off.



Jungura looked at her two comrades. Inferno was fine, but he was leaning over Crimson in a distraught manner.



"What's wrong?" Jungura asked.



"This soldier is dead" Inferno replied, his voice cold. "His spark has flown away. He was a good worker to the Colony."



Jungura stared at Crimson's body. It was riddled with small bullet holes of Rhinox's gun. His face held the look of one dying a painful death, and Jungura shuddered at the expression. She had never really liked Crimson, but he had been a fellow Predacon. She felt some momentary sadness. If the two of them had been friends she knew she would have felt worse, but she did not.



"Did I miss something?" came a voice from behind her.



Jungura turned, and looked at the protoform that had caused so much trouble coming on-line.



It was a black and white cheetah. His legs were quite long, and he looked very lanky and thin, even for a cheetah. His ribs were showing, and his tight muscles were easy to see through his coat. The DNA scanners must have scanned a starving, emaciated cheetah, which would be why he was so skinny. His paws were large, considering how skinny his legs were. The cheetah's eyes were a nice, woodsy brown, and quite large. The other than that, the cheetah was a normal cheetah, except for one thing. His spots.



This cheetah did not have the normal cheetah markings. He did not have a "teardrop" underneath his eyes, nor small spots all over his body. He did not have a few rings at the end of his tail like he normally would. Instead, this cheetah's spots looked like those of a Dalmatian dog. His entire left front leg was black. Over his right eyes there was a patch of blackness. Both of the cheetah's ears were black. On his body lay large, black, irregular shaped circles. The latter part of his tail ended in black, like it had been dipped in ink.



Rather than talk about Crimson's death, Jungura decided to get to the introductions. "Hi" she said. "My name is Jungura, and this is Inferno. What's your name?"



"I......I am" the cheetah faltered. "A name" he said, a sudden grin lighting up his face. "I need a name." He sat for a few minutes on the stasis pod, a questing look on his face. " I am Tybault" he said finally.



"Interesting" Jungura said, nodding a bit. It was an interesting name. Where had she heard the name Tybault before? Tabitha had been interested in human books when they had been back on Cybertron, and she had always loved to read them all the time. Had Tybault been a character in one of the books Tabitha had read?



The cougar/eagle Fuzor yawned, suddenly overcome with tiredness. She would have given anything just to be able to lie down on a rock right now, to rest her head for a little bit. The stress of trying to get that stasis pod computer to work had nearly zapped her of all mental and physical energy.



Instead, she said "let's get you to the Predacon base." She looked at Inferno, who was silent. "You carry Crimson's body back to the base" Jungura commanded. Inferno did not complain, but did as he was told and picked up the body.



The three of them set off towards the Predacon base. Before she left, Jungura took one longing glance back at the rock she had been sleeping on, then followed the others.



*********************

Megatron had a reason to be happy. He had gained a new soldier, even though one had died while trying to bring the new one on-line. But, he was not happy.



Crimson had died. The ladybug had been one of his most loyal, and strong, soldiers. Now he was gone. And this new soldier, Tybault he called himself, was a pathetic excuse for a creature.



Tybault looked like a thin skeleton, like a mere ghost. He was skinnier than a normal cheetah, with only some ragged fur that clung to him like the clothes of a beggar, filthy and haggard. Tybault had large paws, and large eyes that stared out of his skull like two glowing lamps. His teeth were short and not too sharp, and his claws could not even scratch mouse flesh, they were so dull. Tybault was nothing more than fur, metallic bones, and cybernetic guts. All in all, Tybault had a physical appearance that did not bode too well for one in a war.



His third-in-command, Jungura, looked at Tybault happily enough. And Tabitha, who was sitting beside Megatron, seemed happy with the catch too.



"May I see you in your robot mode, Tybault?" Megatron asked.



"Of course, Sir" Tybault said, with a reverent emphasis on the "Sir." The Predacon leader stared. Was it possible that the white cat was loyal to him?



"Tybault, terrorize!" the feline shouted, transforming into his robot mode.



In this mode, Tybault looked a bit more promising. A bit was not enough to make him look like a fighter, though.



The cheetah's face was dark brown, and his eyes a deep red. He had an upturned nose, with a normal mouth and wide cheeks. His eyes were wide too, and gave him a somewhat innocent quality. But the gaze that they held was not innocent. It was filled with grace, and dignity. Framing Tybault's face was something that looked like Cheetor's old helmet, except it was white. It also was missing the two big spikes that had been on Cheetor's head.



Tybault still looked like a skeleton in his robot mode. His cheetah head was on his torso. He still had the same Dalmatian dog markings all over him. His front left arm was all black, except for the his hand, which was dark brown. Both his hands were dark brown. Tybault had two small spikes on his elbows which were the same color of brown. His dark brown feet were almost rectangular. Tybault was very skinny, and even with his cheetah head on his torso, he did not look thick at all.



The black and white cheetah had two weapons. One was a small little quasar, that had white and black spots on it. The other was a black and white javelin, a spear pointed at both ends.



"Very good Tybault" Megatron said with a mental sigh. Tybault converted back into his beast mode. "I must say that you have little strength, though you probably make up for it in speed and brains."



Not slagging likely though, Megatron thought with a growl of distaste.



"Sir" he said to Megatron, looking the leader in the eyes. "I know I may not look much to you. But, I shall be very much to you, through my actions, and through my speed. I shall serve you."



Megatron scanned Tybault's eyes, and finally concluded that the feline was not telling the full truth. In Tybault's brown eyes there was a hint of deep intelligence, like the eyes of a philosopher, or a poet. There was also a sparkle of ambition that danced across those flat round disks, like sun reflecting off metal. It was the flash of ambition that worried Megatron, and made him suspicious.



The white and black cheetah bowed his head, and walked out of the room. After a minute's hesitation, Jungura followed.



"I'll give him a tour of the base" Jungura said, slipping off.



"Well, what do you think of the new guy, Megs?" Tabitha asked. Megatron sighed, it was kind of hard to confide his thoughts in someone like Tabitha, who was so caring and kind at times. He was afraid he might slip up, and tell the magic using feline something he had not meant to say. She might tell her sister, and then Jungura might tell someone else. It might possibly get to Blackarachnia, or someone who could use such information against him.



But, Tabitha and Jungura had not yet betrayed his trust. There was no reason why they should now.



"I do not trust him" Megatron said. "I doubt very greatly that he would be able to overpower me, because he has hardly any strength. But he looks shrewd and ambitious. I do not think he wants to betray me that much, like Blackarachnia and Terrorsaur, but I do think he wants leadership of the Predacons. If not that, then I do not think he is as loyal to me as you and your sister are."



"Yes, I noticed some ambition in him" Tabitha said.



"Well, I guess smart people can tell who they can trust" Megatron commented, and Tabitha shyly glanced down at the floor. It fascinated the Pitt out of him when she did that.



Flirting was not a new experience for Megatron, just one he had not had a lot of practice in. He had met many women back on Cybertron, and had relationships with a few. But mostly he had only cared about hatching evil schemes, and gaining power to pursue a loving relationship with someone. A loving relationship involved a commitment to a bot. Bots have lots of faults, too many for Megatron's tastes. Besides, a commitment to a mere bot did not get you power, or control of Cybertron, or any of the things he had ever wanted, and still did want. Megatron viewed love as something next to a waste of time that could put your mind in danger, like taking drugs.



Love was kind of a drug in a way. Except, you were addicted to a person, not a substance. Love clogs up your mind, and makes you think of only that one person you love. It takes away all logic, and leaves you with only emotions that run wild, without any shrewdness or logic to contain them. It makes you do foolish things that could ruin your life and reputation. What happened to Romeo and Juliet? Both ended up dead.



Megatron was aptly worried about falling in love, or even lust. Lust was almost the same as love, except for different side affects. Even an infatuation was bad enough. When you were an evil Predacon leader, you needed all your wits about you to stay alive. How could you when you were day-dreaming about some girl?



"Shall I keep and eye on him?" Tabitha asked. "I personally think he's kind of interesting. He has this kind of......air about him. It's like he thinks he's a king or royalty or something."



"True" Megatron replied. He had noticed that as well. "He looks a bit more humble, and less pompous than Demi-God though."



"Thank the Matrix for that!" Tabitha said, with a sigh of relief. "Two Demi-Gods.... now that would be awful!"



Megatron laughed. "Indeed" he said, nodding. He looked at Crimson's body, that Inferno had brought in.



"What should we do with him?" Tabitha asked, nodding to Crimson.



"We could turn him into scrap metal" Megatron said with a shrug. Then he stopped, and worried that Tabitha might be offended at what he had just said. She was not though. Apparently, she was only nice to the people she wanted to be nice to.



Tabitha nodded. "I think that would be the best way to go. It wouldn't honor his memory that much, but then, he didn't have that much of a memory to honor."



Megatron smiled.



"I'll take him to the scrap heap, and tell Scorpinok to melt him down" Tabitha said, walking over and picking up Crimson. She walked out of the door to Megatron's quarters, and the door shut behind her with a metallic clang.



***********************



Tybault looked around the Predacon base.



It is interesting, he thought. Cold, dank, soulless. With raging fires inside it, and wet blackness as well. Deceit, lies and a mist of power-lust fill these hallways. No doubt the rats that live here have heard many secrets.



"This is Dippy" Jungura said, pointing a paw at a small dinosaur, who was eating a rat. The dinosaur looked like a small ostrich, except for the fact that he had no feathers, and his skin was light purple with brown stripes. The rodent's guts were spilled out all over the floor, red and pulsing.



Tybault merely widened his eyes at the spectacle. But inside he was horrified. What kind of demented creature was Dippy anyway? The way he talked was so undignified, not to mention the way he ate. This Dippy was a disgrace to bots every where! How could Megatron allow such an insane bot to be in his troops? Tybault moved away from the splattered rat guts.



"Eat meat me with, want to?" Dippy asked, looking at Tybault with golden eyes.



The white cheetah chuckled, finding something funny in the situation.



No doubt the rats have heard many secrets, and no doubt they have been eaten as well, Tybault thought. That thought was what made him smile in such a graceless situation.



"I'm afraid I must decline from this banquet" he said, sauntering off to see the next attraction this base had to offer.



"Good it is!" Dippy remarked. "For me more" he said, and licked some of the guts off the floor.



"I'm sorry you had to meet someone like him on your first day here" Jungura apologized. "Dippy's the only insane one."



Tybault was amused. There was no need to apologize for that disgusting dinosaur.



"It depends on what you consider insane" Tybault said. "I could easily consider everyone in the fleet a madman. Thought I must admit I would find a lot of difficulty classifying you as insane, Jungura." Tybault was happy as he saw Jungura smile back at him. He liked it when she smiled.



"Well, I definitely don't consider Dippy a sane person, or Inferno or Rampage" Jungura said.



There was a silence, in which neither of them said anything.



Silence, Tybault thought. It is an all purpose tool. It is used to fill the gaps and smooth the cracks of conversation. It can destroy a man's life, it can bring him new life again. Silence is gold, and it is dirt. Silence is an all purpose tool, but if used improperly, and be a machine that might destroy important moments of your life. Now is not one of those times though.



He smiled. Tybault had an odd fancy for being poetic in the most mundane of things. It added a bit of interest to life, which could be quite boring at times.



"This is my sister's room" Jungura said, nodding to a door to their left. Tybault nodded as well, all the while keeping track of where he was going. It was a rather easy feat. Back on Cybertron he had been in huge places before, each larger than the last. He had learned to keep track of houses that seemed to go on forever.



"What about your quarters?" Tybault asked. "Where are they? I would like to see them." Immediately, he cursed himself. He had asked to be shown into someone's quarters, their personal space! That showed improper manners, and a bad upbringing. A man should never ask to be shown to a lady's room, it was indecent.



Tybault remembered the voice of Diebright, who had been like a mentor to him back on Cybertron. Diebright had said: "You must not speak until you are spoken too, and never ask until you are invited." He had already failed one of Diebright's commands.



With these thoughts in mind, Tybault stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Jungura say "sure, you can see where I live." The white and black cheetah shook his head, trying to clear his ears, and make sure he had heard correctly.



"I don't live in the base though" Jungura continued, "I live in the wild. I'm a permanent scout, along with Crystal. Crystal is a giant......are you okay?" she looked at Tybault, her eyes filled with concern. Tybault realized he had been staring at her with his mouth open and his eyes wide.



"I am fine" Tybault replied. "I just thought....well....I didn't expect that you would let me see where you lived" he said, trying not to blurt out his words, or fuddle up his speech.



"You must carry with you at all times three things: clear speech, a clean body, and a good image." That was what Diebright had told him.



I must remember that these people have different policies than what I'm used to, Tybault reminded himself. I must adapt to these policies quickly, if I am to fit in. It is too easy for a bot with my looks to stand out. And bots that stand out usually take the blame, and are suspected of many deeds. I have deeds I need to accomplish, such as finding the one I love. I do not need any added suspicion.



"Well of course I would" Jungura replied. "I don't have a secret lab in there or anything. There's no big monster in my cave, don't worry. It may be a little dirty, but slag, I try to clean up, I just don't do a good job."



"It is hard to get things clean" Tybault said, nodding. Jungura smiled once again, and Tybault stared at her once again. She looked so lovely when she did that! The two of them walked down the hallway a bit more, Jungura pointing out the quarters of different people in the fleet.



"There are lots of people in this fleet" Tybault remarked.



"It just keeps getting bigger and bigger" Jungura said. "I'm one of the newest members here, so I don't know everyone that well yet. I only came here one and a half weeks ago."



"Have you been around the Predacons much?" Tybault asked.



"No" Jungura replied. "Other than my sister and Crystal. Like I said before, I'm a permanent scout, so I haven't been around the base, or people that live in the base. My sister visits me a lot. And sometimes Terrorsaur does too." Jungura gave an evil chuckle. "I scared him off though. I don't like Terrorsaur that much."



Tybault absorbed the information. Jungura seemed like a nice enough person, why did she not live in the base, where all her friends were? He was going to ask her that, but he was afraid he would be delving a little to deeply. He did not want to ask her any personal questions. She was a lady, and one was not supposed to ask lady too many questions when you first met.



Suddenly, Tybault and Jungura came across a tan and brown bot with a cobra shaped hood on her head. Beside her was another bot, with sharp porcupine quills, and a coyote face. The two of them did not notice the two felines.



"So Serpentess, got any new schemes brewing today?" the coyote/porcupine/bird Fuzor asked. "I know I have. It involves you and me, my bed-"



"Yes I do have a scheme" Serpentess interrupted, in a cold voice. "It will involve my daggers, your body, and a CR chamber if you don't shut up!"



"Don't hurt me!!" the coyote/porcupine/bird Fuzor wailed, fear in his optics.



"I won't, if you keep your smutty thoughts to yourself" Serpentess replied. Tybault was surprised that she never modulated her voice. She just kept at an ice cold monotone.



"Yes Nexus, I do have a scheme brewing today" Serpentess replied. Tybault felt Jungura touch him on the arm. The cougar/eagle Fuzor motioned Tybault to a place in the hallway where they would not be so obvious to the two conspirators. The black and white cheetah followed Jungura, and the two of them watched the scene from there. It was really rude to hide in the shadows and spy..... but it was even worse to refuse a lady's request.



"I've been talking with Terrorsaur-" Serpentess began.



Nexus growled. "Are you sure it was just talking?" he demanded. "Like he didn't...you know..... look at you like he wanted to....."



"Yes Nexus, he did!" Serpentess snapped. "I'm pregnant with Terrorsaur's child!" she said, sarcastically.



"By the Pitt, I'll kill the basta- oh, you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" Nexus said. Serpentess sighed and nodded.



"I knew that" Nexus mumbled.



"Well, I've been working with Terrorsaur" Serpentess repeated. "With his help, I think we might be able to oust Megatron out of leadership." The cobra looked around, to see if anyone was watching, and motioned Nexus to come closer to her. Nexus did, with a lustful grin on his canine snout.



"Megatron likes to sit alone in his quarters, right?" Serpentess asked.



"No, he likes to sit with Tabitha" Nexus mumbled. "Slag him! He gets the all the goods, while I get stuck here without any loving from any female bot....."



Tybault heard Jungura growl to herself.



"Anyway!" Serpentess said, breaking Nexus off in the middle of his whining. "So, we sneak into the air vent that leads to his room. When he's alone, we pop in and shoot at him. It's so simple, I'm amazed no one thought of it before."



"It still sounds like too much work!" Nexus whined. "Do I have to be part of this?"



"Your job is to distract Tabitha, Jungura, Inferno or anyone who tries to come see him while we're doing this" Serpentess replied. "Terrorsaur and I can defeat Megatron. I because of my poison, Terrorsaur will just be my backup....and a shield."



"All these schemes have a lot of work involved don't they?" Nexus asked. "I'm not made of metal you know. Oh wait, I am....."



"You are an idiot!!" Serpentess growled. In reply, Nexus wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.



"I may be an idiot, but that's just one of those things you like about me" Nexus said with a grin.



"You're a self deceiving idiot!" Serpentess said, and tried to move away, but Nexus held her closer to him. Serpentess growled and struggled, but the triple Fuzor would not let her go.



"You're not just a self-deceiving idiot" Jungura said, jumping out of the shadows. "You and your playmate are gonna be dead meat! Jungura, terrorize!" the cougar/eagle Fuzor converted into her robot mode. Tybault did not jump out of the shadows, for he stood, stunned at Jungura's beauty.



"Aw yipes!!" Nexus shouted, flinging Serpentess away from him.



The assassin took out her ray gun and was going to fire it at Jungura, but Jungura hit her first. Serpentess had no time to dodge aside, for Jungura's wing missiles hit her head in the center of her chest.



Nexus, meanwhile, had run off. Jungura glared at his retreating figure.



Tybault shook his head. He saw that Jungura was about to chase Nexus down the hallway, so he stopped her with a question. "You would defeat your own comrades for the safety of your leader?" he asked.



"Yeah" Jungura replied. "Megatron is my leader, and a good one at that. Tabby likes him, and I like him. He has so many people ganging up on him that he needs bots like my sis and I to make sure he isn't scrap. I'm happy to be a bodyguard."



Tybault nodded. "I shall be happy to be a bodyguard as well then" he said. The cheetah was still enchanted by how lovely Jungura was. She was the most beautiful bot he had ever seen. Except for one.... but he doubted he would see her again.



Tybault shook his head guiltily. How many times did I tell Skyflight I loved her? How many times did I say I would never leave her side, and that I would be with her for all time? Can I go back on my promises to her? It is not honorable to say I love someone, then fall in love with someone else.



Yet I have. I have and I cannot change that.



Tybault knew he had fallen for Jungura. Whenever he felt emotions, they usually came in sharp, bright bursts that consumed his thoughts. Tybault did not like to underestimate these emotions, and knew that he was a very passionate person. Any little thing could trigger an emotion such as love in him, but once he had that emotion it was hard for him to let go of it.



Besides, Skyflight's pod probably had not come down yet. His old love was probably dead. It was time to get a living one.



Tybault smiled. It was time to play the role of the lover.



**********************



Bouncealot looked at his feet. Whenever he felt upset he looked at his feet. His long feet brought him comfort, although he did not know why. And he had good reason to be upset, because he was talking about a very upsetting subject.



It was about Marbelle.



The Gang, well, only the four conscious members, were all siting in the main control room. They all sat around the circular table. Malice and Satin sat side by side, Rattrap and Bouncealot sat off to themselves.



"Rhinox told me dat energon overloads do work sometimes" Rattrap informed them. Bouncealot quavered at the seriousness in Rattrap's voice.



There was so much pain in 'is voice, Bouncealot thought sadly. Just like there was pain in the world. Everything in the world feels pain, but Marbelle does not look like she's feeling any. I wish we knew where she was though, so that we could send 'er a postcard. Wherever 'er mind is it must be a nice place, if she doesn't want to leave it......Bouncealot allowed these thoughts to carry his mind away from the conversation, but, after a few detours, his ears found Rattrap's voice again.



"He also told me dat sometimes dey don't" Rattrap said. "If dis experiment don't work, Marbelle could have brain damage. She could be some stupid, mindless bot. But, if it does work, then she could be our Marbelle. Now, we have tah decide what we're gonna do. Should we let her have an energon overload or not?"



There was a silence at the end of the question, as everyone absorbed the information. Bouncealot broke it. He hated to see his friends so sad. If he told a joke, maybe that would cheer them up.



"Knock knock" Bouncealot said, looked around the circle. Everyone looked so weary. When no one replied, Bouncealot suddenly felt mad.



"You know, you could try to answer!" he huffed.



"This ain't de time for jokes Bounce" Rattrap replied, glaring at his friend with partial anger.



"That's why I'm tellin' one" Bouncealot replied. "To get everyone 'appy! We're all so mopy. I don't think Marbelle would think very much of us at all. All sitting around like a bunch of stupid sheep.....well, actually, sheep aren't that stupid." Bouncealot's face lit up. He would tell his friends a story.



"Back on Earth, it's a lovely place" Bouncealot began. "Lots of trees and all that. It kind of reminds me of this place. I saw a movie called "Babe." Not here of course, but at Earth. Did you know that after the Great War was over I stayed there for a little while? I did. It's really a lovely place. Lots of houses and humans. There were humans in the movie too, but mostly it was about pigs. Actually, there was only one pig in the movie. I'm thinking of "Gordy" now that had a lot of pigs. I wish I was a pig sometimes, it must be so fun. So Babe had to say this little rhyme to the sheep...."



"Does this story have a point?" Satin asked, annoyed.



"The point is that Babe said a funny rhyme" Bouncealot replied. Maybe if he said the rhyme it would make them laugh. They sorely needed to. "It was quite a ticklish rhyme, it made you squiggle and wriggle. It was a children's rhyme but it was-"



"We don't care about the rhyme Bounce!!" Malice barked, his eyes blazing with anger. "We need to think about Marbelle. Not Earthling movies."



"I don't want to think about Marbelle" Bouncealot replied, his voice low, like that of a reprimanded child. "She looks so 'appy where she is. 'Er mind is in a nice place. I don't want her to be alive but stupid. I want her to stay Marbelle. She can stay Marbelle in our memories, but if she turns stupid, she won't be Marbelle. She'll be different, and worse. I won't like that, and I'll kick myself every night just thinking about it."



"Well, now we've gotten somewhere" Rattrap said with a sigh. "I-I want Marbelle back, de normal Marbelle. I think we've got tah take de risk, if we want her back. Remember with Nexus?"



"Of course we do" Bouncealot replied. He was going to say something more, but he was shushed by a glare from Malice.



"We didn't take a risk of going to get him from jail" Rattrap said. Bouncealot cringed, that was such a bitter memory. Malice and Satin bowed their heads. It was a unanimous shame to them all.



"If we had taken de risk, we might have gotten him out of jail" Rattrap continued. "We might have saved him from becoming a Pred. We also might have been caught by de police. But still, we would have tried, and would have done all we could have done tah save him. We didn't, and look what happened tah him. He's a Pred, and we could have saved him by rescuing him from jail. Last time we didn't try to do anything for him. We should try tah do something for Marbelle. To get rid of dis guilt."



"This is one cheesy shot at redemption Rattrap" Malice said with a sigh. "I don't think we'll ever be able to redeem ourselves for abandoning Nexus. But, you have my permission to give her an energon overload. Not for our souls, but for Marbelle. We owe it to her, not for us."



"Primus" Satin mumbled. She leaned against Malice who held her tight. "I always said she was a little angel. Always the nice one. I want to bring the angel back. Nightshade's an angel, but she's not ours, we don't know her that well. I want Marbelle back, to be my friend again. I need someone to patronize, and to teach how to flirt."



Bouncealot felt tears welling up in his eyes at his friends testimonies. He whimpered.



"Matrix!" he shouted, in agony. "I don't know what to do! I wish I did! I just can't figure it out, for the life of me my mind is blank!" The rabbit/sparrow Fuzor shut his eyes, tears coursing down his cheeks, and plopping onto the floor.



"I don't know what to think" he whimpered, scuffing his feet against the cold metal floor. "My mind left me. It went to 'awaii or somewhere nice, and it's 'aving a fun time, leaving me alone. I can't think without my mind. I just don't know what to do!!" he wrung his paws together, cursing his stupidity.



"It's okay Bounce" Satin's hand stroked his shoulder. "It's a tough decision."



"We'll give you a few days to think about dis, okay?" Rattrap said.



Bouncealot looked up at Rattrap. They would give him some time to figure it out? Yes, that was all he needed. Just a little time, a few flowers in his stomach, and a full mind.



"Oh thank you Locke....I mean Rattrap!" Bouncealot said, living up to his name and bouncing high into the air. "I'll get on it in a jiffy. My mind will be like a smellhound, sniffing for the right answer, day and night. I'll never give up until I've thought it through!"



With a satisfied grin, and a grateful nod to his companions, Bouncealot left the room, his mind boiling with thoughts.



*****************



Jungura had decided to clean her room today. She was having a special visitor, and she wanted him to be impressed.



Last time Tybault came here his eyes bulged out of his head at the mess, Jungura thought with a smile. She remembered the expression on his face quite well. It was odd, he seemed so shocked at the most normal of things. But, that was interesting about him.



She looked at the cave around her. Her laptop was placed on a groove in the wall that looked like a perfect table. Underneath the table Jungura had placed a rock, making it a chair.



Also in her cave there was a bed of moss and leaves. It had been scattered all around the floor a few days ago, but now she had arranged it into a neat little pile. The bed was at the back wall of the cave.



Her long range communicator lay hidden in a small niche in the cave wall. That niche had been covered with a rock, so no one would find it. Jungura needed that to be a secret that she told no one about.



Jungura had put up a lot of print outs of the surrounding area, but she had taken them down. Instead, she had put them in a nice little pile on a crevice in the wall, which made a perfect shelf. Also on the shelf there were some floppy disks. These had been littered over the floor, but she had organized them, and put them on her shelf. Also on that shelf were some batteries for her laptop. She had enough to keep it up and running all day and night for five whole months, so she would not need to go back to the base for batteries any time soon.



Other than that, her room was quite bare. But, that made it look all the more natural. She loved the wilderness around her, and tried to preserve it.



The only bad thing about her lair was that, somewhere up the mountain face, was Crystal's lair. Jungura was somewhat scared of the giant dragon. Lately, Crystal had taken to shouting "who am I?!?!" at the top of her lungs. That worried Jungura a lot. Was she keeping watch over a madbot?



"It depends of your definition of insane." That was what Tybault had told her when they had first met. Maybe Crystal did not find anything odd at all in her shouting. Maybe where she came from it was acceptable. Probably not though.



Jungura admired the way Tybault had the ability to take something so boring and turn it into something so interesting. The cougar/eagle Fuzor was interested on his views on life, and she could sense he was interested in hers. Jungura hated to admit it, but she was starting to get a crush on Tybault. A very big one.



When she had been Doomsday, back on Cybertron, she had not had a real boyfriend. She had always been a little shy of relationships, of getting hurt. Doomsday had always veered away from men, and watched her sister, Aeris, talk and flirt and bare her soul to males who had rejected her. Aeris, had always been the emotional one, and had always cried when she got dumped. This had made Doomsday hate having a relationship with a guy, and she had begun to think that all men were pigs.



So, when Jungura had first started day-dreaming about Tybault, she had ran quickly to Tabitha. She had been kind of scared of the implications of the day-dreaming. Soon, Tabitha had diagnosed what was wrong with Jungura, and had said that she had a crush on Tybault.



This had devastated Jungura. She was not supposed to like men, because they were pigs. They all preyed upon women. Tabitha had just laughed when she heard this, and said to take it slow, and learn all you can about Tybault.



"And, if you want me to" Tabitha had said "I can always make a love potion for him to fall in love with you."



Jungura had laughed and told her sister to shut up. Tabitha had, but first had given her some more sisterly advice about boys, and the weird world of men. With all that information in mind, Jungura believed she was ready to meet Tybault again today.



So, now that she had finished her house-cleaning, Jungura was waiting for Tybault to show up. The winged cougar looked up at the sun to judge what time it was. It seemed to be ten o'clock in the morning, just when Tybault said he would arrive.



After a few minutes of waiting, Jungura finally saw his white and black figure trotting through the trees. If Tybault was not running, he always had a dignified trot, that made him look perfect, and made one ignore his physical appearance. Even though he did look quite weird, he carried his head high, and his scrawny legs always had a proud gait in them.



Jungura walked over and approached him. Tybault's brown eyes twinkled with happiness.



"You are looking as beautiful as ever" he said, nodding.



"And so's my room" Jungura replied. "I cleaned it up."



"I thought yesterday you said that you didn't mind your room looking like a pigsty" the black and white cheetah said, walking into her cave. Jungura waited outside, anxiously waiting what he would say.



Tybault came back out. "It is wonderful" he said, smiling at her. "You've done a good job, as I can see."



Jungura sighed in relief. She did not know why, but she had an instinctive urge to impress him, to make him proud of her.



Tybault took a long sniff. "Ah" he sighed. "The mountain air is fresh and clear. The giant lava pools by the base have a splendor, but not as magnificent as these mountains. Though, they are one of the same. Both cannot be moved by brute force, and both decorate the land around them." The cheetah shook his head. "I am sorry" he apologized. "I am babbling."



"No, no you weren't" Jungura insisted. "It all depends on your definition of babbling. To me, that was quite interesting."



Tybault chuckled, as she had hoped he would. "Using my own words of advice against me" he said. "Jungura you are a clever one." His eyes seemed to fill with a brilliant light as he looked at her.



Jungura pawed at the ground, unsure of how to accept the compliment. "Thanks" she said. "Is there any news from the Predacon base? I told Megatron of Serpentess' plan, has she succeeded?"



"No" Tybault replied. "Tabitha and I urged Megatron to block the air-vent to his personal quarters. He also has Unnamed Flyer making him some alarms for his room, even though there is not a lot of material to make alarms out of."



"Good" Jungura said. She had been afraid that the cobra's plan had succeeded. That snake was tricky, as Tabitha had told her.



There was a bit of silence, and the Fuzor sought frantically to break it. "I'm glad you came" she finally blurted out. "It means a lot to me. Tabby doesn't usually come, because she has duties back at the base. So, I'm just really happy that you're spending some of your time with me."



"It breaks some of the boredom?" Tybault asked. Jungura nodded.



Tybault smiled, showing dulled teeth. "It breaks the boredom for me too. I have little to do at the base. Megatron does not order me to do a lot of things, because I am so weak. And it gets quite annoying when all the other Predacons call you Pongo."



Tybault curled his lip into a snarl. Jungura could see how angry he was with his physical appearance. She realized how hard it must be for him, a skinny cheetah, little more than a bag of bones and skin.



"If they ever bug you when I'm around, their throats will be slit open" Jungura replied, with a growl.



The black and white cheetah looked at her. It seemed he had gotten used to her violent way of speaking.



"I thank you profoundly" Tybault said. "Alas, I fear your vow might be all in vain. You do not live at the base. I have heard many insults from your comrades, each more bitter and degrading than the last. From remarks of my physical appearance, to remarks about my parentage. They shall pay for it though" he said, his voice tough and hard, like the blade of a knife. He did not elaborate, he just let the threat hang in the air.



"I am sorry again" he shook his head. "I tend to be the mellow-dramatic sort." He looked at her with so much sincerity in his eyes that it was almost funny. Tybault was like a cute little teddy-bear, always apologizing if he felt he did something wrong. It made Jungura want to burst with sympathy for him.



"No, it's okay" Jungura said. So, there was a streak of toughness in Tybault. Interesting.



"I like that about you" Jungura said, wondering if she should have admitted that. "I like the way you speak, the way you can make boring things take on a life of their own. I just..... like you." Matrix, why was she just pouring her heart out all of a sudden?! She tried to stop herself. " And I don't care about how skinny you are."



Tybault looked at her, with shock in his eyes. Jungura feared she had done something quite wrong. Then, that shock turned to happiness.



"I am quite grateful that you said that" he replied, nodding. "It helps a lot. You are quite a good friend to me. You are kind, and non-judgmental." Jungura could feel herself blush.



"There was an Earthling book" Tybault continued. "It was called "The Little Prince." The little prince went to Earth, and saw a fox. The fox wanted the prince to tame him, and so the prince did. When they had to part, the fox said: "Because of all the time you have wasted on me, that is why I am special to you." That is what true friendship is all about. It is picking one person out of a hundred others for you to care for. Because of all the time I have spent with you, that is what makes you special to me."



"You're special to me too" Jungura said, feeling her heart pound faster. She wondered what she had just said. Had she said "Tybault, I love you" or had it been more like "Tybault, you're my best friend"? She wondered how he had interpreted it. Matrix, now she felt that she needed a translator!



However, what the cheetah said nest dispelled any doubt in her mind.



"My dear Jungura" Tybault said. "You know me well. I like to think also that I know you well. You have been my friend, and had helped me get adjusted to the Predacon base, and the people that live in there. You are an interesting person. You are compassionate to your friends, loving towards your sister, and respectful and dutiful to your leader. You are a loyal Predacon, and a caring one. Yet, you can beat up any member of your team when the fancy takes you. You have fun destroying Maximals, and sometimes the team members which you hate. Jungura, you are a fighter born and bred, yet one with a heart that beats pure. You do not hate unnecessarily. Sometimes you are nonchalant at somethings, but dead serious about others. All these qualities make you a very unique Predacon, and an even more unique soul."



"This may be sudden, I know. But, sometimes I can be as bold as brass. My emotions can run away with me occasionally, as they are doing now. Jungura.....I love you."



The cougar/eagle Fuzor sat down, and stared at Tybault. She had only known him for a few days..... but in those few days they had grown close. Jungura had a crush on him, but love? A relationship? With a GUY?



"I'll.....I'll need some time to think about this" Jungura replied, in shock.



Tybault nodded. He seemed to have changed from a romantic lover, to an embarassed little boy.



"Of-of course, take as long as you want" he said, his eyes filled with worry. "I knew that was a stupid thing to say. I-I'm sorry" he stuttered. "I shall be going now. And please, if you do not want to love me in return, please say so. Tell it to me straight, for I deserve it after what I said to you."



With that, Tybault shot up onto his paws, and dashed off. He did not trot like he usually did, but broke into an undignified scramble, and he slipped and slid down into the valley and away from her. He did not head back to the base, but seemed to stumble on, not knowing where he was going.



Jungura watched him go. In his absence came many thoughts, all of which she would have to deal with.



************************



"Freedom!!!" Lotus shouted, running around the base wildly. She was free! She was not grounded.



A week had passed, and today was now her day of freedom. She ran into the main control room, and saw Optimus, Cheetor and Cloud Runner sitting in front of the table.



"Hah!" Lotus laughed in Optimus' face. "You cannot control me anymore. Judgment day has arrived, and my life is in my own hands again! I am Lotus, back on-line and ready to kick butt!"



"Woah, who delivered sugar-cane to your room?" Cloud Runner asked, her white eyes wide.



"No one" Lotus replied. "I'm just happy that I'm out of here!" And indeed she was very happy. She could go outside again. No more stupid Transmetal gorilla controlling her whereabouts!



Optimus looked at her and sighed. "Lotus, I hope you realized that when you use bad judgement you suffer consequences."



"Yeah, yeah, I did" Lotus shrugged off Optimus' advice. "If anybody needs me I'll be outside and heading nowhere! I can do whatever I want because I'm free!!"



Lotus went out through the elevator door. Before she had even touched the ground, she had transformed into beast mode and flapped her wings. She flew through the air, her wings scooping up air.



This was the life! Lotus flapped her wings and flew higher. She was not a hawk, so unlike Air Razor she did not glide on the air currents like most birds of prey did. She had to beat her wings faster to gain more speed, but she flew faster than Air Razor ever could fly. But, that also meant Lotus got tired more easily.



But, did she care about getting tired? Of course not. She just flew through the air and looked down at the world below her, reveling in how high she had flown.



The base looked like a pebble. The land around it was mostly sand colored dirt, with a few almost microscopic green patches. Ahead of her was the jungle, which was a big splash of emerald and lime greens.



Lotus dived down closer, then pulled out of the dive, singing her happiness to the world.



"And then a hero comes along, with the strength to carry on. And you cast your fears aside and you know you can survive. So when you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong. And you'll finally see the truth. That a hero lies in you!" Lotus did not know who the singer of that song was, but she had heard Air Razor singing it to Birch one night. It was a nice song.



Lotus looked at the clouds above her. I wonder what it would be like to fly all the way up to the clouds, she thought.



Seized by a sudden restless impulse, she flew up towards the clouds. Her wings strained. It seemed that the clouds got farther away the closer she got to them. Soon, Lotus found herself running out of air to breath with, and dived back down to get some air.



Mildly disappointed, the nightingale looked at the ground below her. She was still flying over the jungle. She decided to go perch on a branch and rest, for she was panting, and her wings hurt.



The nightingale navigated her way through the canopy of the trees. Leaves and branches brushed against her feathers, but did not damage her. Finally, Lotus sat on the branch of a tree, overlooking the ground.



Lotus let her heartbeat slow down, and looked around her for a little bit. She saw lots of brown trunks, with green leaves that blocked the sunlight. Some of the trees were massive, others were skinny and small. There were a few ferns and bushes, all green. Lotus heard the chirp of insects, the calls of birds, and the scratching of claws against a tree......claws against a tree!



Lotus quickly looked around, but saw nothing. It was probably a jaguar marking it's territory. It was nothing to be concerned about.



Unfortunately, the black and white cheetah that suddenly appeared in front of her was something to be concerned about. Lotus was a two foot tall nightingale, and that was something one did not see everyday. The cat and the bird looked at each other.



"You're a Pred, right?" Lotus finally asked.



"Yes I am" the cheetah replied.



"Allow me to introduce myself" Lotus said. "I'm Lotus, Maximal scout and hacker, and I'm going to whip your scrawny butt!"



"And I am Tybault, Predacon scout, and not about to let my butt get whipped by a chicken!" Tybault replied, his brown eyes flashing.



"I'm a nightingale, you moron" Lotus replied angrily.



"You look as tasty as a chicken to me" Tybault replied. "Tybault, terrorize."



"Lotus, maximize!" the nightingale said.



Each took out their weapons, and prepared to carry out their threats. But, they just stood stock still, and stared at each other, their eyes getting wide. Wide with fear, and with memories.



As she saw Tybault's face, Lotus gasped. Memories came flooding over her, overwhelming her with their power. Lotus reeled back and closed her eyes. Her past swooped back into her mind. A past she had never cared about, and had mostly wanted to forget. When she had absorbed everything, Lotus opened her eyes again.



"Chromewire" the emerald bot whispered.



"Skyflight" Tybault replied, staring at her.



"You followed me here" Lotus stated, her voice still a mere whisper. "You were the same one who tried to kidnap me."



"I did" Tybault replied. "I needed to be with you. I love you, deeply and tenderly. I could never let you go. I needed to be with you forever, and I still do."



"Go away!" Lotus screamed. "I don't care about you and I never will!"



"You do care about me you just don't know it" Tybault said, adoration in his eyes.



Lotus transformed into beast mode, and launched herself into the air.



"Wait!" Tybault cried after her.



"I'll never wait for you, I'll never do anything for you!" Lotus howled back at him. All her rage and grief came out in that scream. "I HATE YOU!"



She beat the wind with her wings, and flew quickly back to the Maximal base, fear, hatred and sadness in her eyes.



***********************



"Hush little baby, don't say a word, moma's gonna buy you a mocking bird" Air Razor sang to Birch, who sleepily closed her eyes.



Air Razor was in her quarters, trying to put Birch to sleep. She had still kept the nest in her room, because Birch still needed a place to sleep. A nest was so much more comfortable than a bed, in Air Razor's opinion. She had lined her nest with more feathers, to make it softer for Birch to lie in.



Air Razor felt great pride and joy as she watched her child curl up in a state of semi-slumber. Oh, she loved her daughter dearly, more dearly than life itself. Birch was so precious to her. The Predacons had tried to take her from her two times, but each time their plans had been foiled. Air Razor was quite grateful for that.



Birch yawned, and Air Razor switched tunes.



"A you're adorable, B you're so beautiful, C you've got so much charm. D you're a darling, E you're so exciting, F you're a feather in my arms....."



There was a frantic knock at the door. Air Razor turned to the door, and then looked back at her child. Birch was sleeping soundly. Surely a visitor would not hurt?



Air Razor opened the door. Lotus stood in front of her, in her beast mode, tears streaming down her face. Air Razor took one look at her, and her maternal instinct kicked in. Lotus was her best friend, because she had a childish glow about her. She ushered Lotus into her room, and the two birds sat down.



"What's wrong Lotus?" Air Razor asked, worriedly.



"Air Razor it's awful!" Lotus whispered, sobbing again. Air Razor walked over to Lotus and put her arm around the young bird's shoulder.



"I'm going to start from the beginning" Lotus said, taking a few deep breaths. Air Razor nodded.



"Do you remember anything about your life on Cybertron?" Lotus asked, transforming into robot mode to tell her story with more emphasis.



Air Razor shook her head. "Not really. I don't really care about my past. I have a wonderful life here, I don't care about my old life. I'm sorry I can't be of much help there."



"It's okay" Lotus sniffled. "I was like you. I didn't care about my past. But now I have to. Because..... he's here!" Lotus spoke the word "he" with such vehement hatred that Air Razor was surprised.



"In my past" Lotus continued. "I was adopted and forced into a society I never wanted to be part of. Do you know about the Cybertronian Royals?"



Air Razor dimly recalled something in her memory circuits. "I think so" she said. "They were very rich, and they had been bots programmed before the Great War."



"They had been programmed before the Great War" agreed Lotus. "They had done so many good feats of bravery or kindness, that the Maximal and Predacon Elders had decided to give them lots of money, instead of a medal. They should have gotten their slagging medals!" Lotus hissed.



"The Maximal and Predacon Elders were just giving them money to keep them away from normal people. They didn't want an of the old war heroes trying to start up another war. So they gave them money and told them to shut up. And it worked. The Cybertronian Royals got their money and became a group of elitists. They had all the fancy houses, all the money, all the successful businesses. They became the uppercrust society, and were labeled the Cybertronian Royals."



"Eventually, the Cybertronian Royals realized they were getting old. If they died, what would happen to their money? Their businesses? And their millions of servants? It was a catastrophe!" Air Razor noticed a permanent sneer in the way Lotus described the Royals. She seemed to hate them very much.



"So what did they do?" Air Razor asked.



"They sent their servants to scout out for young bots" Lotus replied. "They searched for the most lovely, or the most proper looking bots. The Maximal and Predacon Elders helped them too. The Cybertronian Royals took these young ones from normal society when they were first programmed, and abducted them into their own, twisted world."



"I was one of those bots" the nightingale hung her head. "My name was Skyflight. I had just been given that name by the Maximal Elders, when a Cybertronian Royal servant took me from the normal world. I had just been programmed! I did not know what I was getting into. If I had known I would have kicked that guy right in the shins!"



Air Razor put her hand on Lotus' shoulder, seeing how angry the young bot was.



"So I was taken into the mansion of Metallana, my mother by adoption" Lotus said, fury blazing in her optics. "I was given a classy bedroom. I remember when I first said hi to one of the servants, Metallana looked at me sharply and said "well, we have a lot of work to do with you." And she did. I was taught never to greet the servants like equals. I was only to order them, because they were below me. As were the rest of the general public. The only people who I could be friendly with were other Cybertronian Royals, and sometimes the Maximal Elders."



"I was sent to a school by day. Oh, it was torture. The teachers standing over you. You were always expected to know everything. There were no counselors, no one to help you if you felt stressed out. And when I came back home to Metallana's mansion, she would always keep one eye on me, to make sure I did my homework."



"The teachers also instructed me on how to eat properly, how is the correct way to speak, and everything about manners and etiquette. I made no friends at that school, but one bot decided to be friends with me."



"His name was Chromewire" Lotus growled. "He took one look at me and fell in love with me. He courted me almost every night, always visiting my house. Chromewire was obsessed with me. Once he tried to kiss me, and I punched him in the face. I hated him, he was just so weird, so like them. He was always so proper, and he had been sucked in with the Cybertronian Royals mentality. He was a Cybertronian Royal, and I was not."



"I longed for freedom, for a friend. Everyone was so formal, so prim and proper. If you did one thing wrong you were shunned, and subtly insulted. And there were many ways you could insult someone just by looking at them. Everything was so subtle, and I hated it! They were suffocating me, when I needed air the most."



"Well, Metallana died, leaving me with all her money and her business. I had been well educated in matters of state and such, but I had never paid much attention to my teachers, so I did not know what to do with most of it. I preferred day-dreaming, and playing pranks on my classmates, rather than doing all my studies."



"It was then that I finally found a friend. My captain of the guard: Novablast. He took care of money, and all the things I had no idea how to handle. He really cared for me, and we became fast friends, despite the fact that I was supposed to order him around."



"One night, something awful happened. Someone tried to kidnap me from my royal chambers. Novablast was quite concerned for my safety, so he moved me to another house. This one was a normal house. Novablast fired all the servants, and sold all the furniture. We had to pretend to be normal."



"Oh Air Razor I loved it in that house!" Lotus sighed. "It was wonderful. I went to a normal school, and had normal bots. No one was prim and proper, just casual, and they got to be themselves, and not walk around like a stuffed doll. I loved it there, it was like a dream come true."



"But, I was nearly kidnapped again. Novablast moved us again. We were getting kind of afraid that this time my kidnapper might actually get me. Novablast swore to protect me with his life. He was a gentleman, but he was not as stuffy as the Royals were. He was sweet and kind."



"When we heard about the chance to sign up for the Axalon we took it immediately. We changed our symbols from those of a Cybertronian Royal's to those of a normal Maximals. That was how we got on this ship."



"You do seem to have a bad past Lotus" Air Razor agreed. "But, why are you forced to remember it?"



"Because I know who my kidnapper is now" Lotus said, her voice low. "It was Chromewire. His insane love for me drove him to be illegal. He also boarded the Axalon. And, now he's here on the planet" she said.



There was a silence, as Lotus shivered.



"He could try to take me again!" Lotus looked at Air Razor with wild eyes. "Last time he was nearly successful! He strikes when I'm sleeping, or alone. Oh, I'd hate to be the lover of that.....awful guy!"



"Air Razor, you know I pride myself on being brave" Lotus said with a sigh. "But, where Tybault's involved, I just can't be brave. He's just so devious when it comes to capturing me. The only reason he didn't succeed last time was because of Novablast. I wish I had my friend back. He'd protect me."



"What did you say Novablast was like?" Air Razor asked.



"He was a true gentleman" Lotus replied. "He was kind, and always assisted ladies. He would never hurt a woman. He was the kind of guy that.....well you know....he acted like Silverbolt. Like Silverbolt! That's it! Novablast is Silverbolt!" Lotus jumped up.



"I have to talk to him, and tell him everything!" Lotus said, rushing out of the room. Air Razor tried to stop her, but Lotus had already dashed to Silverbolt's quarters.



Air Razor sighed, and watched the impetuous bird dash down the hallway. She smiled, it was one of the things which was so endearing about Lotus.



The falcon looked at Birch, who, amazingly, had slept through it all.

*****************



Tybault felt awful, as he should.



I had a love back on Cybertron, he though mournfully. She refused me many times, but that just made the chase all the more enjoyable. Oh, she was the most lovely creature, with a spirit and a will of her own. Just lovely.



Now I thought she had disappeared on this planet. I thought she had been destroyed. How foolish of me! I thought I was free to chose a new love, and Jungura certainly was a wonderful person.



So, I fell in love with Jungura. And I told her! I completely embarrassed myself and herself and I just blurted out my feelings! Diebright would have killed me for my lack of self control!



Then, after scrambling away, like a lost child, I run into Maximal territory. And who do I find there? Curse the Fates, I find Skyflight! My old love.



Oh, if I could only find a mournful ballad to mark this occasion. Ah, such is the mess a fool gets himself into! Which path must this fool follow now? To tell Jungura of my old love? That would crush her! But, if I deny Skyflight...... I have gone across galaxies for her. Can I abandon her now?



She says she hates me, but I know it is in jest. She is a nut, and so far has not cracked. But, I can crack her, I know it. Lotus shall be my wife, I swear it!



But, what about Jungura? Do I still love her? Well....yes.... but do I not love Lotus more? This is quite a conundrum, worthy of the best novellas.



But this is not a novella. This is no story. I am playing with someone's heart. This is the real life, I cannot sit by, do nothing and hope everything ends up right. I must do something, I must tell Jungura about my feelings for Lotus.



Tybault felt sick after realizing that. He felt quite torn. He still held the old flame for Lotus, but he also cared tremendously about Jungura. The cheetah felt like burying himself into the ground, he could not mess with someone's heart underneath the ground.



Glancing around him, Tybault realized he had not moved, and was still in Maximal territory. He needed to get out. Maybe a short run would clear his mind? That would be as useless as hoping that after getting drunk you would not get a hangover. But, he decided to try it anyway.



He tensed his muscles, and his feet sailed through the air. First his front feet touched the ground, then his back feet following. He quickly ate up the ground, the wind whipping past his face. Tybault was amazed at his speed. He hardly felt any exertion, and felt only the thrill of running. The world was zipping past him so quickly.



How wonderful! Tybault marveled. I feel like I could run across the world in a mere day! There is something crudely entertaining in this. Hah! And the Predacons do not think I am of any use! Wait until I show them my speed, then they shall regret their taunts.



After a few more minutes of running, Tybault felt his legs give way underneath him. He then realized how hard breathing had become, and how much his feet hurt. The black and white cheetah stopped his breakneck speed, and sat panting on the ground.



Obviously, my speed is only a temporary thing, Tybault thought with a grimace. I am not as invincible as I like to think. Ah, but the thrill of running through the grass was just so beauteous! Matrix above, I must do that again!



"Tybault!" came a voice from above him.



The black and white feline's head shot up quickly, and he saw the form of the person whose meeting he had feared the most. He swished his tail nervously, as Jungura landed beside him. Matrix, she had such a lovely smile on her cougar features! It seemed to light up her face, and her eyes shone with a particular radiance.



Tybault hunched his shoulders in misery, ignoring Diebright's rule of always keeping a good posture. He hoped she would not tell him what he thought she was going to.



Please, don't say it, Tybault pleaded mentally. I don't need to here this now. Let me wallow in misery for a little while. Give me my solitude, let me not present you with my dilemma! That is the one thing you do not need to hear.



But, Jungura took a deep breath, and said it.



"Tybault, I considered your words carefully" Jungura began. Each word felt like poison to Tybault's system. He wished to run away from this, but he was rooted to the spot."And I decided that.....well..... you're a great person. I really liked you before and.... now I've decided that I can love you too. Because, you're just a great guy I guess."



"No, you were not supposed to say that!" Tybault snarled. Jungura looked at him with hurt shock in her eyes.



"I am sorry to shout at you" Tybault apologized. One was never supposed to raise their voice, especially at a lady. "I am sorry, I love you too but....part of me.... slag! I did not tell this to you, but I must now, for I deserve whatever pain this will give me." Tybault gnashed his teeth, and proceeded to tell Jungura his story.



He told her of the Cybertronian Royals, of how he had been adopted by Diebright, who had given him his sense of honor, and of proper and improper. He told Jungura about how he had met Skyflight, and how he had fallen in love with her at first sight. He described to her how wonderful Skyflight had been, a ray of light in a world which shunned light. Then he told Jungura about how he had been so obsessed with her, that he had tried to kidnap her. Skyflight had then moved, along with her captain of the guard, but he had found them out. Tybault had tried to capture them again. Then, when they signed on to the Axalon, he had signed on as well, and changed his symbol.



Then, as he unwillingly moved in for the kill, he told her that Skyflight had become Lotus, and was now a Maximal.



Jungura just stared at him, looking like a lost kitten, alone and terribly afraid. Tybault avoided her gaze, and stared at the ground, wishing he could become the dirt underneath his feet. For certainly his actions dictated that he was worse than dirt.



"Well" Jungura said finally. Her voice was like a knife dipped in poison, waiting to strike. "You do have an interesting past. I guess I just can't be part of your future."



With that, Jungura spread her brown wings and jumped into the air.



"Jungura, please!" Tybault called after her. "I think we should talk this over."



"You've said enough" Jungura replied, as she soared away from him, taking half of his heart with her.



************************



Silverbolt had never really cared that much about his past. It was something that was dead and gone, and he did not need to see any more of it. As long as he served Optimus well, and always had his honor with him, he considered himself fine.



But now here was Lotus, prying him to remember things he could only vaguely recall. The young lady seemed quite frantic to get him to remember his past.



"Do you remember a big, giant house?" Lotus asked.



"No" Silverbolt replied, shaking his head. "I just remember a street name. I lived at 898 Springer road. That is mostly all that I can remember Lotus. I am sorry."



"898 Springer road!" Lotus said. "Do you remember anything else? Oh please say you do! I need to hear you say that you remember your past. You don't know how important this is to me!"



Silverbolt tried to concentrate on his past. Other than Springer road he also saw.... a name.... a bot nice and polished, carrying some weapons.



"I remember the name Novablast" Silverbolt admitted. "And I remember a white and brown bot, with a sword and plasma gun by his side."



"Novablast!" Lotus yelped happily. "That was you Silverbolt! And that bot with the sword and plasma gun was you too! If you can remember anything else, that would help me so much!"



"My young lady, I think you should tell me why this is so important to you" Silverbolt said. Lotus looked so worried, what could inspire such unhappiness in her? If something was upsetting the young lady, it must be stopped. For women were to be honored, in Silverbolt's opinion.



"It's just that" Lotus faltered. She began to tell him the story of her past, and Silverbolt listened with rapt attention.



When the nightingale was finished, Silverbolt reflected on the tale. He had been a guard for a Cybertronian Royal back on Cybertron..... that seemed likely. But, could Lotus be lying about the whole thing?



Nonsense! Silverbolt scoffed. Why would a lady lie? Why would Lotus make this up? What would she have to gain from this? I must do my duty, and protect her. If not for the fact that I used to in my old life, then because because she is a lady in distress.



"If you don't believe me, you can run your hand three times over your Maximal icon" Lotus said. Her Maximal symbol was on her shoulder, and she ran her hands over it three times.



Silverbolt gasped. Instead of the Maximal symbol, which looked vaguely like a wolf's head, there was a new one. This symbol was of an ornate crown, with a scepter and a sword crossed together behind it. This symbol was yellow, not red like the Maximal symbol.



"Lotus, you need not go any further" Silverbolt said. "I shall resume my duties as being your guardian. I shall make sure you are never on scouting duty alone, and I might be able to persuade Rhinox to put some motion sensors in your room."



Lotus looked at him with pure happiness in her eyes. "You were my one true friend back on Cybertron" she said. "Matrix I missed you! Thank you so much for remembering! I'm glad you did." Lotus hugged him, then smiled and left his room.



Silverbolt sighed. He had not realized he was her best friend. But, since he had promised to be her guardian again, he might as well promise to be her best friend as well.



And how hard could that be?



***********************



Jungura prided herself in never crying. Tabitha was the one who cried, not her. She was the tough one.



So she was not crying as she flew towards the Predacon base. Nor would she cry. The reason she was heading towards the base was to blow of a little steam. And kick some of the Predacon's butts.



Jungura swooped in through the front door, and landed in one of the hallways. She began to walk down it quickly, scanning for someone to get rid of her anger. It was not her fault she was this mad. It was Tybault's fault! She had been right all along, men were pigs, no matter what Tabitha said.



To her perverse happiness, she saw Demi-God and Guano talking. Jungura gave a laugh, and bounded in on their conversation.



"Hey" Guano said in a limp greeting.



"My small cerebral netted servant" Demi-God sighed. "Who in the Matrix, Pitt, etcetera, etcetera, decreed that you may greet others with your repulsive vocal chords?" He slapped Guano on the head.



"I hate you" Guano mumbled, though Jungura was not sure to which one of them he had spoken.



"Hey DG!" Jungura snapped. Demi-God looked at her with an offended glare.



"My name, you perverse little feline, is-" he began.



"I don't care!" Jungura snapped. "Who the heck said you could greet people with your offensive face?! You are so dead!" Jungura spouted out words of anger, so much that she had forgotten their meaning. She just felt so mad, like she could rip Demi-God's throat out.....



Demi-God backed up against the wall. He could sense how angry the cougar/eagle Fuzor was. Jungura was about to pounce on him, but Guano blocked her path. So, instead of Demi-God she pounced upon Guano.



Jungura looked down at the arachnid. Demi-God had run off. Oh well, any punching bag was better than none. She began to claw into Guano and rip out huge hunks of metal, and blue circuits. Rivers of mech-fluid began to pour out of his wounds, and Jungura clawed at his wounds some more, feeling a wonderful thrill as she felt Guano shudder with pain.



She did not now why she felt so much fun when she beat up people. She only knew that she liked it very much, and it helped get rid of anger and stress.



Guano did not shout in pain, but punched Jungura with one of his pinchers. He did not wound the feline that much, just Jungura grabbed him by the throat and proceeded to strangle him. She felt her rage leave her, bit by bit. Still it was not completely out of her system.



After clawing at Guano's abdomen some more, then chewing on his arm, Jungura stopped.



"It's not fun when your victims don't cry out in pain" she said.



"I can't cry 'cause I'm in my..... robot mode" Guano said, grinning a foolish grin. Jungura sighed, picked him up by his leg and dragged him to the CR pools, and plunked him in.



She then began to search for someone like Terrorsaur for her to beat up, for she was still angry. Just thinking about Tybault made her blood burn with lava. Jungura wanted to kill, to feel mech-fluid against her jaws, and to hear a victim squeal in pain.



"Jungura!" came a familiar voice. The Fuzor turned around, and saw her sister standing there.



"It's nice to see you here" Tabitha said, walking up to her sister. "But, why are you here?"



"Butt kicking" Jungura said simply.



Tabitha looked at her sister sadly. "What happened now?"



"Nothing, it's just Tybault is a big moron" Jungura replied. "A moron who deserves to get ripped to pieces, and boiled in a pot of hot water until his metal melts and-"



"Okay I get the picture" Tabitha said. "Yesterday you told me you liked him, what happened there?"



"Nothing much" Jungura said with a low growl. "Only that he tells me he loved me. Then he runs off, and tells me to think about it. I do love him, and I tell him that. Then he tells me his life story. It turns out that Lotus used to be his girl back on Cybertron, and he just realized that she existed! And he said we should talk it over! The nerve of that....man!"



"Oh Jung, I'm so sorry!" Tabitha said, nuzzling her sister. "You probably should talk it over with him. It's the best way to work things out."



"I don't care about working things out!" Jungura snapped. "What's there to talk about? He's going to go after that Lotus girl, and he's going to forget about me. That's the way this thing will go. Why did I tell him I loved him?" she asked rhetorically. She felt like such a fool! To let a guy use her like that, she was an idiot!



"Look, take it from me-" Tabitha began.



"I will take it from you" Jungura nodded. "I'll never say I love anyone ever again. I'll just get myself hurt. Men are morons, and they are evil slugs! I'd rather die than fall in love with someone!"



"No, Jung that's not what I meant!" Tabitha began. "Do you still care about Tybault?"



"I...." Jungura faltered. Did she? Part of her heart still did, for he was a wonderful person. But, no. That part of her was wrong. That part of her just did not understand reality. Men only used women, and that was that. It was foolish to hope for a relationship with one of them.



"No I don't!" Jungura snapped. "I hate him. Now, let me go. I think I smell Terrorsaur over this way."



Jungura was about to walk off, when Tabitha gave her some final words of advice.



"Just listen to your heart, it will tell you what to do" Tabitha said.



Jungura snorted. Her heart had gotten her into this mess. It was too stupid to get her out of it. No, her heart was not a good thing to trust, because all you got from it was foolish feelings.



She walked off, ready to beat up Terrorsaur.



*************************



Bouncealot looked over at Nightshade, who was acting as his counselor. He wagged his little cotton-ball tail in contentment. Whenever he was with Nightshade, he always felt happy. And she seemed to take away some of the gloom of his decision.



Indeed, the decision was quite gloomy. He could sense that the rest of the Gang was getting impatient with him. They wanted his answer soon, but he just did not feel prepared to give it. All of this was resting on his shoulders! He was a rabbit, and he was not supposed to carry heavy loads.



"So, Pretty Lady, I just don't know what to do" the rabbit sighed. "I want Marbelle back. But I don't want 'er to be stupid. It would be so awful if she was stupid! She's a doctor, and she should not be stupid. Marbelle always wanted to be a doctor, and now she is. Is it right for me to take that away from 'er?"



"Bouncealot, this is a very important thing to think about" Nightshade said. Nightshade had a most lovely voice, and Bouncealot sighed.



"We've been through this many times today, and it's almost nighttime now. It would be nice to figure this out soon. I think, from what I know of Marbelle, that she would be happy if you tried to help her" Nightshade continued. "I mean, how can you tell what she wants, if she's sleeping?"



Bouncealot groaned and yanked his ears. He just did not know what to do! The balance of risk and reward was equal! If his Pretty Lady could not figure out what to do, how could he?



"You do know what the right thing is, don't you Pretty Lady?" he asked nervously.



Nightshade sighed. "No I don't Bouncealot" she shook her head.



"But you're an angel!" Bouncealot shrieked. "You 'ave to know! If you don't, then that means Primus doesn't! And if Primus doesn't then I don't know what to do!! Argh!!!" the rabbit/sparrow shouted. He hit himself on his head, trying to smack some sense into himself.



"I am not an angel Bounce" Nightshade said, looking at him with her clear blue eyes. Bouncealot felt a bit of calm and reassurance in those eyes.



"I don't have any connection to Primus" Nightshade said. "I suppose, that now you have to pray."



Bouncealot sighed, and stared at his big feet. He really did not have that good of a friendship with Primus, the good god of bots. When he had been in the Great War, he had usually forgotten to pray to him. And when he had joined the Gang, he had not prayed at all. Even when the Gang had split up, Bouncealot had not prayed often.



"I'll try, Pretty Lady" he nodded. It would be mean to not take the advice of the Pretty Lady, for she was always right. Bouncealot liked that about her. She could be so mature sometimes, but so childish other times. Right now she was being mature.



He closed his eyes, and held his front paws up to the air. "Dear Primus" he started off. It sounded good enough. "I really wish that you could 'elp me. I just can't figure out what to do. I really want Marbelle alive but....well, you know what I'm going to say. Because you're everywhere. But, how can you be everywhere, if you're in the Matrix? Do you 'ave a lot of servants to do things for you? Like, you just sit up in the Matrix, and your servants report back to you? 'Ow much do you pay them? Is the Pretty Lady one of your servants? If you could please answer these question, and of course my question about Marbelle, I would be quite grateful. Oh....P.S: please reply soon. Yours truly, Bouncealot."



He opened his eyes. "'Ow was that Pretty Lady?" he asked nervously. "Was it good? I 'ope it was."



"It was beautiful" Nightshade replied. Bouncealot puffed out his chest. Praise from Nightshade seemed like a blessing to him.



"When do you think Primus will respond?" the rabbit/sparrow Fuzor asked.



"Primus responds when he feels it is right" Nightshade replied.



Boucealot was flabbergasted. "Y-you mean, only when 'E thinks it's right?! What about when I need it! 'Ow can 'e do this to me?! I need to know soon! I need to know the answer really soon. He and I are going to 'ave a looooong talk!" Bouncealot stamped his feet angrily.



"Bouncealot, listen to me" Nightshade said. "Primus just doesn't pop out of the sky and give an answer to you. The answer is there Bouncealot. How do you expect to here it if you're not listening? If you just stopped worrying, maybe you might here the answer."



The rabbit/sparrow Fuzor sighed. Nightshade was right. "I'll be in my room thinking, if you need to talk to me" he told her.



"Good, Bouncealot" Nightshade said, favoring him with a smile that gave him an extra bounce in his steps.



Bouncealot went into his quarters, after navigating through the hallways. It was still hard to get used to all the twists and turns. Oddly enough, the interior of the base reminded him of a rabbit warren, and that always cheered him up. But this time, it only had a little effect on him. He went into his room and just plopped himself down.



In his room there were mounds of grass, flowers, dirt, rocks and twigs. Bouncealot liked his room as natural as possible. Instead of lying down in his actual bed, he lay down in a bunch of dried grasses and weeds. It made as nice as bed as anything.



In Bouncealot's room there was a bed and a shelf, nothing more. The shelf was now lined with rocks, dirt and flowers, making it look quite nice. His bed, like the rest of his room, was a mess of grass, dirt, sand and weeds. There was no metal floor showing at all in his room.



Bouncealot sighed wearily, and nibbled on some of the grasses. They did not taste very fresh, he would have to go out and pick some more tomorrow. He did not feel like eating that much anyway. His mind was full enough, and he did not care to have a full stomach as well.



Now, he needed to think. Could he go through with this? Or could he not?



Think of what your three friends want, Bouncealot thought. What do they want? They want Marbelle to get an energon overload. Surely you could give them you okay? They're your friends, and they'd be crushed if you didn't.



But I just can't bare to see Marbelle become a stupid idiot! another part of Bouncealot said. It would be so wrong. I cannot let it happen. It would be my fault if she had a mental 'andicap! My friends think I am a mentally stupid person. I see the way they look at me. They look at me with so much pity! They look at me with sorrow in their eyes.



Bouncealot growled to himself. It was true, his friends did think he had some mental disabilities. And so did the rest of the crew. Optimus had said that he was not allowed to go fighting. Bouncealot liked to talk a lot, but just because he liked to talk a lot did not mean he was insane. He just wanted to let people know about him, to let them hear all the things he had heard, and see all the things he had seen.



Suddenly, Bouncealot felt tiredness sweep over him. He curled up in his nest of grasses some more, snuggling deep into them. He wanted to rest, to forget about his heavy decision. He would sleep......



Bouncealot's world suddenly cascaded into blackness, as sleep stole over him.



And, maybe when he woke up, Primus would have answered his prayer.



**********************



Rattrap looked over Marbelle. She looked the same as always. No part of her stirred, except for the gentle rising and falling of her chest. A smile of serenity was on her face.



She looks so happy, Rattrap thought. Maybe dis energon overload thing ain't going tah be a good idea.



But slag! another part of him shouted. I love her! I need to have her back! I can't watch her sleep forever, I need tah see her move again. I need to see her have the life in her that she used to have.



But she might not have the life she used to have, he warned himself. She might become a mental retard. That would be awful if dat happened tah her.



I made my decision, Rattrap thought with a sigh. I can't go back now.



And indeed, he could not. Satin and Malice were right beside him, the same consternation on their faces as he had. Rhinox sat next to Rattrap, he had finished examining Marbelle for the day. He was tactfully staying out of the way of the three friends.



"I come here every day" Rattrap spoke out loud, to break the silence. "She's never moved. She only breathes. Marbelle can't laugh or sing or do nothing."



"She always had so much life" Satin replied.



Rattrap did not expect Malice to say anything. He was Malice, the Silent One. So, when Malice did say something, he was surprised.



"She was like a little rose, so delicate and lovely" the hyena said. "To think she should come to this."



"Satin's trained yah well, eh Malice?" Rattrap said, with a grin.



"I can make him do tricks" Satin replied. "Roll over, boy, come on, roll over!"



Malice got off his chair and rolled over with the enthusiasm of a circus clown, making Rattrap and Satin laugh. He stood back up and sat back on his chair, chuckling to himself.



"Good boy!" Satin said, and she kissed him on the cheek.



"Where's my treat?" Malice asked.



"That was you treat!" Satin replied with a laugh.



"Aw, and I wanted a Milkbone!" Malice replied in a whining voice.



Rattrap laughed, but inside he was hurting. Just seeing how those two looked at each other, it pained him so much. The two of them did look in love this time, and were not faking it. Although, Rattrap had to admit it was hard to tell.



I wish Marbelle would look at me like dat, Rattrap thought, with a grimace.



"Well, I'll leave you guys alone" Rhinox said, nodding his head. Just as he walked out the door of the sickbay, Bouncealot ran in, and hit himself on Rhinox's thick leg.



"OW!" Bouncealot snapped. He shook his head and looked up at Rhinox. "Sir, I demand that you arrest that leg! It stopped me when I 'ave important things to tell!"



"Sure Bouncealot" Rhinox said, nodding. He looked at the rabbit/sparrow the way he would look at a child, patronizingly indulgent.



Bouncealot dodged through Rhinox's legs and ran up to Marbelle's bed. The brown rabbit looked at Marbelle with happiness in his eyes. He turned to the rest of them, with frenzied excitement.



"CongradulatemeguysI'vedecidedthatyoucangothroughwiththeenergonoverloadbecausePrimusansweredmyprayer!" Bouncealot burst out, hopping and jumping around, his wings flapping and his eyes bright.



"Slow down Bounce" Satin said. "Don't blow a circuit!"



Bouncealot took a few breathes. "I've decided that you can go on with the energon overload. I prayed to Primus to give me an answer to my question and he did! In a dream....no! In a vision! I saw Marbelle rise up from her bed and run though a field of clover. That means that she'll survive! Oh, and also in my dream, I went around and ate all the clover. And I could actually taste it! It was quite lovely clover, very yummy!"



"That's great Bounce!" Rattrap said, shaking Bouncealot's paw.



"I know, it was a lovely dream" the Fuzor replied, nodding his head happily.



"Hey Rhinox, d'you hear dat?" Rattrap said to Rhinox. "Get out de equipment, we can give her an energon overload."



"Are you all sure about this?" Rhinox at. Doubts assailed Rattrap, but he pushed them away. He was being given a chance by Rhinox to back down, but he would not. He wanted Marbelle back!



Everyone else was silent as well. Rhinox smiled and nodded. He took out a machine, that had metal needles attached to wire, which were attached to the machine. The machine was five feet high, and two feet wide, and inside it Rattrap could see the crackle of energon.



Rhinox stuck four needles into Marbelle's head, each at different points. Then he stuck some more of the needles in her arms, legs, hands, and almost every joint in her body.



Then Rhinox walked over to the machine. "Don't be surprised if you see her body jerk back and forth" he said. "That's just the body's way of reacting to the energon in the system."



Then, he pressed the button, and the machine turned on.



With that little act they could destroy or regain Marbelle's life.



True to Rhinox's prediction, Marbelle's body shook back and forth, and jerked frantically. Rattrap felt a sudden urge to touch her, but Rhinox had told him if he did that he would be electrocuted. So, he had to content himself with watching Marbelle.



He felt Satin and Malice's robotic hands on his shoulder. Bouncealot put a furry front paw on his knee.



"It will be okay Rattrap" the brown rabbit said. "I worked it all out with Primus. It's weird, I never really cared about Primus before today. Maybe I could become a priest."



"That'll be the day" Rattrap replied.



"I can't imagine any of us being a priest" Satin said. Malice nodded.



"You guys should try praying sometime" Bouncealot said. Rattrap sighed, now his friend would try to convert them into religious zealots. It seemed Bouncealot was a somewhat more innocent person than Chance, his Cybertronian personality, had ever been.



Suddenly, Marbelle stopped shaking, and Rhinox turned the machine off. Rattrap looked at Rhinox, then at Marbelle. Would she wake up?



Marbelle's optics lit up quickly. Instead of the black they had been, they were now red. She looked around her, and Rattrap held his breath. Was she the same Marbelle, or had part of her brain been taken? He felt his breath come quickly.



Marbelle yawned. "Hi you guys" she said. "How long was I asleep?"



Rattrap almost jumped for joy. It was the real her!! He felt his heart beat faster with happiness. His Sparkplug, Marbelle... she was back! Herself! Satin and Malice broke into relieved laughter. Rattrap did too. The stress of their decision was gone, and a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Bouncealot glanced up at the ceiling and mouthed the words "thank you." He was probably praying to Primus.



"Sparky!" Rattrap cried. "You're back!!!"



"Of course I am" Marbelle replied with a laugh. "I'm sorry, I guess I just drifted off to sleep. Has anything happened?"



"You have no idea!" Rattrap said, looking at her with loving eyes.



"Well, I'd like to have an idea" Marbelle said. "Show me what's been going on! Are there any new bots?"



Rattrap did not answer just then. First, he gave another relieved laugh. The second thing he did was thank Primus. Hey, the big P deserved it! Then, he lifted Marbelle out of bed, and proceeded to show her around.



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