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Battle Beasts
Vs.
Beast Wars
Enter The Transcreatures
Part IV
"WOOD!"
A tremendous pine tree exploded from the ground, racing to meet
Optimus, Jaguar, and Violet Horn as they fell. Rendered unconscious
by the shot from Skull Grotess, Optimus' limp form crashed through
the tree top, tumbling through the branches and eventually hitting
the ground with a solid clatter of twisting metal. Jaguar leapt
off a moment before impact, while Violet Horn was thrown off the
robot when he hit bottom. The glow from his elemental died down.
"T'was close, nay, t'was too close."
"You got that right." Jaguar tipped Optimus to one side.
"He doesn't look so good." The blast from Grotess had
gone straight through Optimus' midsection, Jaguar could see the
ground through the gaping hole. Skyward, Violet Horn saw Grotess
circling.
"He's spotted us."
Jaguar was busy trying to wake Optimus. He tapped his head repeatedly,
hoping he could knock the circuitry back into place. Optimus groaned,
barely able to lift his head, a few sparks shot forth as he tried.
"Ugnn... What happened?"
"A metric ton of energon blew up in your face, that's what
happened." He looked up at Grotess, then back at Optimus.
"Can you still move? "
Optimus tried but couldn't. "Can't move... gotta stop them...
from getting the stasis pods..." A surge of energon flowed
through Optimus as he began to enter stasis lock.
Violet Horn kept his eyes on Grotess. "A wonder...he refrains
from attacking..."
Optimus shuddered as he lifted his head again. "He's probably...
making sure we don't disturb... Slag King."
Jaguar began to pace back and forth, looking skyward. The platform
had begun to send out tractor beams, their red glows penetrating
the sky, disappearing as they left the atmosphere and connected
with the closest orbiting stasis pods.
"Crap, they're starting." Jaguar continued pacing, then
stopped as he noticed the rockets on Optimus. "Hey, do these
still work?"
Grotess looked down at the fools from the sky. He was impressed
that Violet Horn could react so quickly, and for a moment considered
descending to finish them off, but it would be best if he stayed
where he was. Now that their only means of flight had been dealt
with, they were earthbound. He looked over at Slag King, who gave
him a thumbs up as the tractor beams locked onto the nearest stasis
pods.
"Locked onto a bunch of 'em Grotess! They're bein' reeled
in as we speak!"
"Good. How much longer?"
"Bout five minutes, tops." He looked down at the Beasts
and Optimus. "Nice shot. You think they're down for the count?"
"They won't be giving us anymore problems."
Violet Horn helped Jaguar strap the rocket to his back.
"Tis doubtful this plan of yours will do anyone any good."
"Look, just shut up and hold it still, I need to concentrate."
Jaguar closed his eyes and focused the power within. In his mind's
eye he could see the contour of Optimus' rocket on his back, and
slowly, he began to centralize his fire power, fusing the rocket
to his armor. Violet Horn let go as soon as the metal heated up,
watching as Jaguar melted the edges of the metal, attaching it
to his armor. A second later he was done, and tapped the rocket
to make sure it was stable.
"Not bad..." Optimus remarked. "Not bad at all."
"You're sure this'll work Optimus?"
"Yeah, you should be able to work it fine."
Violet Horn focused his wood power. "You will need a distraction.
I shall keep Grotess busy."
"I hope so."
A Green aura surrounded Violet Horn as he concentrated. "Wood!"
A second later a giant redwood sprouted beneath his feet raising
him into the air towards Grotess. Jaguar watched, waiting for
the right moment.
Skull Grotess smiled as Violet Horn approached, riding atop the
massive tree.
"You don't learn, do you?" With a surge of power, Grotess
fired three shots at the massive object before it could get near
him. Shattering the tree, Grotess was surprised to see another
sprout up in it's place immediately, larger than the one before.
Violet Horn rode this new one with a smug smile. His anger growing,
Grotess fired three more shots, shattering this new transport
as well, only to find Violet Horn riding yet another that shot
up in it's place. The beast was raising a slew of trees from below,
merely leapfrogging from one to another. Grotess smiled.
"Very clever, but there's more than one way to kill a Bison..."
Violet Horn drew his weapon at the ready as Grotess descended
to meet him.
Jaguar saw his chance and ignited the rocket, taking off a lot
quicker than he expected.
"Gaaah!" It took a moment to get used to the speed but
he managed to maneuver himself into place, charging towards Slag
King.
Slag King watched the tractor beams as they began to pull the
stasis pods closer. He could count about ten or eleven of them,
with more sure to come.
"Great..." he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Come to daddy..."
A fiery bolt streaked past him. "You ain't my daddy!"
Jaguar yelled as he spun around for another pass. Slag king growled
and pulled out his gun, aiming for Jaguar's head.
"Wretched beast! Die!!!" Slag King let loose with a
spatter of laser shots that barely missed Jaguar. Increasing his
speed, Jaguar collided with Slag King, knocking him off the platform.
Landing in the center of the levitating object, Jaguar pulled
out his spear and narrowed his eyes.
"Looks like I'm king of the mountain now. Let's see if you
can take it back!"
Skull Grotess slammed into Violet Horn, knocking him down and
sending the bison through a few branches. Violet Horn grabbed
hold of a thick growth on the tree's side and hoisted himself
up. Grotess immediately slammed into him, driving them both through
two trees before they began to fall towards the ground. Violet
Horn swung and connected with Grotess' jaw, rocking the creature's
head back. Grotess grabbed Violet Horn's arm and swung him through
another tree, then slashed him across the neck. Another uprising
tree caught Violet Horn, stopping his rapid descent, and his elemental
flickered. With a raised hand, he summoned a series of slithering
vines to wrap themselves around Grotess' golden wings. Entangled
in the merciless flora, Grotess sprayed the surrounding trees
with a blanket of flame, setting everything above them ablaze.
Violet Horn leapt from his branch and latched onto Grotess, his
momentum and their combined weight snapping the tree, sending
them hurtling towards the ground yet again.
"You impress me Violet Horn," Grotess growled, his stare
piercing Violet Horn.
"You know you can't defeat me, yet you continue this useless
struggle..."
Violet Horn glared at the dragon "Defeat tis merely a word
for those who give up. That is something I shall never do."
A thick pine shot up from the ground and caught them, bending
sharply from their weight. Grotess grabbed Violet Horn by the
throat and began to squeeze.
"Defeat is when the weak succumb to the strong. That is something
you will do very soon."
Slag King whizzed past Jaguar, missing him by an inch. Jaguar
followed the Pteradon with his eyes, waiting for him to pass again.
He did so as expected, headed straight for him. Jaguar leapt as
Slag King neared him, burying his spear in the Lazerbeast's arm
and driving him down to the platform.
"AAAAAA!!!!" Slag King watched in horror as Jaguar pushed
down on his spear, driving it through his arm as well as the levitation
platform, pinning him to it. The machine sizzled with electrical
malfunctions. With his free hand, Slag King tried to fire his
weapon, but Jaguar kicked it off the platform. The tractor beams
began to fade, but still continued to drag some of the stasis
pods closer. Blood flowed from Slag King's arm as he tried to
pull it free, and Jaguar pushed the spear down even further, bringing
another scream from Slag King. Jaguar's elemental flickered as
he gathered energy into his being, preparing to destroy the platform.
Violet Horn and Grotess heard Slag King's screams as they battled
through the rising trees. Immediately Grotess realized what the
beasts had done. They'd lured him away, kept him busy in this
useless squabble while they tried to destroy the platform. He
turned to Violet Horn and nailed him with a punch that brought
a spray of blood from the bison's nose. Another to the chest dented
the beast's armor and caused Violet Horn to bleed internally,
blood coming up through his mouth. Grotess, furious with the beasts
and himself, grabbed Violet Horn by the throat and hurled him
downward, snapping him through five trees as they arose. Violet
Horn hung limp in the branches as his elemental faded to black,
and the trees stopped growing.
Jaguar fired a blast straight through the levitation platform,
causing a small explosion within the platform itself. It wavered
and rocked back and forth, the tractor beams dying off completely
as it began to fall. Only five stasis pods were visible now, the
rest returning to their previous orbit. Jaguar ripped his spear
from Slag King's arm and kicked him hard on the side of the head,
sending him off the platform in a daze of pain and blood loss.
He landed hard atop the trees Violet Horn had risen. Starting
up his rocket again, Jaguar had barely taken off when he caught
sight of Grotess. It was a second too late.
Grotess rocked Jaguar with a shot that sent him fifty feet from
the platform. Jaguar barely recovered when Grotess was on him
again, clearing the distance in seconds. He nailed Jaguar again,
angling his descent towards the falling platform. Jaguar hit the
device at full force, his head reeling from the savagery of Grotess'
attack. He turned to see Grotess coming for him again, a sneer
on his face, baring his jagged teeth. Death was in his eyes as
he sped towards Jaguar, faster, faster still. The rocket was beginning
to short out from the abuse, coughing out clouds of blackened
smoke. Jaguar let himself drop off the platform and tried to maneuver
his way back to the ground when Grotess attacked again. Nailing
Jaguar with another shot to the skull, Grotess reared back for
another go. Barely managing to pull his left arm up in defense,
Jaguar winced at the loud crack as Grotess connected, shattering
the bones. With a feral scream, Jaguar lashed out with his good
arm, slashing Grotess across the side of his face. The dragon
was not deterred by this, and grabbed Jaguar by his broken arm,
twisting it and snapping the bones yet again. Still not satisfied,
Grotess ripped the rocket from Jaguar's armor and crushed it,
letting the beast fall to his death.
**********
Silverbolt had taken on most of the predacon fuzors himself, quickly
realizing the error of his decision. Terragator had latched onto
one of his wings while Skyshadow pummeled him mercilessly. Unable
to fly or defend himself, Silverbolt fired his wing cannons, nailing
Quickstrike and Aquasting. Blackarachnia freed herself from the
rubble Rampage had dropped on her and joined Rhinox as he tried
desperately to fend off Megatron.
The battle between the Lazerbeasts and Battle Beasts raged through
the entire room. Big Serow locked up with Condorassin, trying
to pierce the vulture's wings with his drill. Laughing at his
attempts, Condorassin slashed Big Serow across the forehead, cutting
him to the bone. A straight kick sent the beast against the wall
and he fired his weapon,hoping to put a smoking ring in Big Serow's
skull. Ducking out of the way, Big Serow wiped the blood from
his brow and kicked the gun from his assailants grip. A savage
right almost broke the bird's beak, and a solid left with his
drill brought the lazerbeast to the ground. Big Serow growled
and began stomping Condorassin repeatedly.
Kickback caught Dog Hunter in the ribs with a sharp kick, sending
the beast flying into Hedgehog. The pain from the blow caused
Dog Hunter to collapse, clutching his midsection. Kickback pressed
his attack as Hedgehog tried to move his friend to safety, catching
the fire beast in the temple with another kick. Hedgehog reeled
from the shot and felt warm liquid flow from his forehead. He
swung at Kickback with his staff, his sight obstructed by the
blood dripping into his eyes. Kickback dodged the attack and countered
with another kick to Hedgehog's skull, knocking the beast unconscious.
Yellow Giraffe and Flying Attacker were back to back as Monkey
Fighter and Buzzclaw closed in on them. Flying Attacker drew her
weapon and slashed at the fuzor, but missed. Monkey Fighter kicked
Yellow Giraffe straight in the throat, bringing the beast to his
knees, then went after Flying Attacker, swinging at her repeatedly.
Flying Attacker tried to escape and took to the air, only to be
leapt upon by Buzzclaw. The two hit the ground with a loud thud.
Monkey Fighter knocked her out with a swift kick to the temple,
then bowed to his fallen opponent.
Rhinox and Blackarachnia couldn't fend off Megatron any longer.
Blackarachnia was weak from her attack on Rampage and was no match
for Megatron's full power. A blast of concentrated fire sent her
through one of the computer monitors, knocking her out cold. Rhinox
laid down a spray of gunfire from his twin machine guns, but they
bounced off Megatron's armored hide. He laughed at Rhinox's determination.
"Valiant as always Rhinox," He swatted the guns from
Rhinox and knocked him down, stepping on his chest and allowing
his sheer mass to slowly crush the maximal's frame. "Futile,
but valiant nonetheless. That is a terrible trait you've picked
up."
"So is arrogance."
Megatron whipped his head around in time to see Big Serow land
hard on his back and drive his drill straight through the base
of his neck. The screeching metal smoked in resistance but gave
way to the intense force Big Serow exerted, eventually burying
the drill up to the hilt. With a defiant roar Megatron propelled
himself backwards, slamming himself and Big Serow into the rocky
walls of the maximal base. Big Serow's armor strained against
the rocks, trying to maintain its structure as Megatron flew forward
and rammed himself back again. Skyshadow halted his assault on
Silverbolt and saw a geyser of steaming red fluid spraying from
Megatron's back. The Beast must have struck a main line, Megatron's
actions became more violent and frantic with each passing moment.
He couldn't help but smile at his leader's misfortune.
Rhinox crawled over to his weapons and opened fire on Megatron
yet again, this time aiming for the predacon's head. The bullets
bounced off his cranium at first, but began to leave dents as
he poured on more fire. One bullet found it's mark and shattered
Megatron's right optic. Megatron bellowed wildly and whipped his
head from side to side. He couldn't see straight, he couldn't
think, and his vital fluids were escaping. He reacted instinctively,
attacking anything near him, firing randomly and lashing out at
anything that moved. The Beast was still on his back, but it wasn't
moving, Rhinox was still shooting at him, he couldn't chance losing
sight in both eyes. He jerked forward, throwing the beast from
his back and fell to the ground, trying to shield himself with
his wings.
Skyshadow could barely keep down the joy he felt watching Megatron
as he crumpled to the floor, shielding himself like the wounded
animal he had become. If only he could off him right now.... But
there was no time, and too many would see. This was a good chance
to get even closer to Megatron, gain all his trust. Better that
than to have the Predacons turning on him. He forced a small torpedo
up through his mouth and fired at Rhinox, nailing the maximal
in the back and knocking him out as the cyber venom raced through
his systems.
"Predacons!" he commanded. "Gather the wounded
and retreat, we must get Megatron to safety!" The Predacons
reacted immediately, and Skyshadow felt himself getting high on
the power he would soon have. In time, they would be his to command
always, once Megatron was out of the way. That would come in time.
Condorassin stopped in front of him with Hedgehog draped over
one shoulder, snapping Skyshadow from his momentary fantasy.
"How many beasts did Aligatron request?!"
"As many as you can bring."
Waspinator buzzed past them then stopped. "What beast bot
doing? Waspinator not know anything about taking prisoners..."
"Special orders, my friend." Skyshadow smiled and patted
Waspinator on the head. "Now go help get Megatron back to
base, we need all the flyers we have."
Waspinator smiled and nodded, flying off. "Waspinator like
two head, always so nice to Waspinator, and never send Waspinator
out to get slagged..."
The Predacons slowly departed from the Maximal base, Megatron
and the other wounded soldiers in tow. When they had finally vanished,
only a smoking trail of ruin and destruction was left behind,
and five of the Battle Beasts had been taken.
**********
Jaguar lay in a bloodied heap next to Optimal Optimus. He was
badly cut and bruised, but more importantly(and painfully) his
arm was broken. He came to with a start, trying to sit up but
was gripped by a searing pain in his arm.
"Wretched dragon.." he hissed as he clutched the shattered
limb, "Couldn't break it once could ya? Had to break it twice!"
He inhaled sharply as another jolt of pain shot through him. Gripping
Optimus's wing with his good arm, he tried to stand and felt a
new surge of white pain streak through his leg. He clenched his
teeth tight as he fell to the ground, landing on his broken arm
and almost blacking out as broken bone dug into traumatized muscle.
"Great..." he growled, waiting for the sparks of pain
to subside while trying to keep his breaths steady "Broke
my friggin' leg too... must've done that when I landed..."
Slowly Jaguar edged himself over onto his back and searched the
sky. How long had he been out? And where were Skull Grotess and
Slag King? As if to answer his thought, Grotess appeared high
above him in the sky, carrying Slag King. Five stasis pods were
in orbit abound his very being. Jaguar blinked in disbelief, the
pods followed oval-like orbits around the Lazerbeast, one passing
in front of another, moving away just as another came into its
space. They circled Grotess in all directions, following him as
he moved. He circled above few times, then flew off. Jaguar closed
his eyes and steadied his breathing. He was about to pass out
again when he heard Optimus' voice.
"Jaguar, are you... alright?"
"In a word, no. Grotess managed to fly off with five stasis
pods, my arm and leg's broken, and I don't know where the heck
Violet Horn is." he paused. "Well, maybe that's not
such a bad thing..."
Optimus tried again to get to his feet, managing to pull himself
to his knees. "We better get back... to base. I can't make
radio contact with them."
"You're radio busted?"
"I hope...that's the case." He managed to get to his
feet, still shaky. Jaguar could see standing was taking a lot
out of him, but at least he was able to. Optimus spotted Violet
Horn dangling from one of the trees.
"There he is. Violet Horn!"
Violet Horn remained still a moment, then stirred. Cracking an
eye open, he groaned and tried to right himself in the tree. "Our
mission, twas it a success?"
"No," Jaguar grumbled "it 'twasn't."
Violet Horn sighed, closing his eyes as the tree holding him slowly
pulled itself back into the ground. With a lot of straining, Optimus
managed to transform into his vehicle mode.
"Get on. I don't have enough energy to fly, but I should
be able to get us back this way."
Violet Horn climbed on and tried to help Jaguar up, but his assistance
was refused. With a wince Jaguar steadied himself.
"Alright, let's get out of here."
**********
Flying Attacker awoke to find herself bound to a large metal structure.
Her hands were lifted above her head, bound with the same metal
shackles her body and feet were fastened with. It was dark and
she couldn't see, but heard Hedgehog's voice. He grunted softly,
trying to free himself.
"Hedgehog.. I cannot see..."
Hedgehog shushed her. "Quiet! Someone might be listening."
She tested her shackles again while Hedgehog resume his struggling.
"You should stop."
"You should be quiet and stop bothering me!"
"Where are the others?"
Hedgehog stopped fighting to get loose. He'd been so focused on
getting free he hadn't bothered to call to the others. "Uh,
I dunno."
"They must be somewhere else."
"You sure about that?"
Flying Attacker thought about Yellow Giraffe. "Yes, the silence
is a dead giveaway."
"Did you have to use the 'd' word?"
"Dead?"
Hedgehog sighed. "Never mind."
Hedghog saw a thin vertical line of light afar off. It widened
and soon filled the room, silouetting the imposing form of Megatron.
He filled the doorway, silent. Hedgehog squinted and could barely
make out another form beside him, the moonlight filtering through
his very being, he cast a very weak shadow. Flying Attacker gasped.
"Ghost Aligatron!"
"In the spirit." Megatron entered the room, which Hedgehog
now imagined was a dungeon. He could make out more of Megatron's
features, though he wished he couldn't. Megatron was missing one
eye, the blackened socket crusted with broken glass and fluid.
Dried lines of the same fluid coursed down from his neck over
his shoulders like veins. Hedgehog looked away.
"You and your friend are the last to awaken, yess."
Megatron began to circle them slowly. "But you could say
that you're in store for a..second awakening, if you will."
"What're you talking about?" Hedgehog tried to free
himself again, but stopped when he looked up to see the outline
of Ghost Aligatron.
"He wants an explaination." Aligatron looked over at
Megatron. "We can do better than that, can't we Megatron?"
"Indeed we can." Megatron smiled. "After all, actions
speak louder than words, yesss."
**********
The tower which had brough both Transmetal 2 Dinobot and Cheetor
had been ressurected by the Predacons. Every last scrap of metal
had been salvaged from the remains of their base and fitted to
re make the awsome structure. A sharp metal spire pointed towards
the sky from the top of the structure, a metal spiral snaking
it's way down from it's upermost area. The Transmetal 2 driver
had been recreated and re activated, spinning non stop above the
five stasis pods secured below. From each pod there came eight
spidery metal appendages, each poised to clamp down and secure
thier respective pod when the time came. Their jagged edges and
warped appearance was testiment to their hurried construction.
Puzzlecolor and Monkey Fighter pulled Hedgehog and Flying Attacker
from the dungeon as ordered by Aligatron. Hegdhog took in the
site of the Transmetal tower, a sense of dread creeping into his
bones. The land really looked different in the moonlight, like
nothing he'd seen before. He grunted as Puzzlecolor pushed him
forward and wondered how things could possible get worse. And
then he saw the stasis pods.
The oval shells ecasing Maximal protoforms had been propped up
one next to another at the bottom of the tower, obviously the
focal point of the tower's deadly energy, and strapped to three
of them, were Dream Eater, Yellow Giraffe, and Dog Hunter.
"Dog Hunter!" Hedgehog tried one more time to break
free and got a backhand by Puzzlecolor for his troubles. He was
sent sprawling to the ground, still bound at the hands and feet,
unable to get up on his own. Puzzlecolor hoisted him up and threw
him into a stasis pod, a thin trail of blood came from his forhead
as it smacked against the metal shell. Dog Hunter tried to raise
his head but was too weak. He concentrated on steadying his breathing,
as the lazerbeasts had broken three of his ribs earlier when he
awoke. Once Hedgehog and Flying Attacked were bound, Megatron
and Aligatron approached the tower, the rest of the Predacons
and Lazerbeasts gathering around them.
Megatron threw his hands to the air, a maniacal grin etched into
his face. "Let the heavens tremble, and the rivers run red
with the blood of mine Maximal emenies!"
Lightning flashed in the sky, the clouds blackened and began to
obstruct the moonlight. Aligatron took a step forward and spoke
as well.
"Let your bodies be renewed and twisted as my own, for you
will know what it means to be an instrument of destruction!"
Megatron continued. The two traded sentences, one speaking, then
the other.
"Greater than the mightiest warrior, your sum greater than
the equal of your parts!"
"Your power infinite, all shall cower before you!"
"You, the chosen few, embrace
our gift, for you shall on this day be Beastformer no more!"
Lighting and thunder accompanied the mad duo's words, punctuating
each sentence. the wind had begun to howl, the Predacons becoming
more and more nervous.
"A new spark shall be bestowed upon you!"
"Powerful, hungry for life, and the death of your enemy!"
"Close your eyes for the life you knew is but a dream!"
"And awaken with a newmess of spark"
"From this day forth"
"You shall be"
"TRANS-CREATURES!"
A blaring flash of lightning struck the spire and coursed down
it's legnth, igniting the Transmetal 2 Driver, becoming a blur
of motion as it dispensed it's awsome power. The Beastformers
screamed horrid ear splitting howls as the appendages on each
stasic pod swung down and impaled them, slicing through their
armor and peircing the stasis pods as the metal exited their bodies.
The maximal protoforms broke through their metal casings, shattering
both glass and metal, wrapping themselves wholly around their
new Beastformer counterpart. Slowly, the Protoforms absorbed the
Beasts into themselves, entering their open mouths as they tried
to scream, dragging them further and further into the pods from
which they had broken free.
The Lazerbeasts and Predacons backed away from the tower, all
shocked by the violence of the transformation. Megatron had not
been expecting this, even though Aligatron had convinced him otherwise.
A sonic blast of blue energy streaked from the tower with the
combined scream of the five beasts, then all was silent. When
the smoke cleared, five blackened forms stood in the midst of
the the wreckage, five pairs of eyes began to shimmer with the
newness of life, each a new entity, each completely deadly.
To be continued....
