Blind to the Obvious
By: Sapphire
Part Two
Optimus decided that he could not wait any longer for the two scouts. Every moment wasted meant that Megatron was getting more and more energon. They couldn't allow him to mine such a large quantity. He just wished he knew why they hadn't located it first, since it was so close to them! He instructed Rattrap and Kaiya to meet at the co-ordinates that he gave them. The rest of the Maximals were almost there.
In the distance, he could make out moving forms. He opened his comm. link to all Maximals.
"Don't shoot at them. If you hit an energon crystal, the whole place will blow. The last thing we need is another earthquake."
He closed in....
Megatron knew that his time was limited. So far he'd gathered a fair amount of energon, but there was still so much left to mine. He was surprised that it had taken the Maximals this long to figure out that they were here. Perhaps the scanners had been damaged in the earthquake and had not picked up their signatures. He wasn't sure. But what he was sure of was that a scout in the air had found him. Probably Airazor, and now he could make out the forms of the other Maximals hurrying towards him.
"They won't fire. They won't risk another explosion," he muttered.
Megatron had actually wanted an excuse to lure all the Maximals out in their full force. The energon was perfect bait and also a bonus, since they actually managed to mine some while waiting for the Maximals to realize their presence. Inferno had already taken a heavy load back to the Darkside.
He transformed to beast mode to take a less aggressive stance and Blackarachnia, Waspinator and Rampage followed suit.
He was quite aware of how badly outnumbered he was, so he didn't want to risk a battle anyway, regardless of potential energon explosions.
Optimus landed several meters away from him.
"You know what I'm going to ask you to do, Megatron," he said calmly.
Megatron nodded.
"Yesss, give up all this energon in a peaceful and orderly manner. You are quite the dreamer, Optimus Primal."
"I'm a wishful thinker."
"Indeed."
Optimus was a little unsure on how to handle this situation. Technically, they could have a fight in beast mode over it, but they both knew that it was rather pointless, since the Maximals were on their own turf and had more fighters. He knew Megatron was not dumb and must surely have another plan up his sleeve. Otherwise he wouldn't have come here, even if the energon deposits were large.
"I don't even want to think about how much you've mined, but I'm telling you now Megatron, you must stop and retreat. I don't want to fight."
Neither did Megatron, but the others were still catching up to Optimus and he wanted to see something...
He had to keep the Maximals here for as long as possible, until his question was answered.
"You know, I could send my troops back and leave, dropping a missile on this deposit and rocking your base further off its unsteady haunches."
Optimus knew this was very true. Megatron would not leave without causing some chaos. The Axalon was hanging by a thread. Another big jolt and off the cliff it would go.
He had to stop him now. He felt the rest of his troops gather around him.
He turned to check who was there. Rattrap and Kaiya were still coming - they could be seen in the distance making their way towards them.
Emerald had in actual fact spotted Megatron while taking a flight for some fresh air. He'd told her to go back to base, but when he left she was still not back. He had a nasty feeling she was somewhere around still. She was always so eager to help. A battle was brewing and he was worried about how they were going to fight it.
He turned back to Megatron and noticed with curiosity that the tyrant was staring ahead, squinting.
"What are you staring at?" Optimus asked.
Without looking at him, Megatron replied: "When I last counted, there were eight if you. Tigatron is absent from this little function, but unless my optics deceive me, there is another transformer approaching with the rat. One I have not seen before."
Cheetor piped up. "Yeah, and you'd better watch out! Because she was one of the Six, and she's on our side now!"
Optimus gave Cheetor a scolding glare - Megatron did not need to know that yet.
Megatron's optics widened and he took a few steps back. So his worst suspicions were true. Now would be a good time to withdraw with what energon they had...but still, he was so curious to see what she could do....
It was then that Kaiya and Rattrap arrived in beast mode.
"Hey, boss monkey...what're we all waitin' for? Dis a starin' match or som'in?"
"We can't use weapons, Rattrap. You know that. This place will explode and do further damage to our base through shockwaves"
Kaiya looked at Megatron properly for the first time. She noticed with delight that he was staring at her.
She transformed to robot mode and relished in his change of expression.
"Don't worry Optimus. I can handle him. Without weapons," she said huskily.
Fascinated, Megatron transformed to robot mode and took her up on her challenge.
"Go ahead. Try and defeat me the good old fashioned way. Brute force."
She shook her head with a dark chuckle.
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."
Inferno arrived back at that moment and landed directly in front of Megatron.
"You will not lay a finger on the Royalty! I won't allow it!"
Megatron swatted Inferno away.
"Stand down, Inferno. This is my fight."
Inferno joined Blackarachnia, Waspinator and Rampage in the background, although he itched to fight as well.
Optimus bit his lip. He wasn't sure he wanted Kaiya fighting. What if she got hurt? How much power did she really have left?
"Kaiya, he's strong. You can't take him just like that. You don't know him."
Kaiya ignored Optimus and walked right up to Megatron until she was standing directly in front of him. She was almost as tall as him with her long legs.
As if under some enchantment, Megatron allowed her to stare him in the face, with a seductive smile, before punching him.
He stumbled back, shook out of his daze, and charged at her. She leapt into the air and flipped over him, quickly turning on her left foot, swinging her right leg around to kick him with such force he was almost thrown off his feet. For her size and body structure, she had mustered a kick tenfold more powerful. That was Vok influence, no doubt about it.
He swung around and threw a punch at her. She caught his fist and held it there, squeezing it. She broke it as he swung is arm down. It connected with her shoulder and she was forced onto the ground, letting go of his ruined right fist. He growled in pain long enough for her to roll and leap back on her feet, swinging another kick that sent him sprawling. Before he could get to his feet, he was kicked down. He felt the wind get knocked out of him. He rolled onto his back and she leapt onto him. Drawing his knees up, he sprung them flat again, rocking her off him. He jumped back up just as she made another run, lifting her leg for another kick in the face. He caught her ankle just before he got a faceful of foot. He twisted it and she yelped in pain and anger. He threw her down and she lay on the floor, dazed for a few second. He swung his tail-arm down to smash into her back, but she rolled and sprang up so suddenly he was caught unprepared. She thrust her fists into his sides and suddenly, he felt a blade extend from her hands into his body, sending horrendous shocks through him. He collapsed in agony a few seconds later, wheezing and snorting. She cupped her hands into a ball, brought it down like a hammer on his back and made him land flat on his stomach, twitching from the shocks.
Panting, her eyes ablaze, she stood over him.
"Had enough?"
Megatron dragged himself up onto his knees and turned and glared at her.
"I know who you are, now. Don't think I won't find your Achilles heel."
She laughed derisively: "I don't have one!"
She walked away from him, knowing full well the power of her shocks. She'd only given him a taste of what she could muster. She had enough power in her to send him into stasis lock for several hours. Even enough to kill him.
Inferno rushed to Megatron's aid and helped him to his feet.
When he was stable again, he addressed the stunned Maximal audience.
"Very well. We will leave this energon. We got what we came for."
Blackarachnia knew the double meaning in his words, but she could also catch a hint of fear in his voice. This new bot, this survivor of the Vok and the explosion...she was formidable. She also held sway over all her own team. Blackarachnia could immediately pick up on the atmosphere of awe and lust for her, just by watching the other Maximals. Kaiya - that's what Optimus called her - she was very strong. But she was not loyal. Blackarachnia was treacherous herself and could easily pick up in Kaiya's manner and style that she was up to no good. In fact it was so obvious it surprised her that the Maximals trusted her so much. Something was amiss here, she could feel it.
"Predacons, take what you have and retreat to base," Megatron wheezed.
They did as they were told and left feeling strange and insecure. It was unsettling to see a bot so powerful as Megatron get taken down so easily.
As Optimus watched Megatron and his troops retreat, something occurred to him. Megatron was transmetal, so he could take excessive amounts of energon radiation, but Kaiya was not. Yet she showed no signs of energon build-up. He figured that, seeing as the aliens had created energon, they'd probably altered her form to be immune to it.
More than ever now, Optimus wanted to examine Kaiya's internals. She could offer them such valuable technology. He gazed at her; tall, slim, chest heaving, eyes set to the horizon where her opponents fled.
He wished she'd let him look. Why didn't she? He was leader - she was obliged to obey. Why did she refuse? Why couldn't he...maybe he should just...force her to--
He caught himself. How could he be thinking such thoughts? He was leader and so he should not be feeling such...
Kaiya turned with a smug smile and winked at him.
"How was that?"
...such lust for his own teammate. He'd never lacked control over his thoughts and feelings like this before. It was so strange; almost as if he'd been hypnotized.
"Optimus?"
"What? Oh, that was very impressive, Kaiya. You saved the day."
"Yeah," Cheetor said, eyeing her up and down. "She's amazing."
Kaiya enjoyed every moment of the attention she had earned, despite the aching pain in her shoulder and twisted ankle. Optimus, Cheetor, Rattrap...
She cast her gaze to Dinobot. Yes, even he was staring at her, although his eyes were somewhat unclear in their emotions. She doubted not that he longed for her too. All of them did. All except Airazor, who at that moment was looking at the others in confusion. Rhinox was staring at Kaiya as well, but he had a different kind of lust in his eyes. It was actually rather unsettling. He looked like he was itching to tear her apart and put her parts on display for scientific examination. Still, Kaiya could not be fussy. He was under her spell, even if it was in a way she hadn't quite intended for him.
"Uh, guys?" Airazor said. "I know that Kaiya put on quite a display," she cast Kaiya a warm smile. Kaiya had gone to great lengths to befriend Airazor when she had the chance. At the moment, Tigatron was not around enough to worry his fiancé with any suggestive looks in Kaiya's direction, so Airazor had no problems with her. Kaiya had had fun girl talks with her and had joked over how all the guys in the base seemed 'very friendly'. It was all an act, of course, but Kaiya was the Vok's actress. This was her job.
"But really, don't you think we should start mining this energon?"
Optimus snapped out of his daze and was about to command they do just that, when Emerald landed softly in front of them, taking them all by surprise.
"No," Emerald said. "I've been hiding in a tree away from the battle. Before you arrived, Megatron planted a bomb in the energon. He's almost out of range now, so he'd going to set it off very soon. We'd better get going."
Rhinox frowned.
"Why did you take so long to tell us?"
Emerald wasn't sure herself, but by watching their faces when they stared at Kaiya, she had a dark undercurrent of desire to watch them all get blown to scrap...
...But not her Uncle Rhinox.
"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure I arrived when the battle was officially over. Optimus told me to steer clear of battles."
Optimus transformed to flight mode.
"So I did. Let's move out."
They all did as they were told. Emerald flapped her wings and caught an up- draught, rising higher off the ground. Kaiya transformed to beast mode and looked up. They watched each other for a few intense seconds before they moved on. Several cycles later, the deposit exploded. The shockwaves knocked all grounded bots off their feet - the Axalon, in view, moved ominously closer to the edge, but thankfully did not fall.
Hopefully that was the last energon deposit near the base. Any more explosions and they were surely done for.
Tarantulas had sent out one of his electronic spider-cameras to film the events, than risk getting seen. He had returned to base when he was sure that the scout/camera was close enough to film and from there, he and Galena had watched the battle unfold.
He was particularly intrigued by the shocks that went through Megatron when Kaiya thrust her hands into his sides.
"That," Galena had said, "was one of her secret weapons - and her most deadly."
Apparently the blades were embedded in her arms and extended outwards when they were in a position to inflict damage on an enemy. Once inside the body, they sent off shocks that, depending on their force, could stun or maim or kill.
Of course, Kaiya was going to try and do this as discreetly as possible when she was on show in front of all her Maximal teammates. She didn't want to kill Megatron in front of them because that would let them know just how powerful she was. It was already very difficult to make out exactly what she had done to him, without reviewing camera footage over and over with commentary from one of the Six. She had done it so fast that it was highly probable, given that both sides were under a sort of spell when they watched her, that no one had noticed this little trick of hers.
"That's the weapon she will use when she eventually wants to kill. She gets very close and physical with her enemy, then in the heat of passion, thrusts her blades and shocks them to the Pit - or whatever you call it," Galena said.
Tarantulas nodded, staring at the screen and watching the footage for the umpteenth time.
"Does she have any other weapons?"
"Oh yes," Galena said as she rose to her feet and stretched.
"I think she has blades in hidden compartments all over her. She is designed for discreet killings, but she can use force if she has to. She can even transform to third-mode if she really has to."
"Third mode?" Tarantulas queried, turning and looking at Galena.
"Third mode is basically her robot mode - enhanced. I don't know what she will look like and exactly what she is capable of when in third mode. All I know is that is is battle mode and she is at her utmost powerful in that mode."
Galena turned to attention to the chamber and smiled at the reforming Jaguarundi-bot.
"I also know that fellow in their has a third mode. When he uses it he can turn the Great Megatron into a smoldering pile of ash in cycles."
"Then why didn't the six of you use it when you first landed?" Tarantulas asked.
She turned to look at him. "Because we were not powered up. Third mode takes a long time to reach. Kaiya's about ready to use it...and so am I."
Tarantulas did not show on his face the stirring of fear he felt within him at her words. "Well, save it," he said coolly. "Conserve your energy for when we really need it."
"Naturally," she muttered and transformed to beast mode. She curled up on the cold floor with a yawn.
"I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."
Tarantulas cackled softly. "So you do have a weakness? The Vok obviously didn't design you to be so strong as to go without sleep."
Galena opened one eye and glared at him.
"Recharge is a very useful thing. It is not essential for me, nor for you. But without it we are weaker and stupider."
She closed her eye and immediately fell asleep.
Tarantulas shrugged and leaned back in his chair. His gaze lifted to the chamber and he stared, mesmerized, at the moving fluid in the chamber. The Jaguarundi-bot was some days away from completion, but he fancied he could see a face forming within that silver mass of jelly.
His eyes were fixed on it and the world seemed to fall into a lull around him and all he could hear was the deep rhythm of pulses emitting from the chamber. It seemed to echo the pulses of his own spark. His lair was dark except for the eerie glow of the energon cubes above him, and the yellow-green light flowing out from the machine that was reforming the Jaguarundi.
Tarantulas thought he saw something twitch in the silver fluid, where the face was supposedly forming. He leaned slightly forward on his chair, eyes fixed on the protoform.
A noise...a strange indefinable noise was swimming about his audios. Like a deep whisper. It seemed to be coming from the chamber. Tarantulas slipped off the chair onto his feet and staggered with insatiable curiosity towards the machine. He stopped a meter away from it, narrowed his optics and stared...
The silver form mutated visibly and in a quick burst, and two red, oval eyes flashed open.
Tarantulas gasped and stumbled backwards, tripping over himself. He landed on his rear and scampered backwards, his wide eyes fixed on those of the bot behind the glass. A small gaping hole had formed below the eyes and a jaw...a jaw had emerged and sagged to the right as the bot stared out blankly, head tilted, mouth hanging open...
Like a dead animal. Only it wasn't dead...but coming alive.
"What have I done?" Tarantulas whispered, choking in a sense of fear and insane excitement.
The deep resounding silence was all that answered.