Beast Wars Anonymous:

Beast Wars and all related belong to Hasbro. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

Honor Unbound (PG)
by BluePard (bluepard@buffnet.net)

SCENE: Plains. OPTIMUS, AIRAZOR and RATTRAP are returning empty-handed from what they had hoped was a stasis pod crash site. Hearing a commotion, they head towards it and discover PANTHERA, sitting next to a moaning, injured deer.

PANTHERA: Oh, shut up and die already. (A twig snapes and PANTHERA looks up; seeing the Maximals, she runs for cover. AIRAZOR soars forward and uses her talons to grab PANTHERA by her shoulders, lifting her off the ground.) You have three seconds before I cause you some serious pain.

AIRAZOR: Then I hope you land on your feet. It's a long way down.

PANTHERA: That's the point. (PANTHERA bites into AIRAZOR's leg and wrenches it backwards, knocking AIRAZOR off-balance)

AIRAZOR: Let go! We'll crash!

(AIRAZOR and PANTHERA plummet towards the ground. PANTHERA lets go and manages to land on her feet, while AIRAZOR crashes, unable to orient herself. PANTHERA takes the opportunity to drain some of AIRAZOR's energon and then springs back into the jungle, careful to keep AIRAZOR between the Maximals and herself. She disappears as OPTIMUS picks up AIRAZOR.)

RATTRAP: Better get her back to the base.

OPTIMUS: No, it's not safe for you to be out here alone. We'll just have to walk.

(The MAXIMALS walk away. Behind them, PANTHERA drags her kill away.)

SCENE: Plains near the Standing Stones. RHINOX and RATTRAP walking towards the Standing Stones.

RATTRAP: I don't like this. Not even a peep outta that panther for a week. She's up to something...

RHINOX: Forget Panthera; she won't scrap us. We have the Preds to worry about.

RATTRAP: Don't tell me you believe that four-legged traitor! I'd take a Pred over a Proxian any day. They make all nice, like they're yer friends, then dey shoot ya in the back first chance they get! She's probably just biding her time until she can design a reprogrammer of some sinister torture device. Cats like to play with der food, ya know.

RHINOX: Hmph.

(RHINOX and RATTRAP continue on. Above the two TERRORSAUR heads for his base)

SCENE: Inside Predacon Base. A panther lays on the floor, asleep.

TERRORSAUR: (over comlink) Two Maximals are headed for the Standing Stones, Megatron.

MEGATRON: What a perfect opportunity for a test, yes. (He turns to the other Preds) The Maximals have now shut down... (looks questioningly at BLACKARACHNIA)

BLACKARACHNIA: Our east storage cell. One we thought the Maximals didn't know about. Panthera reprogrammed the weapons array of that area to target Predacons and changed the access codes.

MEGATRON: Are you sure it's her?

BLACKARACHNIA: If it were a Maximal the guns wouldn't have allowed them to get close. But Panthera has an Proxian energon signature which for some reason the ship can't detect. And since she went to all the trouble of shutting down the array, she's probably carted off everything in that storage chamber. And the north storage chamber, which we've been unable to access for the last week.

MEGATRON: Yes, apparently I underestimated her. A problem soon to be rectified, yess. Due to continued inability to control the Panthera problem it seems a new element must be put into play. (He gestures towards the panther) Since Panthera will not join us, I have constructed our own version, devoid of Panthera's integrity, but still able to transfer and regulate energon.

WASPINATOR: Doez it work? (He skeptically taps the panther's head. The clone whacks him on the head, and gets up. She arches her back into a cat stretch, flexes her claws one by one and shakes her paws to shake off the sleep like water. She gives a yawn that is mostly roar and smacks her lips.)

INFERNO: Welcome new worker. Obey the Royalty and you shall do well.

CLONE: Man, what happened to your voice? Wait, maybe if I hit you in the head enough I can fix it. (Whacks him repeatedly in the head) It works on the TV. (notices the spiders) Whoa, you spiders have big butts!

BLACKARACHNIA: I wonder if Panthera puts the Maximals through this.

MEGATRON: (to TERRORSAUR) They will meet you at coordinates 5.83. You, Inferno and Waspinator will engage the Maximals while the Clone keeps the other Maximals busy, yes.

CLONE: (playing with INFERNO's fire-cannon) Hey, what's this do?

(Outside Predacon Base INFERNO is heard yelling, along with a general commotion)

CLONE: INFERNO's on fire! (laughs hysterically)

SCENE: Mountains. INFERNO is sulking and doesn't say anything, occasionally glancing at his burnt backside.

TERRORSAUR: Okay, that's the plan. Everyone got it? (he looks over at CLONE who is trying to catch a butterfly in her mouth) Clone? (CLONE looks up, surprised)

CLONE: Man, you have a funny shaped head! Do people ever just come up to you an' try an' make a kite outta ya? Course, they'd hafta put holes in yer wings an' ya couldn't fly too good anymore. Or maybe you could take your head (she picks TERRORSAUR up by the feet and turns his head counter-clockwise) an' spin it round like a propeller (She lets go of his head and it spins back clockwise. She pretends he's a plane and makes auto-gun noises) Ya know- Varoom! Eh-eh-eh-eheheheheh, naaaaaaaa- BOOM!

TERRORSAUR: Put me down, you idiot! (He struggles free. CLONE looks puzzled, grabs his beak and smashes him against the ground a few times, then replaces him)

TERRORSAUR: (woozily) All ... aboard for our final... stop... (he falls over and CLONE laughs)

CLONE: Hey, he gets funnier the more ya hit him! (she whacks him against the ground a few more times)

TERRORSAUR: I'm a little teapot short and stout...

WASPINATOR: Panther-bot iz right! Terrorsaur iz funnier! Wazzpinator want to try!

CLONE: (imitating WASPINATOR) Wazzzipinator want to try? Wazzpinator iz insane! Wazzpinator gone loco! Wazzpinator haz ze brainz of a turnip! (CLONE laughs so hard she falls over) Wazzpinator want to run for PREZZIDENT! (CLONE laughs hysterically while TERRORSAUR comes back to what senses he has)

TERRORSAUR: You realize-- (he puts his arm on CLONE's shoulder and whispers in that classic traitorous way of his) we could be a valuable team. Together we could seize power, destroy the Maximals and rule the world!

CLONE: Ooooo, do I smell a traitor? Great! (sings) I get to knock off Me-gs, I go-t di-bs!

INFERNO: You would dare to plan such treachery? You must BURN!!

CLONE: Yeah! He must burn! (turns to INFERNO) Can I kill him? I got dibs!

TERRORSAUR: What? Nono, wait, you don't wanna do that! Uhhhh, the Royalty said we must kill the Maximals, we, as in plus me, the Royalty would be angry if you disobeyed!

INFERNO: Hmm, I suppose you may burn after they do. Let the Royalty decide your fate!

CLONE: What? No, let's burn him! (looks around in dismay) Don't I get to kill ANYBODY?

TERRORSAUR: You can kill any Maximals that try to interfere. That's your job.

CLONE: All right! In the house, party time! Whoo-hoo! (chuckles menacingly) Blood mode. (Red-tainted covers drop over her normally yellow eyes, her voice grows deeper and less childish, she chuckles again) Ahhh, good hunting today, I can smell it on the wind... (She growls with pleasure while the Preds look uncomfortable. She leaps off the mountain, landing on her feet; she bounds towards the jungle)

CLONE: (sings under her breath) Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses...

TERRORSAUR: (making sure she's gone) You'd have thought Megatron would have lowered her aggression a bit. (INFERNO spots RATTRAP and RHINOX)

INFERNO: Victory for the Royalty! (He flies off laughing maniacally. TERRORSAUR and WASPINATOR follow. They all fire at RHINOX and RATTRAP who duck for cover and maximize. RHINOX holds them off while RATTRAP attempts to contact the base)

RATTRAP: There's too much interference! We're scrapped! Oh, it was nice knowing ya, buddy.

RHINOX: We have to get to the jungle. We'll find some cover and we might be able to slip away.

RATTRAP: Hey, Rhinox, you're not exactly the easiest thing to hide, ya know.

RHINOX: MOVE!

SCENE: Jungle. CHEETOR is running through it. He turns his head for a moment, listening to the sounds of distant battle. He shakes his head and hurries on. Suddenly a tree falls in front of him, too close for him to stop in time. He crashes into it and attempts to get up when a black paw is placed on his head, forcing it to the ground. The CLONE's hind feet pin his forefeet where they are.)

CLONE: You're a Maximal, right?

CHEETOR: Of course I...

CLONE: You wouldn't be on your way to help those other two, would you?

CHEETOR: Uh, is that bad?

CLONE: Very. You see, I have orders to scrap anyone who tries to help them.

CHEETOR: Since when do you take orders? Or break your word?

CLONE: I'm afraid you have me mistaken for someone with integrity...

PANTHERA: Namely, me. (PANTHERA emerges from her cover with a growl, her eyes red as coals) What do you think you're doing?

CHEETOR: Panthera? Bu... (he tries to lift his head but it's still pinned to the ground)

CLONE: I think I will scrap this Maximal, and I think Megatron's plans will go through unhindered.

PANTHERA: No one mars my honor, especially not some false pard! Leave Greenpaws alone.

CLONE: And who's going to stop me, you? (rolls her eyes) Please, you're running low on energon while I'm at two hundred percent. I am strong and you are weak. I'll take care of you sometime, but only after I've taken care of this... (she claws deep into CHEETOR's shoulder while he protests) annoyance.

(PANTHERA pounces, knocking the CLONE off of CHEETOR while she is distracted. They both pounce and meet, each with a grip on the other's throat. And as CHEETOR limps away it is impossible to tell one from another. One lets go of its grip on the other's neck, and crushes into the second's shoulder, knocking it over. Mech fluid everywhere, PANTHER 1 manages to right itself but PANTHER 2 is already ready to pounce)

PANTHER 1: It's over and you've lost. Surrender and I'll make your death painless.

PANTHER 2: But I don't want to die painlessly. When I die I shall roar so loud the whole universe will hear and mourn my passing.

PANTHER 1: I doubt that, but I like your attitude. Still, there's room for only one panther in this jungle. Any last words?

PANTHER 2: (grins wickedly) Oh, just a couple. Panthera, metamize!

(PANTHERA transforms with some sparks, and her slicing bow is off her back, aimed and shot right through her clone's throat.)

PANTHERA: Stupid clone. I'm the original cat-with-a-bad-attitude.

(PANTHERA retrieves her slicing missle, wipes the mech fluid off of it on a cloth hung by her side, and puts it back into her slicing bow. She goes to beast mode and examines the prone panther.)

PANTHERA: Oh, please, this thing has already lost its energon to the atmosphere. Must have a one-point-three refractor damper coil, instead of a five-point-one. Cheap parts, woulda run dead after a couple days if I just left it alone. (shakes her head with disgust, sighs) Which means I'm injured and running on sixty-five percent. I need energon. (her tongue sticks out) I wonder if Cheetor's still around.

(PANTHERA sniffs in a circle until she locates his scent, then stalks off, leaving a trail of dripping mech fluid in her wake)

SCENE: Inside Maximal Base

OPTIMUS: (talking to the comlink) Cheetor? Cheetor! (PANTHERA's voice comes in)

PANTHERA: (nasally) I'm sorry, but the cat you have dialed... is unconscious. Please leave a message at the sound of laughter. (PANTHERA starts laughing to herself, adding faintly) Oooo, I'm so funny.

OPTIMUS: Panthera, Cheetor was on an important mission. You may have just given Rhinox and Rattrap a one-way ticket to the scrap yard.

PANTHERA: Well, teach the idget to keep outta my territory. It's gotta be the dumbest thing he ever... well, dumbest thing of the month, anyway. (chuckles) And, as the saying goes, you want something done right, do it yourself. Oh, and tell Greenpaws I said he's welcome down the panther's path anytime.

(She laughs again and disconnects. OPTIMUS grits his teeth in aggravation, and makes his way outside the base.)

OPTIMUS: Send backup. But stay together! (He jets off)

SCENE: Mountains meet plains. The Preds have now surrounded RHINOX and RATTRAP. When RHINOX shoots they just dodge and fire on the opposite unprotected side. RHINOX and RATTRAP have taken serious damage.

RATTRAP: Stupid, slaggin' planet. What I'd give for an aerial brigade right now.

(Another shot hits him, he's blown away and with difficulty makes it back to RHINOX again.)

TERRORSAUR: This is it! My fabulous victory!

WASPINATOR: Your fabulous victory? Wazzpinator did the work! (rocks hit the their backs) What? (Both TERRORSAUR and WASPINATOR turn around and look-- there's no one there)

WASPINATOR: Wazzpinator seez no--

(WASPINATOR and TERRORSAUR are blown away by RHINOX's guns, they had forgotten to dodge)

INFERNO: YOU WILL BUUURRRNNN, MAXIM--

(A large rock hits him in the back of the head, he turns... and is blown away by RHINOX as well. Both breathe a sigh of relief, and RATTRAP looks towards the source of the rocks, the jungle)

RATTRAP: You don't think Panthera...

RHINOX: You got another explanation? (He tucks his gun away and goes into beast mode) So, we'll owe her one.

RATTRAP: That's it! She wants us to feel we have to repay her... and then... kkuiiiikkk. (draws a line across his throat) That's her game. (OPTIMUS flies in and lands)

OPTIMUS: Are you all right?

RATTRAP: Hey, me and baggy pants can take can of ourselves, but tanks for da offer.

RHINOX: PANTHERA distracted them.

OPTIMUS: Really? Well, I suppose she felt a little guilty for all the trouble she's caused us today. On that note, we have to find Cheetor and get him to the cryo chamber.

RATTRAP: So, she got the kid too, eh? It's just like I was telling Rhinox...

(They walk off into the jungle. On the edge there is an unnoticeable figure, still as a panther at pounce. Two blue eyes reflect in the dark, not red, not yellow, and definitely not PANTHERA's. The figure watches them leave intently, then retreats, heading the same direction they are.)

SCENE: Inside Maximal base

CHEETOR: (shivering) You weren't kidding, Dinobot. That was pain from here to Cybertron.

RATTRAP: Yeah, well, you can always sit here and curse Panthera's hide with me.

CHEETOR: But she saved my life! I mean, the energon-drain thing really hurt, but she saved me! This other panther, some sort of clone, tried to kill me and Panthera was the one who protected me. I-- I owe her my life.

RATTRAP: What did I tell you? He owes her his life. We owe her our lives. She's gonna save all our lives and then...

OPTIMUS: And then what, Rattrap?

RATTRAP: (with an exasperated sigh) Well, you can't expect me to think like her! I'm too honest!

CHEETOR: (suppressing a laugh) You? An upright and contributing member of society, yeah, that's you in a nutshell.

RATTRAP: Hey, don't get on my nerves, Spots. I've had just about enough of you felines-- for a lifetime! (RATTRAP storms out)

SCENE: Jungle floor. Nothing moves, until the stillness is broken by a single falling drop of mech fluid. Above where it landed PANTHERA lays stretched luxuriously in a tree, her kill before her. She takes another bite, chews, and growls.

PANTHERA: One-point-three refractor damper coil... they never taste as good. It's like the diet version or something.

(PANTHERA smiles, mech fluid dripping from her jaws and clinging to her whiskers; we FADE TO BLACK.)