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.

Author's Note: This is best understood after reading my first three stories, particularly "Foreign Objects".

Process of Elimination
by Drewbacca (TrueBlueDrew@hotmail.com)

The Maximals, inside their new base, (the spot in the woods they had used once before) talked on how to reclaim Ark. Although many strategies are presented, Silverbolt's makes most sense. "My portable sensor shows that Galvatron and Inferno are nonfunctional at the same coordinates. Megatron and Waspinator are going to have to get them back sooner or later, right? Megatron will probably send only Waspinator, so he's still at the Ark. We'll split up: a fourth of us waiting to intercept Waspinator, and the rest going to storm the Ark. Megatron won't lower himself to guard duty, so we'll have to sneak in."

"Great plan, Silverbolt" Cheetor said, even though in his mind he was scheming something. "You, Tigatron and Airazor will intercept Waspinator. Make sure he doesn't get to contact Megatron. The rest are with me."

Koma, the only functional member the Maxicons had left, was glad the Aliens were finally gone. He got QuickStrike to a CR chamber and recovered him, so he could help carry in Rampage. Once he was recovered, Koma got Tarantulas. He hoped he wouldn't get in too much trouble.

"OK, here's the plan" Cheetor said, "Rhinox, Onyx and Grizzena will storm from the front. Blackarachnia and I will sneak in the back way. Clear?"

"Clear," the others said, almost in unison.

"Here's where our fun starts....." Onyx muttered.

"Oh, no, Maximal..." Megatron said, looking at the sensor's view-screen, "MY fun is just beginning....."

Rhinox used his chain-guns first on the sensor-lasers, which had already popped up. "Strange," he thought, "how could Megatron know that they were coming unless.... someone had told him? But who?" Rhinox narrowly dodged a blaster bolt, and resumed thinking. "Depth Charge......"

Cheetor and Blackarachnia had quietly slipped into the Ark, using the files in Blackarachnia's memory banks. It was an easy enough job for them.

Blackarachnia hacked through one of the defense computers, going just according to plan. Cheetor radioed Rhinox, and the defenses were shut down.

"You did it!" Rhinox told Cheetor, "The guns are shut down!"

"Keep going with the frontal assault!" Cheetor told him. "Have you heard from Silverbolt yet?"

"No .What's keeping him?"

Depth Charge, who had just flown away from where he trashed Galvatron and Inferno, was intercepted by Silverbolt and "the Lady and the Tiger".

"Depth Charge!" Silverbolt screamed, suddenly filled with rage, "You gave the Preds the weapon that almost killed the woman" (OK, not woman, she-bot) "I love!!"

"Uh-oh....." Depth Charge muttered.

With an outraged yell, Silverbolt fired a pair of wing missiles. Depth Charge dodged easily, but soon Airazor and Tigatron joined in the attack. Depth Charge could not dodge all of the shots, and was soon down on the ground. Tigatron pounced on him, keeping him down. Silverbolt, still enraged, fired shot after shot at Depth Charge, not caring if he hit Tigatron or not. Depth Charge and Tigatron were both nonfunctional within seconds. Silverbolt looked on, and, when he had fueled all of his rage, saw what he had done.

Megatron was prepared for all of these events, and had not, therefore, sent Waspinator out. He was taking Waspinator's body, and making every possible upgrade he possibly could. Better defenses, better weapons, even a slightly more intelligent mind. Unfortunately, these upgrades made Waspinator a bit slower. But he was battle-ready.

"Yes....." Megatron said, "It works.… I christen you, Buzzbomber!"

Megatron sent Buzzbomber first to deal with Cheetor and Blackarachnia. He was in for a surprise.

"OK, our job here is done," Cheetor said, "Let's help the others with the storm."

"Wait, Cheetor," Blackarachnia said deviously, "Why don't we storm from within instead?"

"Blackarachnia, that's a great idea! You're as smart as you are beautiful- err- I mean...."

"Why, Cheetor," She said slowly, moving closer to him even slower, "I've noticed some things about you lately," She was almost in his lap now, "And I think you might be wanting this..."

With that, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

Cheetor, not knowing what was going on at first, but figuring out soon enough, found himself returning the kiss…

Blackarachnia, knowing that everything was going according to plan, smiled in the back of her mind.

Buzzbomber, picking up their signals, sped towards Cheetor and Blackarachnia.

"Hmmmm..." He said to himself, "Signals are awfully close together..." Shrugging, he went back to the chase.

Rhinox called Cheetor on the commlink, interrupting their kiss, saying, "Cheetor, where are you? Are you all right?"

Cheetor's head was spinning, but he managed to say, "Uh, err, yeah, everything here is, uh, fine."

"Cheetor, are you sure you're okay?" Rhinox asked.

"Yeah, I'm-"

"EEEEEEAAAA!" Blackarachnia screamed.

Everything happened in a flash, so listen carefully. Blackarachnia screamed when she saw Buzzbomber coming. Cheetor dropped his commlink and ran to take out the new Waspinator. Blackarachnia shot Cheetor in the small of the back with a big missile. Before Buzzbomber could think twice, Blackarachnia slagged the living daylights out of him with her leg guns. Yes, things were going according to plan........

Rhinox, still on the commlink, shouted out, "Cheetor !Blackarachnia! Where are you? Are you OK?!"

Blackarachnia picked up the comm and told Rhinox in a scared voice, "A- a- a- new type of Waspinator attacked us! I'm all right, but Cheetor is hurt. He's nonfunctional!"

"Blackarachnia !Get Cheetor out of there! Abort mission. Abort!" Rhinox told the others and they quickly retreated to the spot in the woods, A.K.A., Sojourn.

"We need a CR tank for Cheetor!" Rhinox said, "The only one we have is at the Pred's old base. Let's go!"

The Maximals disembarked, Grizzena carrying Cheetor in her vehicle mode (a helicopter). She had a very correct feeling that something was not as Blackarachnia said it was. She would find out soon enough.…

Silverbolt did his best to apologize to Airazor and offered to carry Tigatron back to Sojourn.

"What about Depth Charge?" Airazor asked, genuinely concerned.

"What about Depth Charge?" Silverbolt said, "For all I care, the traitor can rot here until the Preds pick him up or he goes into stasis lock. Same with Inferno and Galvatron. Let's go."

At that moment, the Maximals (all riding on the two flyers) came to them.

"Come on," Rhinox said, "We've abandoned Sojourn. Let's get to a real base."

The hatched popped open, and out stepped Tarantulas. Koma gave him his best salute.

"At ease, Koma." Tarantulas sighed. The aliens had nearly destroyed the entire Maxicon base. "Where are Quickstrike and the others?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Rampage is in the other CR chamber, sir," Koma was starting to act like Scorponok. "Now that you are out, we can put Vermin or Quickstrike in the chamber. Which would you prefer?"

"Vermin first," Tarantulas ordered. "We're going on full-scale assault of the Predacon base."

The Predacon BASE, maybe, but not the Predacons. The ragtag band of functional Maximals had just cracked the security code, with the help of Blackarachnia. Everyone had an edgy feeling. Megatron did not anticipate them moving in on the Predacon base, even though the Maximals thought he would have. Cheetor and Tigatron were the first in the CR tanks. When they were functional, in went Depth Charge. Rhinox was rapping out orders for posts. Airazor and Tigatron were to explore the ship, see if they could find any hidden surprises. Grizzena was left to computers, and Onyx watched over the CR tanks. Silverbolt was on guard duty, much to his annoyance. Blackarachnia offered to help with Cheetor's recovery. He was wounded worse than Tigatron, so Blackarachnia escorted him to his new quarters. Rhinox had found everyone new ones.

"Scorponok used to live here," Blackarachnia told Cheetor.

"That gives me the Willies," Cheetor said, and shivered. "Ow, it hurts to shiver."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Blackarachnia asked, "I could stay with you as long as you like."

"That would be nice," Cheetor said sheepishly. "Listen, uh, about what happened at the Ark....."

"There's nothing to worry about," Blackarachnia said, turning up her seduction meter to the maximum. "What happened there is just between us. Okay?" She rubbed a claw against his chest (or whatever robots call that). Again she moved closer, and they pretty much picked up where they left off.

Blackarachnia took one arm away from Cheetor to shut the door.

Now that things were going according to his plan, Megatron sent out Buzzbomber to pick up Inferno and Galvatron. About the time that they were functional again, so was the fifth person in that base.

"Ah, hello, Optimus. So glad to see that you're awake." Megatron said to a groggy Primal. "Now you will be conscious to see your predicament."

And what a predicament it was. Optimus was bound by steel wire at his arms, legs, and throat. His transformation was locked, and if he moved an inch to either side of him, he'd be impaled by spikes. Even if he could escape the ropes, there was a transparent wall all around him more than 8 feet thick.

"It seems we have a stalemate," Optimus said, trying to sound confident, "I won't tell you anything or do anything for you, and these traps won't do anything if I don't move."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Optimus." Megatron chortled. "My celebration was cut short last time" (Remember the Season 1 finale and Coming of the Fuzors 2?) "But now, I don't see how anyone will manage to rebuild you." Megatron pressed a button on the side of Optimus' transparent cage.

"What's that smell?" Optimus wondered aloud.

"Subzero liquid, my old foe!" Megatron laughed aloud, joined soon by the other Preds. "I'll stop my plans long enough to watch that liquid cover you and watch you freeze. Oh, and to watch Inferno melt you when you are nothing but an ice sculpture!" The Predacons laughed and laughed, while Optimus watched his legs freeze instantly.

When Depth Charge finally got out of the CR tank, he was immediately interrogated by Rhinox and Onyx.

"What were you doing snooping around the Axalon wreck?" Rhinox scolded at him.

"What were you doing giving blueprints to the Predacons?" Onyx berated him. (And, in case the readers haven't figured out yet, it was pure coincidence that the Preds developed fraud missiles.)

"If you would stop asking questions all the time, then maybe I'd give you some answers!" Depth Charge was in a rage. "I didn't steal any prints, and if anyone did, then it was Protoform X, not me! I made a deal with Megatron so I could use a CR chamber. I slagged Inferno and Galvatron on my first "mission" as a Pred. I was gonna come back and apologize for your trouble, when Fuzz and Feathers over there gave me a warm welcome."

Silverbolt looked away when Rhinox threw him a glance.

"Well," said Rhinox, "We're sorry for your trouble. Forgive us all for the, uh, slight misunderstanding. Welcome back, Depth Charge."

Optimus was almost completely frozen now. The liquid worked its magic slowly. "How am I going to get out of this one?" He mumbled to himself.

Megatron heard him and said, "I don't know. But I shall enjoy watching you try!"

He started laughing again, joined by his other Predacons. Optimus had an idea. If he was going to go, it wouldn't be because Megatron killed him. He tried to impale himself with the spikes, but his entire body was frozen before he got the chance.

He tried to speak, but only got one sentence before the ice took him. Thinking of his crew, and what shape they'd be in, he quoted the Scripture, saying,

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust prove faithful........" (1 Corinthians 4:2)

Speaking of those who have been given a trust, Rhinox was in a bind. He detected a full force assault coming to Predacon base. "Oh, good, Tarantulas is attacking the Pred base." Onyx said. "Wait a minute......"

"We're IN the Pred base! All units, converge in war room!" Rhinox hollered into the commlink. "Stop any and all activity!"

Blackarachnia, who heard what Rhinox said, had to make a quick choice. Cheetor obviously didn't hear the comm, or was enjoying this too much to do anything about it. Unfortunately, she was enjoying it too. It was nice to be with someone who wasn't as tight as Silverbolt always was...… And there was that feeling she had not too long ago for Cheetor (Remember the beginning of "Feelings Best Left Hidden II") ?"Oh, heck with Rhinox," She thought, and went back to Cheetor.

Tarantulas, just outside the Pred- er, Maximal, base, was barking out orders.

"Surround the base!" he shouted, "Rampage !Get to the back, it's the most likely escape route!"

His troops did as they were told. Sentinel (Remember, the Preds took it) stood up and started firing. Tarantulas had taken the measures long ago, however, that he had rocks set up to hide from fire if he ever went through with his plan of mutiny. The Maximals started charging out of the front, guns ablaze. "Excellent....." Tarantulas thought, but then saw that it was the Maximals instead of the Predacons. "Things are improving constantly today......"

Rhinox sent out the troops, all except for Silverbolt. Something didn't feel right. He couldn't find Blackarachnia, and wouldn't go into battle without her. Well, he would find her soon enough.

Blackarachnia heard someone muttering to himself. "That sounds familiar," she thought. "Silverbolt !The time is perfect....."

"Cheetor!" she whispered, "Someone's outside!"

"I'm on it!" He was disoriented from all the "romance," but ran outside anyway, gun ready.

"Silverbolt!" he shouted. He meant to ask him what was going on, but since his gun was leveled out in firing position, Silverbolt took it the wrong way.

"Why are you getting ready to shoot me?" Silverbolt asked.

Cheetor started to say that he wasn't, but Blackarachnia sprung her trap.

"Because he didn't want you to find out," Blackarachnia said, coming out of Cheetor's quarters. "He's getting fresh and I don't like it!"

"WHAT!?!?" Cheetor yelled, "I didn't-"

"I told you this wasn't over!!!!!" Silverbolt yelled back (Remember the end of "Feelings Best Left Hidden II?") With that, Silverbolt threw himself on Cheetor, converting to Beast Mode and biting and clawing.

"Blackarachnia, you filthy slut......" Cheetor said.

"Do not speak in such a tone to my lady!" Silverbolt yelled, more enraged than ever.

Do you remember what he did to Waspinator back in "Rain on Your Parade" ?(Ripped off his head and stuck a missile in it) Well, this wasn't quite that extreme, but he did bite a respectable chunk out of Cheetor's head. You could still see his features, but a wedge was missing from the top left corner. Cheetor was nonfunctional soon.

"So, what should we do with him?" Blackarachnia asked.

The Maxicon attack was going well enough, but the Maximals had the advantage by sheer force of numbers. That was one thing Tarantulas hadn't thought about when he left Megatron. The split in the faction would mean that the Maximals would have a size advantage. Oh well.

They had tired the Maximals out enough. Tarantulas was getting ready to withdraw, when he saw a limp body being tossed from the entrance. He couldn't quite make it out, but Koma drove up to him.

"It's Cheetor! Blackarachnia and Silverbolt tossed him out like yesterday's trash!" Koma said to Tarantulas over the comm. He had escaped the line of fire by using Quickstrike as a decoy. "And he's nonfunctional!"

"Bring him back with us!" Tarantulas said, "Let's go!"

Koma took Cheetor on his back and rode over to Quickstrike to tell him to retreat. The five Maxicons and Cheetor retreated under Rampage's cover fire. Only one Maximal saw that SIX were leaving the battle. Grizzena strained to see who was on Koma's back.

"Cheetor!!!!!" She screamed. She converted to Vehicle Mode, and flew after him.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Megatron was hysterical. His lifelong dream was coming true. As he watched Inferno melt down the ice sculpture that WAS Optimus Primal, he had a better idea. Although he was partly melted, Megatron said,

"Stop!" He had a better idea. "Put him in my quarters- Just as he is."

Grizzena flew after the Maxicons, but she was not shooting. When she was out of the Maximals' earshot, she yelled to the Maxicons.

"Wait!" She yelled, "I just want to TALK!"

Tarantulas stopped. He turned around and said, "I'm listening."

Koma sped up to his boss, and dropped Cheetor (still off-line) at his feet. The remaining Maxicons Circled around Tarantulas and Grizzena.

"Where are you taking Cheetor?" Grizzena demanded.

"Back to our base," Tarantulas said, "To repair him. He will see that his 'friends' have turned on him, and join ME."

"Turned on him?" Grizzena asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, wasn't it the Fuzor and that treacherous she-spider that threw him into the battlefield, and left him for dead? And these claw-marks... No one but Silverbolt could've done this. And look at his face." Tarantulas rolled over the limp body. Grizzena saw the missing portion of his head.

"Oh Primus..." Grizzena gasped. After regaining her composure, she said, "Take me with you too. I'm no Maximal anymore. Computer, change activation code."

There was a whir of spinning gears and more computer sounds, and finally, the computer said, "Activation code change, complete."

"He is gone," Blackarachnia thought, "hopefully forever. At least I won't have to put up with him all the time."

"What is it, my lady?" Silverbolt asked. "Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just.... lost in thought." Have to distract him, she thought, before he starts moralizing over Cheetor. "How 'bout I get lost somewhere else, hmmmm?"

Silverbolt had no argument so he- All right, all right, that's enough. There's been too much of that in this story already. This is a kid's show, remember, not a soap opera. Anyway, on with the story.

When Cheetor got out of the CR Chamber, he was surprised to see Tarantulas greet him.

"Where am I?" he yelled, putting his hands together in firing mode. "What am I doing here?"

"Don't you remember?" Tarantulas asked. "How you were betrayed by Silverbolt and Blackarachnia? How they tossed you out into the battlefield, left you for dead?"

"Oh, yeah...."

"Cheetor," A new voice entered the conversation. Cheetor was having a hard time keeping up. "Cheetor, join us."

"Us? Who's us?"

"The Maxicons, of course," said Grizzena, who had been talking in the first place. "We don't belong with the Maximals or the Predacons."

"That is why I created this group," Tarantulas said, "For freedom of sides."

"Yeah, right." Cheetor still wasn't fully awake yet. "What's the catch?"

"Only that you swear loyalty to me, of course."

"Loyalty? Tarantulas? Sure, why not......"

With that, Cheetor fell to the floor.