Beast Wars Anonymous:

Time to Think
by Spider Striker (scarletspider31@hotmail.com)

Spider Striker sat in a tree. He had just finished a minor battle with  the Preds. They had refused to leave the Axalon after Firehawk was  defeated, but left quickly when Siege recovered. After they were gone,  he got permission to go on a walk.

He sighed. Things just keep getting weirder and weirder, he thought. I thought I had this figured out. Fight Preds, get stasis pods, rest. Now there are all these Gargoyles and Firehawks. I wish I could figure out why the Hell I’m here. And why me? Why wasn’t someone else "chosen"? I don’t know shit about Maximals and Predacons and Autobots and whatever! It’s like Umi being picked for the third Tekkaman or something like that.

Well, at least there are some up sides. Spider Striker leaped out of the tree and landed ten feet away. He jumped up again and bounced around the forest for about ten minutes. Afterwards, he landed back in the same tree. This is like a dream come true. I got super powers and fight evil. And they’re Scarlet Spider’s! Too sweet! He shot out a string of cyber webbing and started making shapes with it. This stuff is neat, too. It’s not organic, but it shares all the properties of a spider’s webbing. And it’s blue. A really bright, shiny blue. And I’m still a science geek! Some things never change.

Spider Striker started laughing. "It’s so great to remember who I am!" he said out loud. "My name is Nathan Alex!! I’m a writer and an artist!" he yelled at the top of his vocal unit. He looked at the ring on his finger. What the Hell, he thought. He pressed the button to move his face plate and kissed the ring. Hope no one saw that.

Y’know, come to think of it, the good outweighs the bad. Granted this is war and I could be killed here, but look at where I am. This is paradise! No pollution, nature and beauty everywhere, no wa...well, I got two out of three right. I’m hardly shy anymore and when I get shy, I can talk to Catspaw. And Blackbird! Man, did I have him figured wrong. He’s going through the same Hell I am. He’s just doing a better job adjusting.

What reason do I have to be shy? Spider Striker asked himself. I’m accepted here! Another plus! I can be myself without being mocked for it! Optimus is trying everything to get me out of quarters. He’s a good man. Trying to bring order to chaos. I’m honored to be under his command. Whoa! I just sounded like "Worf, son of Mohg."

He started laughing. Dad would be proud. He stopped laughing. God I miss him! Talking about what happened in the latest issues of Spawn and Spider-Man. He punched the tree’s trunk. Who am I kidding? This sucks! I don’t have my family. I don’t have my computer with the Internet I don’t have all my stories and pictures. I don’t have my comics. I don’t have $h!t! I won’t get to see all those cool movies that were coming out. I’ll never get to be a famous writer or artist. I won’t ever get the chance to ask Erica out. Erica. I miss her. Taking to her. Doing homework with her. Just hanging out. I’ll never forget how I met her...

"Five dollars?! All you have is five fucking dollars?!"

The large teenage boy pushed the smaller teenage boy against the wall. "Damn, Alex. Your more pathetic than I thought." He kneed the smaller boy in the groin. The small boy landed on the ground and the larger one kicked him repeatedly. "You. Better. Have. 20. Tomorrow. Or. I’ll. Beat. You. Till. You’re. A. Bloody. Pulp." The large teenager shoved the five dollars into his pocket and walked away.

The small boy just laid there, tears forming his eyes. "Eat shit," he muttered under his breath.

"Are you okay?" a female voice asked from above. "Alex" looked up and saw a teenage girl looking down on him. She had short brown hair and green eyes. She wore a long black skirt and a "Metallica" T-shirt. "Are you okay?" she repeated.

"Y-yeah," the boy answered, wobbling to his feet. "I’ll be fine. Thanks."

"Yeah right. Your nose is bleeding. Come on. I live just down the street. Let me patch you up."

"No. It’s okay. My dad will be here soon and....ow!"

The girl sighed and grabbed the boy’s arm. "Let’s go."

Ten minutes later, the boy had bandages on his wounds and the girl was putting away the first aid kit. "Do you have a name?" she asked.

"Nathan Alex."

"Erica Smith. Nice to meet you. Did you know that guy?"

"Justin. He’s in my math class. I won’t give him test answers, so he beats the crap out of me."

"Jeez," Erica said as she sat down next to Nathan. "Why don’t you...?"

"I’ve gone to the principle, teachers, even the police. No good. His dad’s a big lawyer or something."

"I was going to say why don’t you beat the crap out of him?"

"Tried. Resulted in a broken arm."

Erica shook her head. "No offense, but that’s sad."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Really? I had no idea!"

Erica laughed at that. "My friend goes to your school. She says you never open your mouth except to answer questions. Apparently, you’re a smartass."

"Only when I’m mad. Other than that, you heard right." Nathan stood up. "Thanks, but I gotta go now. My dad is probably waiting."

"Wait!" Erica said. "I’m transferring to your school. What’s your home room?"

"359. I gotta go."

Two days later, Erica walked into the cafeteria of her new school. She looked around for a place to sit and saw Nathan sitting at a table by himself. She sat down across from him. "Hi!" she said.

Nathan looked up and closed the notebook he was writing in. He didn’t say anything. He just gave a small wave.

"Nice to see you, too. What’s with the silent treatment?"

Nathan shrugged.

Erica smiled and grabbed the notebook. "Hey!" Nathan yelled. "Give that back!"

"Jeez, Nate. Don’t you know anything? Bring something like this to school, it’s gonna get stolen." She opened the notebook and looked at it’s contents. "Wow! Did you draw this?"

"Yes."

"It’s good."

"Yeah, fine. Just give it back."

"No. I mean it."

"I know. Justin likes it too. Give it back."

"Lighten up, Nate."

"Stop calling me that!" Nathan grabbed his notebook back.

Erica looked at Nathan with a puzzled look. "What’s your problem? I’m complementing your work."

"Everyone complements it. Right before they tear it to shreds. I only bring it to escape."

Erica started laughing. "You think everyone’s out to get you, don’t you?"

"I have good reasons."

"Well, I’m just trying to be your friend. I know you trying to be a badass is just an act so drop it. It’s not very good. Let’s just start over. My name’s Erica Smith. I sing, dance, and write music." She extended her hand.

"I’m Nathan Alex," Nathan said taking her hand and shaking it. "I’m a writer and artist. You mean it, don’t you?"

"No. I’m Justin’s girlfriend and we’re plotting to kill you." Erica smiled. "Yeah, I mean it. My badass is just better than yours."

"Whoa!" Spider Striker said out loud. "I just had a flashback! Too cool!"

Remembering that, he thought, I can’t help wondering what happened to Erica. And me! Cripes. I don’t know if this is me mutated or I’m in a coma or missing or what. I can find out now that I know who I am. Just type in my name into that disk Blackbird gave me. But do I want to know? What if....well, I’m not gonna like it no matter what it is.  I should probably find out. No. I have to find out. For my mental health, if nothing else. Get that "closure" thing the therapists are always talking about. Wonder how many weeks it’ll take me to get the gu.....

"AAAARGHHHH!!!!"

Spider Striker screamed. Pain ripped through his skull as his sixth sense went into overdrive. The voice yelled in his head. "COMPLETE YOUR MISSION!" Then it just stopped.

Spider Striker looked around. He didn’t see anything other than animals running away from his scream. "What the Hell was that?!" he asked aloud.

God, this is getting creepy, he thought. All I want is to get my life back. To go home, but I might as well wish for the moon. It ain’t gonna happen. Accept it, Alex. This is where you are. This is home. Welcome home.

Spider Striker sighed. He shot out a web line and swung back to the Axalon. I just realized something, he thought as he swung. Whenever I want to get away and have some time to think, I always end up in a tree. I guess that’s my sanctuary.

The creature watched Spider Striker swing away. It had been observing him for a week now, but this time proved to be the most interesting by far. The way he reacted when it came out of its teleport. This was most fascinating. Perhaps a test was necessary to see why he
 reacted that way. Yes, a test.