‘My dear girl…
Please me and I’ll let you pull the final trigger.’
  
These were the words that had sealed Blackarachnia’s allegiance to Megatron.
  The words turned over her mind, again and again. They were so clear and fresh; like they’d been spoken mere minutes ago.
  The more she thought about them, the more she realised just how complicated this situation was.

It’s amazing; the way something as simple as words can twist someone’s life so easily. How they can create reputations, cause actions, and often end in unknown consequences.
  She’d now forever be known as a traitor, an outlaw, and a Maximal enemy. Anything and everything she had or knew was gone; it meant nothing. Even she herself had to change. She’d have to learn, or rather, re-learn, never to rely on anyone.
  She was now on her own, that was the price of those simple words.

However, instead of growing soft and feeble, like so many in her position would, Blackarachnia found herself grow stronger, crueller, and more and more determined every time she relayed the scene. She’d already been robbed once; she wouldn’t let it happen again.
  This in fact was the only reason she became a Predacon, to make Optimus pay for what he’d done. She still had no idea why the Predacons had practically risked life and limb to get here, or of Megatron’s true agenda.
***

  Far away aboard the Axalon, Optimus Primal found himself lost in these exact thoughts.
  
A few days had passed since the first battle and the Maximals were taking this precious, peaceful time to attempt to build a defence system. The project was pet-named ‘Sentinel’, and was really the brain-child of Rhinox.
  ‘Since we’re not going anywhere anytime soon,’ he’d said, ‘I suggest making use of the fuel cells on the ship. Sure, it may run down our energon supply a little, but we can easily restock that with the energon on this planet. I’m pretty sure it’s got the same molecular structure, and should be compatible.’
  Translation, Rhinox wasn’t entirely sure if the energon on the planet was the same as that of Cybertron’s, but assumed it was. Big emphasis on ‘assumed’.  
  What’s more, the other Maximals didn’t really have a say in the matter anyway. Rhinox was the self-appointed ship’s technician, so it was practically his job.
  
  ‘Yo, Scrape Ape!’
  Optimus snapped to attention and looked around, the voice seemed to have come from nowhere.
  ‘I said, “Which socket does this power fuse go to?”’
  Optimus quickly identified the voice as Rattarap’s.
  ‘Oh. Um, sorry Rattarap,’ he apologised falsely.
  ‘Ok, let’s see…’ he traced his finger down the instructions Rhinox had written.
  ‘Oh come on!’ Rattrap snapped angrily. ‘I ain’t endin’ up rat flambé just because you can’t stop thinkin’ about that stinkin two bit, traitor of a girlfriend of yours.’
  Rhinox and Cheetor, who were just behind him, immediately stopped what they were doing and gaped at Rattrap. Silence instantly filled the room.
  Optimus’ brow twitched, but he didn’t avert his gaze from the small computer pad and continued to survey it, pretending to ignore the remark.
  ‘Hey, that was cold!’ Cheetor cried, nudging Rattrap in the shoulder.
  ‘Don’t even start, Spots,’ Rattrap warned, shoving Cheetor back.
  A squabble quickly broke out. Rhinox took this chance to walk over to Optimus.
  ‘Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about her,’ Optimus murmured.
  ‘Whatever you say,’ Rhinox whispered.
  ‘Um, yeah, here you go,’ he said loudly, trying to cover up the brief conversation. However, he needn’t of bothered, as Rattrap and Cheetor were too immersed in their quarrel to notice.
  ‘NO,YO MAMA’S A JUNKION!!’ Rattrap shrieked loudly.
  ‘BETTER JUNKION THAN DECEPTICON, SLAG HEAD!!’ Cheetor retorted fiercely.
   ‘RATTRAP, CHEETOR, STAND DOWN THIS INSTANCE!’ Optimus barked.
  Both stopped bickering, but heckled and growled loudly to one another. It looked like a fight was about to break out.
  ‘I said cut it out!’ Optimus barked again, and stepped between the two snarling Maximals, separating them slightly.
  ‘I will not tolerate fighting amongst this team. If you’re not friends, you’re comrades, and I expect you to at least act that way.’
‘Whatever,’ Cheetor glowered. ‘I’m outta here.’
  And with that, he quickly transformed to his Beast Mode. He then stormed out of the room with a low growl and reached the exit lift to get out of the ship.
  ‘Cheetor wait!’ Optimus called after him, but it was too late; without even a second thought, Cheetor hopped down the lift and out of sight.
***

The wind in his face, the world flying by. Sprinting, galloping, thundering at full pelt. All the while thinking, about how stupid Rattrap was and how much he hated him.
  It seemed to fuel him, drive him on. He felt he could just keep running forever; clouded with anger and frustration. In a strange way it felt good, burning it all off.
  But he’d have to stop. He couldn’t just run away from it all. Sooner or later he’d have to face them all again.
   
  Cheetor was now deep in the jungle. How far away from the Axalon he was, he couldn’t judge.
  Gradually, he slowed, and subsequently stopped. It was peaceful here. Lush and colourful, tropical with green plants, and a dark void between the spaces in the background.
  And it was quiet. No shouting or voices being raised. Just the light chirping of birds and the quiet call of crickets.
  Water trickled nearby. Cheetor could smell it; fresh and clean. Here all his senses seemed to be heightened. All his anger seemed to just flow from him into the darkness between the shrubs.

A beautiful gold and brown falcon graced the branch of a tree near Cheetor. After she elegantly folded her wings, she turned to face him.
  Cheetor looked up and felt a small smile spread across his feline mouth.
  It looks like it’s watching me,he thought to himself with a smirk.
  Then Cheetor’s attention was directed to how big the bird actually was. It was amazing how he hadn’t noticed it sooner.
  Geez, it’s almost as big as Rattrap!he thought to himself again, with amazement.
  ‘Hey pretty birdie,’ he cooed to the falcon. ‘You’re a big ‘un, aren’t you?’
  The falcon stared at him and cocked her head sideways coyly, emitting a soft chirp.
  Cheetor laughed.
  
  ‘Cheetor!’ an exhausted voice called from the distance.
  Cheetor turned to the direction of the voice.
  ‘Oh great,’ he sighed to himself.
  The falcon hopped to a closer branch and edged keenly as far as she could, narrowing her eyes to see who the other creature was.
  The sound of four feet pounding heavily into the earth was soon heard. Optimus’ gorilla form could be seen galloping towards them.
  ‘Cheetor,’ he panted, grinding to a halt and catching his breathe.
  ‘Optimus, I…’ Cheetor began, but couldn’t find the words to finish his sentence.
  ‘Just what was that all about back there?’ Optimus demanded, his arms on his gorilla hips. But his words weren’t angry.
  ‘I guess I…I mean…Aw, I don’t know.’ The young cat lowered his head.
  ‘I guess…I just…wanted to let off some steam.’
  Optimus walked over next to Cheetor and crouched low to him so that he was on his level.
  ‘I know this must be tough on you; you being the youngest and all,’ he said gently. ‘But you have to understand, this is affecting every Maximal here, as well. We all miss Cybertron, and I know this planet is different.
Indeed, we’ve all gone through so many changes since coming here, and I can understand if you feel things are going too fast. But we all have to adjust.
We’re in battle now, maybe even war, so it’s vital we all pull together as much as we can.
Do you understand me?’
  Cheetor looked him in the face and nodded. Optimus was right. The whole team shouldn’t suffer because of him.
  ‘Thanks,’ he replied.
  Optimus smiled and looked around.
  
During their little ‘session’, unnoticed by Cheetor, the falcon had been hanging on every word.
  Once or twice, she had leaned forward so far to hear, she’d almost fallen off the branch she was presently perched on.
  So they are from a different planet, she thought to herself. And they’ve brought their petty little war with them. How thoughtless.
  
She was now innocently pretending to preen herself, still listening intently to for anything else these ‘Maximals’ might reveal about themselves.
  However, no amount of cover-up could hide her from Optimus. He’d figured her out as soon as he’d arrived, and knew she was listening to everything. He’d even purposely name-dropped the allegiance of his crew.
  ‘Awfully big birds they have here,’ he stated casually. ‘They’re almost unreal.’
  He eyed the falcon. Was that a sudden twitch?
  Oh slot!! she cursed to herself. He knows!!
  ‘Yeah,’ Cheetor broke in, ‘imagine what all the other creatures look like. If   they’re all this big spottin’ Preds is gonna be hard!’
    
Suddenly the falcon let out a loud, piercing screech. Her feathers were ruffled, her eyes wild. Danger was nearby.
  She spread her wings and took flight. But instead of flying away, she circled the surrounding area, still screeching as loud as she could.
  Optimus and Cheetor watched her, quite bewildered by this sudden expression of panic.
  
‘What’s that awful racket?’ a disgruntled voice screeched.
   The two Maximals quickly pulled their eyes off the falcon and focussed their attention to the top of a thicket of trees.
  Out of it zoomed a red, scaly creature, too fast to see it’s real shape. But Optimus and Cheetor knew what it was.
  ‘It’s a Predacon attack!’ Optimus cried. ‘Optimus Primal, Maximize!’
  The gorilla quickly transformed into it’s true robot form.
  ‘Huh? Optimus?’ Terrorsaur’s voice exclaimed with surprise, and the creature slowed to flapping to keep aflight.
  ‘Sorry, didn’t see you down there. Just let me get my lunch, then we can start.’
   And without warning, Terrorsaur made a bee-line straight for the screeching falcon.
  ‘Hey!’ Cheetor yelled, ‘leave it alone! Cheetor, Maximize!’
  And he too quickly transformed to his Robot Mode.

The poor falcon had been too distracted with both her screeching and watching the two Maximals transform, that she had forgotten to keep an eye on Terrorsaur.
  She suddenly heard two large, leathery wings beat against one another and turned around to see Terrorsaur coming headlong at her. She gave a frantic final beat of her wings before he darted his head forward to snap at her chest.
  ‘GYAA!!’ Terrorsaur screeched, as he was bombarded twice at the same time in the chest, one shot coming from Optimus and the other from Cheetor.
  The force of the impacts caused him to shoot backwards, snapping his long, needle nose shut, and tearing a mouthful of feathers from the falcon’s breast.
  ‘AHH!!’ the falcon screamed loudly, and Optimus caught a glimpse of static fly off her chest.

Her cover blown, her position exposed, the falcon flapped frantically, darting off as fast as she could, and was quickly out of sight.
  ‘GRRR! You guys just cost me my dinner!’ Terrorsaur growled. ‘Terrorsaur, Terrorize!’
  The angry Predacon quickly transformed to his full metal Robot Mode.
   ‘Waspinator, get over here!’ he yelled loudly.
  Soon the air was filled with a loud, muddled buzzing noise as a giant wasp came hovering through the thickets.  
‘ZZYAWN!! Waspinator was having nappy-nap,’ the wasp buzzed dreamily, wiping his eyes with his front feet.
  ‘Awww, let us help wake you up,’ Cheetor smirked, as both he and Optimus opened fire on the two Predacons.
  Waspinator didn’t even have time to transform before he was shot down and sent spiralling to the ground, buzzing annoyingly as he fell.
  Terrorsaur put up a rather feeble counter fire before darting off in all directions to avoid the gun shot.
  Optimus sought to put him out of his misery by testing out his rather recently discovered jet-pack.
  He flew up behind Terrorasaur and tapped him on the shoulder.
  ‘Huh!?’ Terrorsaur  cried, and turned around to see Optimus give him a toothy grin.
  ‘Uh oh!’ he screeched, as Optimus shot him close range in the stomach and sent him crashing down on top of Waspinator.
  Optimus touched down softly and Cheetor came up next to him with his Quasar cannon pointed at the muddled mess of Predacons.
  ‘Ok you two, GET!’ Optimus barked, motioning his loaded arm in the direction of the thicket they’d both flown out of.
  ‘Yes sir,’ Terrorsaur replied weakly, lowering his head and hovering up a little. He then turned around a signalled Waspinator to come.
  ‘NNGGH, Waspinator hungry,’ the wasp whined when he’d reached Terrorsaur.
  ‘Oh shut up!’ Terrorsaur snarled, and hit him over the back of the head. Waspinator’s plaintive moan in response faded as they hovered away out of sight, and then it was quiet.
  No sooner had they gone, white waves of energon started coiling over Cheetor and Optimus.
  ‘Woah, just in time,’ Cheetor exclaimed, and he and Optimus reverted back to their Beast Modes.
‘So, what was all that about?’ Cheetor turned to Optimus. ‘I mean, that bird. It’s like it knew Terrorsaur was coming.’
  ‘Not only that,’ Optimus began, ‘it was giving out a warning.’
  He stood on his hind legs and cupped a hand under his chin.
  ‘No, that was no ordinary bird. And this is a very strange planet. It seems familiar, somehow, like I’ve heard of it before. Strange.’
  He paused for a minute, thinking. Cheetor looked up at him, waiting expectantly for an answer.
  ‘Well…’ he finally said,’ whatever’s going on around here, I intend to find out. Come on Cheetor.’
    And with that, the two Maximals set off for the Axalon.
***

‘I can’t believe that just happened!’ she quailed to herself as she flew as fast as her falcon wings would carry her.
  She had come off lucky; Terrorsaur’s attack hadn’t damaged her so much as to pain her. He’d only grasped a few feathers, not tearing the flesh.
  She was still all a flutter, though,   flying quite unsteadily, and still very shook up from the encounter.
  Her mind was a blur; working at a mile a minute, still unable to fully process everything that had happened. She didn’t even know where to fly or where she was flying.
‘Get away. Got to get away. Keep flying,’ a voice inside her head told her, and this was the only thing that made sense.

  ‘Airazor!’
She broke hard and stopped in mid-flight. Still very distressed and panicked, her head spun frantically in every direction.
  ‘Airazor. Calm down. Tell me what’s happened.’
  She looked down. Staring up at her was the gentle face of a white tiger.
  ‘Oh Tigertron!’ she sobbed, descending to the ground.
  ‘It was horrible. I…I…’ she stammered, and soon started blurting out the details of the encounter.
  
‘There’s two races of them; one of them, the Maximals, they don’t seem to hostile.
  But the others, Predacons I think they’re called, oh Tigertron, they’re just awful. They’re vicious and violent, and…
  They…they attacked first.’
  She faced him fully, tears leaking from her bright falcon eyes. Then she broke down into a fit of sobs. This was when he noticed her front.
  His eyes grew angry when he saw the ruffled, half-bare spot on her chest.
  ‘They did this to you?’ he asked softly, his voice still mellow, hiding his anger.
  Airazor nodded with a sniff.
  ‘Oh Tigertron, what are we going to do?’
  He placed a paw on her folded wing.
  ‘I don’t know,’ he said gently. ‘You said one of them was civil, Maximal right? I think it best to watch them for a while, see what their real motives are. If they really are the peaceful party, it would be best for the Earth Protector to meet them. At least then we’ll know what this is all about.’
  Airazor looked up to him and nodded, her eyes dry but glistening.
  ‘We should keep this quiet though, till we’re sure we’re right,’ she whispered softly.
  ‘Even from the Earth Protector?’ Tigertron asked with alarm.
  Another gentle nod was her reply.
***
  
Even though he hadn’t been damaged, Optimus had still ordered Cheetor to spend half a repair cycle in the CR Chamber. Cheetor assumed this was to buy him a little extra time away from Rattrap.
  He was half right.
  Optimus really wanted Cheetor to relax and cool down a little. He was still brimming with energy from the battle with Terrorsaur and Waspinator, any peace negotiations with Rattrap were unlikely.
  Optimus also knew that Cheetor’s mind was brimming with thoughts. A little quiet time for him would definitely help him clear his mind, and more importantly, the situation between Rattrap and him.

   Needless to say, Optimus was right.
   When he came out of the CR Chamber, the first important thing to Cheetor seemed to be to make amends with Rattrap.
  ‘Um, Rattrap,’ Cheetor approached cautiously.
  Rattrap was sitting at his post in the Command Room in front of a monitor. His back was turned and his hands were looped behind the back of his head. His legs were rested up on the control panel.
  At first he didn’t stir. Cheetor had expected this, expected the whole attempt to be blown right back into his face.
  But still he waited.
  Optimus and Rhinox crept in quietly to see how the affair was going. They mustn’t of been heard, or the tension in the room was mounted so high, they didn’t concern either Rattrap or Cheetor, since nobody acknowledged them.
  
‘What?’ Rattrap answered, after what seemed like eons.  He then continued to turn around on his chair, get up, and walk over to Cheetor.
  Cheetor took a deep breathe and darted a quick glance at the floor. He finally looked up again and looked Rattrap in the face.
  ‘I just wanted to say; I’m sorry. I’m sorry I started the argument, and I’m sorry for anything I said that might’ve hurt your feelings.’
   Rattrap stared at him in awe. Optimus and Rhinox stood silently behind him. They were actually a lot closer to him than they’d liked to have been.
  ‘Uh…well,’ Rattrap mumbled, scratching the back of his head. ‘I guess, uh, apology accepted.’
  Optimus gave a sharp cough, and Rhinox made as though he’d accidentally nudged Rattrap.
  ‘Hey, what!?’ Rattrap cried, raising his arms in a questioning manner.
   ‘Oh…ok,’ he sighed resignedly. ‘I’m sorry too, kid.
  ‘There, ya happy?’ he glared at Optimus and Rhinox , who both smiled parentally   at him.
  ‘Thank you, Rattrap,’ Optimus beamed.
  Rattrap huffed.
‘Yeah, well,ya gotta love these family moments, I s’pose.’
He pouted dramatically, folding his arms and turning his head to the other side so that he had one eye on them all. ‘And for boltin’ up cold, quit smiling at me, it’s creepy!’
  The other Maximals couldn’t contain themselves, and ended up snorting into an uproar of laughter. Rattrap turned to them all again, the urge to laugh along growing within him, and quickly found himself unable to hide his own laughter.
***

One thing that had still managed to stick inside Cheetor’s mind through everything else that had happened, was the content of the previous battle. Not so much what had happened, but more what he had found out.
  Or rather, what Optimus had found out. Cheetor had a hunch the Maximal General knew more than he was letting on, a lot more than himself at any rate.
  This thought burned inside Cheetor’s head, and his curiosity was instantly fuelled. There were still things Optimus didn’t know, he’d made that clear shortly after the battle.
  What if I can find them out? Cheetor thought to himself. If Optimus is gonna be looking for answers, then there’s no reason why I can’t.
  
Soon, Cheetor began planning his investigation. First, he’d check out the area near the battle scene. There was bound to be something there.
  He’d have to keep it secret though. There’s no way Optimus would let him go snooping around on his own. And he couldn’t trust the other two. Rhinox would certainly tell Optimus, and Rattrap… well, Rattrap was just Rattrap. If he didn’t tell the others directly, he’d blurt it out without meaning to, something the others had grown to expect of him.
  
After a great deal of persistence, a lot more than he had expected, Cheetor was finally granted leave by Optimus.
  ‘Half a mega cycle, you got that?’ Optimus reminded him for the fifth time.
  ‘I know, I know,’ Cheetor replied, half-heartedly. ‘Any longer and I’m grounded for the rest of the week, I got it.’
  ‘I prefer the term ‘ship-bound’,’ Optimus replied up-tightly.
  ‘Whatev, later.’
   ***

Taking things much slower than before, Cheetor started to take in the planet’s beautiful scenery. Odd things he hadn’t noticed before stood out and caught his attention. He must of stopped at least five times, just to look at a mountain side, or at some marvellously coloured flower. Sure, this planet was strange, but it still intrigued him. For once, he understood the beauty of something so small and simple being alive, something he’d never felt on Cybertron.
  When he finally did get to the battle scene, Cheetor was vastly disheartened to say the least.
  There was nothing here. No strange animals or plants. No noises. Nothing.
  His spirits sank even more when he didn’t see the falcon again. He thought this was part of her territory, the only reason she didn’t fly away when the battle began.
  
After walking around the area, checking the same trees and brushes continuously, Cheetor grew bored and agitated.
  ‘What a wasted trip,’ he muttered to himself harshly.
  He was about to leave, when he heard a rustling coming from a thick patch of bushes in front of him.
  ‘Not Terrorsaur again,’ he whined to himself.
  But it wasn’t Terrorsaur.
  
Out of the brush prowled a great, proud grey wolf. He looked grizzly and wild. His eyes shone a brilliant gold, and down the right side of his face a great, blood-red scar coiled from his eye to his snout. Half his right ear appeared to have been torn off.
  But the way he sauntered and held his head up high suggested he bore these battle scars with pride.
  Cheetor revered him. Were all the animals on this planet huge?
  The grey wolf regarded him with those piercing gold eyes, and a seemingly sinister smile appeared  to form on his noble snout.
  ‘Well, well, if it isn’t the big, bad wolf,’ Cheetor laughed. ‘Big fella like you must be pack leader.’
  
‘Funny you should say that,’ a mean, raspy voice replied.

Cheetor stopped laughing and stared at the wolf in shock. Did that voice really come from him?
  ‘You…you can talk?’ Cheetor stammered, still completely astounded.
  ‘Heh, I can do more than that, kitty cat,’ the wolf growled.
  
Cheetor gaped and froze as he suddenly saw the wolf begin a transformation sequence. His wolf head moved down to a newly formed waist, revealing a canine-like robot head. The scar on the right side was etched deep into the metal of his face.
His robot chest was formed mostly from his furry wolf front. His front paws swung to the side, and underneath them two black and silver arms came out. His back legs swung around slightly, curving round his newly formed black and silver robot legs. His great, furry wolf tail detached itself from his back end and flipped up into the air. He nimbly caught it in his quick, black hand, and ended the transformation sequence.
  ‘Let’s see what ya’ got,’ he sneered, and leaped to make a slash attempt on Cheetor with his wolf tail-sword.
‘Hey wait!’ Cheetor cried, jumping backwards to avoid the strike. The sword sliced through the earth like a knife through a peach.
  Cheetor steadied himself and got his bearings.
  ‘I don’t wanna fight, but you’ve left me no choice. Cheetor, MAXIMIZE!!’
  Cheetor quickly transformed and glared back over to the black and silver wolf transformer.
  ‘I knew you were one of them,’ he snarled to Cheetor, a cruel grin spreading across his snout-like mouth, and a protruding top fang slid over his bottom lip. ‘Here on Earth, we don’t take kindly to alien-freaks.’
  He advanced slowly forward as he spoke, the tail-sword still firm in his hand. Cheetor could only back away uneasily, keeping his optics fixed on the hostile transformer edging towards him. He didn’t want to break eye contact; this guy was fast. One second, and it could all be over.

What did he mean ‘Here on Earth’? Was that the planet’s name? Why did it sound so familiar?

  Cheetor suddenly felt his foot catch onto something. A tree root. He stumbled over and felt himself fall backwards; everything seeming to go in slow-motion as he fell.
He hit the ground hard and winced. No! he thought to himself. Quick, get up. Before it’s too late.
  But when he looked up again, all he saw was the grey, furry blade of his foe pointing straight in his face.
  ‘You know, you freaks really aren’t so tough,’ the wolf transformer chuckled. ‘I really expected you to be a little more, how should I put it? Dangerous?
Still, it means one less of you to worry about. So long, kid.’
  He raised his sabre high over his head with both arms.
  Cheetor clenched his optics shut and braced for the blow. There was no way he could escape.
  The sword began it’s descent.
  Why did this have to happen now?   
  
‘WOLVERON!!’
The wolf transformer stopped the blade in mid-air, mere inches away from Cheetor’s helm, and looked at where the voice had come from. Anger etched in his face, he growled and snarled lowly, baring his fangs.
‘Stay outta this, Prime!’ he barked. ‘I’m not letting you get all the glory.’
  Cheetor snapped his optics open and peered in the direction Wolveron was staring.
  
There, just outside a thicket of giant plant leaves, stood a very proud and handsome, golden lion. His coat and mane shone brilliantly in the sun, and his eyes sparkled a beautiful sky-blue. He was certainly well built, with a large, noble chest. His paws looked huge compared to Cheetor’s, and strong muscles flexed within his front and back legs. His tail curled with interest, but he appeared relaxed and calm.
  
‘There’s no glory in what you’re doing,’ he stated as calmly as he looked. His voice was strong and commanding, but in the same way gentle and warm. ‘We don’t attack cubs, Wolveron!’
  ‘He’s one of them!’ Wolveron hissed. ‘ He’s still dangerous. And so ’s the rest of them. Let this one go, and you’re only showing them we’re weak!’
  ‘That’s enough!’ the lion snapped.
  ‘No, it’s not!’ Wolveron shouted. ‘Leon, our planet, our homes, our very lives, are all under threat from these… these monsters! I will not stand back and let you put everyone on this planet in danger!’
  There was a tense pause. The only sound seemed to be Wolveron’s angry panting.
The lion stared at him, his calm exterior now shattered into a ferocious and furious glare.
‘Transform and get out of my sight!’ he snarled, disgustedly.
  Wolveron let out a horrid growl. He shot Cheetor a threatening glare before, finally, complying with the order.   
  ‘You’re gonna regret this, Prime,’ he sneered, as he skulked past him. ‘Mark my words, you’re gonna regret it.’
  Cheetor watched him disappear into the jungle, then he himself transformed back into his own Beast Mode. Then walked over to the lion.
  ‘Uh, hey. Thanks for…’
  ‘Just what do you think you’re doing here?’
  Cheetor flinched slightly at the unexpected, angry response.
  ‘I was just… taking a walk,’ Cheetor answered nervously.
  ‘Hmph. You’re boss should know better than to let a cub like you walk out alone.’
  ‘Hey, I ain’t no ‘cub’!’ Cheetor cried.
   ‘Could’ve fooled me.’ A small smirk edged onto the proud lion’s face.
  ‘Anyway, you’d better stay outta forests if you’re on your own. Wolveron’s got it in for you now.’
  As he said this he turned to leave.
  ‘Hey wait, what’s your name?’ Cheetor looked over to his direction.
  But he’d already vanished.
  
Cheetor was now left on his own. Alone and confused, he could only try to think of what to make of all this.
  So, this planet's called Earth. And it’s got transformers on it, Cheetor pondered to himself.
But I thought Cybertron was the only planet to home transformers. And I’ve never heard about any other planet supporting transformer life.
Why do I feel something’s wrong with this picture?
Cheetor’s thoughts were then directed to the brief fight. Why had Wolveron attacked him? And why did that other transformer save him?
‘Leon,’ Cheetor murmured to himself. ‘No wait, he was called Prime twice. Dammit, what is his name?’
  Cheetor finally gave up the one-sided argument with himself. How long had he been here? Longer than the half mega cycle Optimus had given him? Obviously.
  ‘Optimus is gonna skin me!’ he said aloud when he’d realised this.
  Half a nano later, he set off at full pelt for the Axalon, thinking up a good excuse for being so late. But he wouldn’t tell Optimus about the encounter. This was one of those things probably best left to himself.
  Besides, would Optimus have told him?