The Intergalactic Highway

( And now back to the war of attrition, when two tanks fight each other.. LOL Oh well, if Deathroll wants to do some jousting.. )

Deathroll wrote:"RIGHT INDEED!"

Landslide was taken by surprise as Deathroll's long tail swung up spinning into one of his kneecaps, the hard impact damaging the insect foot on the knee armor and causing Landslide to stumble back swinging his arm to keep his balance, his electro laser flipping away inside his arm.

Regaining his footing, Landslide watched as Deathroll once again came at him charging at him like a football player. Must be a water/steel type? Landslide muttered, then strangely did something unexpected, he intentionally crouched and leaned back letting his cargo container press into the ground like a third leg,while reinforcing his shield with his freehand. On impact, Deathroll hit and bounced off Landslide. Lad.. you aren't big enough ta knock me over. Landslide then dug his claws into the ground standing up, becoming more apparent the difference in the two's physique.

Deathroll while being heavily armored, was more agile and built for offensive attacks, like a berserker. While Landslide's stocky heavy body prohibited him from even being capable of running, it essentially made him like a wall focused on heavy defense.

After landing on his feet, Deathroll then took Landslide by surprise firing the missiles up into the air, Landslide looked up seeing the missiles turn in a parabolic arc, he then raised his shield above his head, bracing it with his arms and shoulder horns as his body became hammered by the multiple missile strikes. After the smoke cleared, Landslide lowered his shield, which seemed to be dented and cracked with burn marks, his body showing multiple burns and a few dents from the hits. Landslide coughed some smoke from the vents on his faceplate Ug.. Charcoal flavored.

The beetle reached behind his back, drawing out his great chainsword, which Deathroll being a miner would recognize as either some sort of trencher or rocksaw, something that would normally cut through rock and metal like butter. Landslide raised his heavy shield while going into a crouch with his landing gear lowering behind his legs, then activated the 10 foot chainsword and his thrusters, holding the weapon like a lance as he charged towards Deathroll thrusting the chainsword at his chest.



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Terrorsaur wrote:"Mangy cat!"

Cheetor twisted into the bite making wild cat sounds like out of stock footage for a cartoon, trying to lean his head out of the way as Terrorsaur swiped at his face, only to suddenly be knocked off as Terrorsaur flew down and dragged them both along the ground. Cheetor got up shaking off, then transformed to robot mode slowly Ug.. that worked.. I think. he said to himself watching Terrorsaur being struck by Blackarachnia's cyber venom, then hit by the webbing.

Cheetor waved towards Optimus and Blackarachnia, then turned looking towards the other Predacons. Landslide seemed to have himself busy with some new scaly Predacon with a drill butt, while he saw Megatron blowing smoke away. Cheetor shook his head and started to run towards the Predacons to get a closer look and maybe help Landslide out if possible.

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Umbra swung his swords, deflecting and parrying Rattrap's blasts as he came closer, his thruster on his back shifting to the side. It's coming.. Umbra throught to himself. Because it's what I would do if I was him.. he then thought, seeing Rattrap chuck the demo charge at him. Using his back thruster he threw himself to the side of the bomb and tumble rolled along the ground. Sure enough, Rattrap was just as how Umbra would of expected given their similarities. That would be a fight the Ninja wouldn't look forward to, since it would almost be like fighting himself.

Standing up, Umbra looked around as he sheathed his swords.

Megatron wrote:"Inferno, burn him."

Inferno wrote:"As you Command Royalty!"

Megatron wrote:"Enough Inferno, let me see his face"

"You see where treachery takes you Zodiac? As well as vengeance without purpose for that matter? Anguish and failure" Megatron said as he opened fire with his shoulder guns, blowing away the shoulder connected to the arm carrying Zodiac's gun, followed shortly by shots to his gut and knees, all intended to bring him down low and add to his agony, make him regret he had ever DREAMED of getting the best of Lord Megatron.

"Goodbye Zodiac, I'd say it was a pleasure knowing you, but that would be dishonest, and why speak ill of the dead?"

Observing the scene, Umbra then raised an optic ridge as he noticed the smoke grenade thrown, with the smoke soon dealt with by Megatron's thrusters and the ambient wind. Smoke against fliers just didn't work, even poorly suited ones like many of the transmetals were. Then saw Whitegrazer seeming to be helping Rattrap out of a hole in the ground.

Inferno wrote:"Royalty, I cannot see!"

Megatron wrote:"Not for long, Inferno" "YOU!" "OBLITERATE HIM!"

Inferno wrote:"At once Royalty!"

With a throwing blade still in one of his tentacle's grasps, Umbra set it to explode and tossed it towards Zodiac.

"Just give me a clear shot and he would go down, struggling."

Wielding Blackarachnia's weapon, the Maximal ape fired off a few missiles to Terrorsaur's left side, intentionally missing him as they exploded in the air, keeping him distracted along with Cheetor on his back. Then he pulled up close enough for Blackarachnia to fire her cyber venom and then her webbing. Finally, the three of them managed to be too much for him to handle. Terrorsaur might have mocked them for that, although it wouldn't have offended Optimus because he believed in teamwork and survival in numbers, but he didn't have the opportunity to do so.

Unlike Terrorsaur's usual lack of class during his "achievements", Optimus didn't gloat or belittle or humiliate the Predacon for letting the two Maximals and his former Predacon comrade get the better of him and drop him out of the sky. He simply watched their enemy fall to make sure he was down, knowing the pain of hitting the ground from this altitude all too well. He certainly seemed to be unconscious. Primal returned Cheetor's wave, acknowledging a job well done for him and Blackarachnia before motioning the TransMetal cat to go down to the others, obviously gesturing to offer them help. After handing the widow's weapon back to her, the gorilla immediately followed Cheetor's descent but veered off a little aiming toward Megatron and Inferno.

"So, if I catch Terrorsaur with my webbing, you won't mind if I...kept him for...snacking purposes?"

The TransMetal gorilla turned his blue head to look at her over his shoulder with a somewhat disgusted expression. "You would actually consider feasting on him?" he emphasized. Even if she was starving, would she resort to the 'dactyl? Her wink was a welcoming notion of suggesting that she was joking. But was she really? "There's plenty of energon to go around if you'd rather consume a much more tasteful and satisfying substance," he added reassuringly, a little more lightheartedly.

With no more threats currently in the skies, Primal's attention was drawn toward the others below. He watched everything unfold with Umbra and Inferno attacking Rattrap, and Deathroll attacking Landslide. Megatron and Nemesis were closing in on Zodiac...

"The Pit has no fury like a Predacon scorn."

Rattrap rolled his optics. Yeah, yeah, Predacons have super dooper bad tempers, yadda, yadda, yadda, he thought. "The only thing that Predacons surpass everybody else with, includin' me, is ego."

"Wouldn't you?," "You are, after all, still a Maximal. Protecting others is an inherent weakness in your programming.

"It ain't a weakness," the rat simply corrected Zodiac.

Despite what I may have done to your kin, I think you would defend me.

Rattrap nearly blew a gasket with that remark. DEFEND HIM?! What slime! You think WRONG, pal! he thought to himself.

I came along quietly, didn't I? And thus far I haven't attempted escape."

The former shape shifter's next words actually calmed him down. At least Rattrap could agree with those. Well, sort of. Quietly? Not necessarily since he continued to open his mouth. If he meant that figuratively, that he hadn't been physical with them, then yes, he had been "quiet". Then again, he was also cuffed, weaponless and had lost his strongest abilities to shape shift and heal, which prohibited any possibility of escape for him. So why was he giving himself so much credit? Ugh, Predacons!

"Then I suppose we have something in common."

At first, the Spy was going to object Zodiac's comment, but he hesitated upon realizing that he actually did have some things in common with this scum. They were both "full of surprises" and unpredictable, and they both had the same witty sense of humor. He shuddered to think he had any similarities remotely close to him, but it was true. And surprisingly, him admitting this to himself actually gave Rattrap a clearer perspective and a calmer attitude. But it wouldn't last long.

"Hurry!," "I'll pull you up."

Rattrap almost shrieked like a woman horrified of mice when Zodiac came over to the pit he had fallen in and reached down with his restrained wrists to allegedly help him up even though it was still shallow enough for the rodent to climb out of it himself. But time was running short. Surely Inferno and Umbra were closing in, and the earth beneath his feet was growing hotter. Any more tremors and it would likely collapse, taking him with it into the river of lava below.

"We can settle our trust issues later. Right now we need to put those aside or we will both end up dying here, now!"

He glared at him, studying the dragon's optics, trying to find the line between sincerity and deceit. Rattrap's optics kept jumping from the barrel of his gun targeting Zodiac's face and to Zodiac's pleading arms seemingly wanting to help him up; back and forth, back and forth. Reluctantly, he finally took a chance, a chance he was likely to regret, and grabbed a hold of one of the master manipulator's forearms with his free hand. Maybe he foolishly thought that Whitegrazer had finally reached through to him and talked him into being a nicer bot. Maybe it was just the pressure of time being against them in this highly dangerous battle. Maybe it was a hint of optimism for him being honest for once and convincing him of it that made him risk his life and trusting his words.

As soon as Zodiac had lifted up the much smaller Maximal, he began shaking him violently. Bewildered and trying to maintain his sanity, Rattrap tried kicking at his enemy but couldn't focus as his systems and vision were knocked around. He tried holding on to his weapon, but it inevitably fell from his grasp and on to the ground.

"Despite you frequently saying it.. We're not all going to die."

Once the shaking stopped, the small Maximal's vision came back to him and he glared at the liar in front of him while his feet still dangled in the air. The dragon's tail's movements to skillfully snatch up his gun caught his attention for only a moment. What did he mean by that? Was this just a harsh way of him stealing someone's weapon so he could help stop Megatron and his goons? Did he mean not all of us as in the Maximals would prevail and Megatron would finally fall? Was Zodiac going to help them since they were willing to keep him alive despite everything he had put them through?

"Just you."

The answer was no. And just like that, Zodiac threw Rattrap back into the pit he had just helped him out of. His words hurt him, but Rattrap was not one to cry. He was incredibly angry, but it was more anger and huge disappointment toward himself for listening to Zodiac in the first place and allowing him to steal his gun than being angry at Zodiac.

As he started to fall back in, full of emotions and stress, hearing some gun fire and recognizing his own weapon's sound when discharged as Zodiac fired at Megatron, all of this happening all at once, a plume of smoke wafted into the immediate area and he felt someone suddenly grab his arm, jaunting his body as the side of it hit the pit's wall. Looking up, he saw Whitegrazer, and a great deal of relief came over him. "'Grazer! Am I glad ta see you!" he managed a smile. "Thanks for de lift." Rattrap refused to give up, and he refused to give Zodiac the satisfaction of being right about him dying despite his own negativity and criticism sometimes. The downside to all of these recent events? He no longer had his most valuable weapon. So he grabbed one of his hubcaps and his tail spear, whipping it to effectively straighten it and lock all of the links in place. What was he going to do with these? He had no idea. He'd figure it out when the time would come for the Predacons' next attacks. However, what he saw next truly baffled him. Did Nemesis just jump in front of Megatron to spare him from the gunfire that Zodiac was shooting at him? Say whaaaaaaat?! "Did dat just happen?" he asked Whitegrazer rhetorically with disbelief. And she was shot up pretty badly, too. After everything with Zodiac, he'd sooner help Nemesis instead of defending him. And then, the unthinkable happened. Megatron grabbed Nemesis and held her up before she could face-plant into the cold snow. This made Rattrap over-dramatically drop his jaw.

"YOU!"

No way was Rattrap going to let Megatron fire at the mare's back like that! He quickly stepped in and held up his hubcap as a shield to deflect and ricochet the Predacon's shoulder-mounted shots, protecting Whitegrazer. It was powerful gunfire, though, and every shot sent a shock through Rattrap's hand and arm that held his hubcap. It stung and began to feel numb.

"OBLITERATE HIM!"

Just behind Megatron, Rattrap saw a sight for sore eyes. Cheetor and Optimus were quickly approaching from the air, with Blackarachnia as well. His focus on them didn't linger long, however, so as not to give them away.

Landslide was doing quite well against this new Predacon, Deathroll, being assertive and opportunistic with his abilities and defensive maneuvers. Hopefully he was taking notes so they could add them to their data base and learn more about him. Not too far from them, Primal had seen what Zodiac did to Rattrap, and so many emotions came flooding back. Nexus Prime... lost forever... All the pain and suffering and torture Optimus had endured because of this shape shifter that he had helped create. ...And because of Megatron, who had nearly killed him and ripped his body apart, so much so that he couldn't even walk right in robot mode anymore. And now he was firing at Whitegrazer AND Zodiac. His hands balled into fists, his sharp teeth grinding inside of his mouth, as he concentrated everything onto the Predacon leader who had just ordered his Predacons to unleash their firepower onto Zodiac. Zodiac still owed him some answers, so he was not about to lose him to this group of trigger-happy misfits. He could have valuable information which Megatron seemed completely uninterested in. The fool.

TAKE HIM DOWN! the voice hollered at Optimus. He huffed in response.

"We're on a collision course," Primal darkly warned Blackarachnia, hinting that she should probably make her departure very, very soon. Or perhaps with her agility she could hop off just before the collision and attack Inferno. She had fared quite well before when she was up against him in the past, so he had every confidence in her taking him down if she chose to do so. Otherwise, this was her last chance to bail.

Using some of Whitegrazer's smoke as cover, and seeing how completely engrossed and distracted Megatron was with his sheer desire to destroy Zodiac and obviously forgetting about Primal altogether, Optimus came speeding down to the ground and flew up behind his old nemesis. He bent his knees upward a little, lifting the front of his hoverboard, and went to deliberately slam the bottom of his board into Megatron's back at full speed...

"The only thing that Predacons surpass everybody else with, includin' me, is ego."

And proper grammar, the former shapeshifter thought to himself without verbalizing it.

"It ain't a weakness,"

"Isn't it?," the renegade challenged.

"How far has your Maximal compassion gotten you in this ongoing conflict against the Predacons? Has it prevented your comrades from becoming casualties in the war?" He left the question lingering in the air. Well, at least until Rattrap fell into the hole and the renegade recognized a chance to escape. A very slim chance, granted, but one nevertheless. And he took it.

He kept a straight face as he offered his cuffed hands to the rodent to help him climb out, making sure his voice held a tone of genuine concern to give the impression he was being serious. And the rat fell for his ploy, allowing the renegade to grab his weapon before dropping him back down into the hole. Now, however, he faced a bigger threat.

Do you, Zodiac? I'm not going to be arrogant to say that I know Nemesis, but I feel for her. Understand her. As I do you. The only thing I can say is what I believe from my observations from her. What I witness when she was forced to join us in fighting you, a common foe. She despised it. When she found out it was you, she took it personal as she should have. You two had a past, and she didn't expect you to treat her in that fashion. She was hurt, angry. You forced her to have to work with her sworn enemies and attempted to blow her up along with them. To her, this is personal. It is personal for both of you. That's why she wants you dead. Just like you do. It's retribution. You two have justification for wanting to have the other killed. And it would just continue.... unless one of you... especially you take a first step in dropping your weapon.

Whitegrazer's words silenced the renegade for a moment as they resonated within his mind. For the briefest of moments he hesitated, having witnessed his shots hit Nemesis rather than their intended target. She had stepped in front of Megatron and used her own body to shield him. No doubt part of her reasoning for doing so was to make up for the earlier fiasco that had resulted in her getting ambushed and tied up, but clearly that couldn't be the entire reason. After all, if Megatron was killed leadership of the Predacons would befall the female. So why would she have done it? It was baffling to the renegade.

Why so eager to take her side?, Zodiac mused via their link as he started to raise his weapon again. She is hardly innocent in all of this. Even now she's protecting your sworn enemy, someone who has attempted to kill your friends ever since the Maximals arrived on this planet.

It would be easier for you, wouldn't it? Harder to face a person from your past you have hurt and is now hurting you back? No doubt she would try anything to get back at you? Making you have to be in the hands of people you despised?

He flinched ever so slightly at that statement, memories of being lead down a hallway while in chains and surrounded by cages filled with fellow test subjects flooding his mind for moment. Guards hitting him, kicking him while he was down, lashing at him with their whips if he couldn't muster the strength to get back on his feet in time.. Scientists drilling into him, cutting him open with their tools, burning his circuits with their laser beams.. And ignoring his screams of pain and horror. And sitting alone in a cage for days afterwards, unsure whether to bless the solitude or curse it. Starving. And then reluctantly walk back there with the guards when it was his turn again. Or dragged as was often the case.

I do what I have to, he told her, trying his best to maintain the illusion of confidence. But deep down he knew she could see straight through it, especially now that their minds were linked.

A vicious cycle. That can be broken if one shows mercy and regret. Are you willing to do that?

I can't!, he argued with her. The predacons will not be as merciful. You're distracting me. Let me do what needs to be done!, he continued while hating how much it felt like he was pleading with her.

Zodiac, I have learned to not underestimate you. You might need their help. If you attack or do something to put us in jeopardy, I can't protect you from what my comrades might do or what might happen. I advise you to not make your situation worse.

It was too late for that already. He realized it the moment he let the rodent fall back down into the hole. It was a matter of life or death. His life. And he couldn't trust the Maximals to defend him. Besides.. it had felt good to let the annoying rodent fall to his doom. Almost as good as he imagined killing Optimus would have felt. Or watching Nexus Prime die.

It was you who choose to activate the alien device. You tried to kill us again, we reacted, and instead of killing you, we attacked your abilities, so you will be in equal standing.

You drove me to it!, he responded angrily. Activating the alien machine was never my first choice. I think we both know what is about to happen because of it.

Zodiac, you have made your bed.

He sighed, his aim locked onto Megatron who was now cradling Nemesis in a most peculiar way. "So be it," he responded, verbally this time. Oh how he wished she would get out of his mind and his thoughts!

Nemesis' arms had been hanging limply at her side when her body had seemingly shut down from the intense pain. But instead of the cold, unforgiving snow greeting her, she felt a strong arm grabbing a hold of her and preventing her from collapsing completely. She lifted her head slightly to see who it was, resisting the nanomachines' hunger wanting to use the assisting arm to fuel themselves. For once they heeded her warning and continued the repairs without resorting to dismantling the tyrant's arm. At that moment she wasn't quite sure whether to feel grateful, honored, or terrified that it had been Megatron himself that held her up. Perhaps a mixture of all three was an accurate description.

"Inferno, burn him."

Megatron's words sounded cold and unforgiving, a clear indication of how determined he was to end this confrontation right now. Nemesis grabbed her aching abdomen where some of Zodiac's shots had penetrated deep through her armor, and she struggled a bit to stand up straight again. But now that her repairs were well on the way, her strength was also returning so it took her but a moment to regain her balance. "Thank you..," she told Megatron genuinely while watching Inferno fire his flamethrower in Zodiac's direction.

Fortunately the fire ant's aim with his primary weapon was not the best as flames had a tendency to take on a life of their own at this distance, allowing Zodiac the opportunity to move to the side and thus avoiding the worst of the initial attack. His wings were about to come in handy as a shield yet again, however, when a second wave of flames came soaring towards him. He crouched down, fully covering himself with the already scorched wings, cringing as the burning sensation licked across him yet again.

"Enough Inferno, let me see his face"

Zodiac coughed, the smell of his own burnt armor tickling his throat. He was covered in scorch marks now, some areas of his wings visibly malformed from the intense heat. Had he not been transmetal, he would likely have been a lot worse off, however. Slowly, painstakingly so, he unfolded his wings and forced himself to stand up again. Ever refusing to show weakness, to give Megatron the satisfaction of seeing him in such pain, in .. defeat.

"You see where treachery takes you Zodiac? As well as vengeance without purpose for that matter? Anguish and failure"

He stared at the Predacon tyrant, knowing all too well what was certainly coming. Yet he refused to beg for his life, not wanting that to be his last act in life should it come down to it.

"Megatron, I never imagined you of all bots would be so short-sighted."


Fortunately his voice and posture held up fairly well, all things considering. He hid the hesitation, pain and dread he felt better than he had expected. He had gotten a lot stronger since his days as a frightened youth held captive while they experimented on him. Back then he would have grovelled and begged for mercy. Not now. Not anymore.

In his hand he still held Rattrap's weapon, his own weapons having been physically taken away from him during the battle and the rest he'd been unable to access ever since the nanomachines were deactivated. He raised his still cuffed hands to take aim at the tyrant's face, seeing little option than to blow that smug look straight off his face. But with his wounds slowing him down, he wasn't fast enough. Megatron's initial shot hit him in the shoulder, knocking his arm and then his entire body backwards in a sudden, painful, movement. Zodiac grimaced from the pain, wincing as he moved his shoulder forward to assure it was still intact. As a result of the impact, the weapon had hit the ground with a low thud. A few more shots followed, one narrowly missing his knee while the others slammed into his gut and almost sent Zodiac crashing backwards to the ground. He was able to catch himself at the last possible moment, however, instead staggering a few steps behind him.

"Guess I was wrong in my assumption..," the renegade muttered to Megatron as soon as he regained his balance, his hands now clutching his wounded abdomen, "You are every bit as much of a fool as Primal and Nexus if you can't see what you're about to do!"

"Goodbye Zodiac, I'd say it was a pleasure knowing you, but that would be dishonest, and why speak ill of the dead?"

The renegade tensed up, certain this was his final moments. If that was indeed the case, he would have preferred some more memorable final words. But alas it would seem he had just run out of time..

Or so he thought for that brief moment before a smoke grenade suddenly appeared out of nowhere, covering the area in a thick cloud of smoke. Zodiac drew a silent sigh of relief for this apparently final chance at survival, taking the opportunity to move away from the Predacons while they were still disoriented. Doing so, however, brought him straight into the area where the earthquakes had collapsed much of the underground tunnel system.

Nemesis quickly stepped away as Megatron made short work of the smoke cover, her repairs already complete. She swiftly recovered her missing weapons, which were fortunately easy enough to find now due to the snow rapidly melting from the heat radiating from the lava filled tunnels.

"OBLITERATE HIM!"

"My lord Megatron, allow me!," she declared while glancing at the tyrant, taking to the air to pursue the fleeing Zodiac. They would have to act quickly as this region was becoming more and more unstable. In fact the mountain was threatening to explode at any moment. Had she waited, she might have seen Optimus Primal swooping in from above, but as things were her attention and that of the other Predacons present was on Zodiac.

"Stop running, traitor, and face the fate you have made for yourself!," she shouted after Zodiac. The renegade had no intention of doing so, however, but a sudden explosion from an impact near his feet caused the already fragile and unsteady ground he was standing on to threaten to collapse underneath him. The former shapeshifter stopped, his optics searching frantically for the quickest route to safety.

"I said stop!," she repeated, hovering near him with her weapon trained on him. Zodiac sent her a tired look, apparently unfazed by her presence.

"Go back to your new master, Nemesis," he told her, testing the ground's ability to carry his weight as he took a step then another, walking as softly as he could.

The female narrowed her optics, firing a warning shot straight into the back of the dragon's right wing. "My master has demanded your head," she told him coldly. "And I intend to fulfill his wishes. Now turn and face me. I wish to see your face as you die."

Zodiac could not help but chuckle at that. It was a grim laugh without any real amusement. "I remember a time you wouldn't bow for anyone, no matter how much they tried to force you. And to think I used to admire that unbreakable spirit.. My my how things change," he mocked her before continuing. "I don't think you realize what Megatron set in motion when he stole the golden disks.. Perhaps some day you'll learn. Provided, of course, he doesn't tire of you before then."


Finally he turned to look at her, curious to see if his words were having the desired effect. "I'm not sure what he told you to inspire such devotion, but you should know that Megatron is nothing more than a common thief. A wannabe thinking he can cash in on someone else's efforts. And he most certainly is not the savior of our kind!"

His words sounded so sincere, the avian female almost wanted to hear her former friend out. Almost. Had he not betrayed her so easily, she probably would have listened. But her anger was still very much present.. Unyielding. Unforgiving.

"Good bye, Zodiac," she told him frigidly, her weapon taking aim at the fragile ground under the traitor's feet. The renegade only had a nanoclick to react before she fired repeatedly at the unstable ground, resulting in the rocky terrain collapsing underneath Zodiac's feet. The renegade barely even had time to contemplate how badly he had underestimated her and the hatred she must have felt for him before the surface he'd been standing on disappeared. Due to the damage to his wings and shoulder he was unable to fly, leaving him little choice in the matter as he slammed into a small platform above the lava. For a moment he blacked out, his impact against the platform violent enough to bring a small rock slide down on top of him.

"You would actually consider feasting on him?"

"There's plenty of energon to go around if you'd rather consume a much more tasteful and satisfying substance,"

"You're right. He looks tough to eat anyway." Blackararchnia said to Optimus as she watched her shot directly hit Terrorsaur, watched as the cybervenom kicked in and slowed the fast flyer in the air. Her webbing gripped around him, creating a stasis web that would keep that annoying bugger out of their way as they focused on more important fish.

She looked down to see that Megatron, Inferno, and Nemesis were planning their attack towards the other Maximals. She witness Zodiac drop Rattrap down a hole, which appeared due to the volcano's unstablity, but despite any type of analysis of her feelings during that moment, rather than knowing that she didn't actually care one dime for the rodent, the white mare jump to the rodent's rescue after she threw a smoke grenade and a shot a few times at Megatron and the others general direction. But the smoke was clearing. Megatron getting a chance to fire and the rodent getting a chance to repay his debt towards the mare.

Because of Zodiac's actions, she wondered if the Maximals really did want to keep him alive now? She wouldn't, but she wasn't a Maximal now, was she?

"We're on a collision course,"

Blackarachnia's optics widened a bit. "Serious? He gave her her weapons back. The Maximal ape was serious as he began his descent towards Megatron. You are serious. Well, it was fun while it lasted." All right, it was time for this black widow to ditch her flying body shield. As she prepared to jump, she scanned the area and saw Inferno. Ah! He won't suspect her to do such a thing. She waited. Waited. When the Maximal ape got into range, she jumped and air tackled Inferno.

((OOC: Whitegrazer's post is coming soon. ))

OOC: Wanted to get this post done before I left for the movies tonight, sorry for not waiting Una, I can fix things around later if you need me to (I'm seeing the Conjuring 2! ). Thanks for the birthday well wishes

NaitoKage wrote: Landslide was taken by surprise as Deathroll's long tail swung up spinning into one of his kneecaps, the hard impact damaging the insect foot on the knee armor and causing Landslide to stumble back swinging his arm to keep his balance, his electro laser flipping away inside his arm.

Regaining his footing, Landslide watched as Deathroll once again came at him charging at him like a football player. Must be a water/steel type? Landslide muttered, then strangely did something unexpected, he intentionally crouched and leaned back letting his cargo container press into the ground like a third leg,while reinforcing his shield with his freehand. On impact, Deathroll hit and bounced off Landslide. Lad.. you aren't big enough ta knock me over. Landslide then dug his claws into the ground standing up, becoming more apparent the difference in the two's physique.

Deathroll while being heavily armored, was more agile and built for offensive attacks, like a berserker. While Landslide's stocky heavy body prohibited him from even being capable of running, it essentially made him like a wall focused on heavy defense.

After landing on his feet, Deathroll then took Landslide by surprise firing the missiles up into the air, Landslide looked up seeing the missiles turn in a parabolic arc, he then raised his shield above his head, bracing it with his arms and shoulder horns as his body became hammered by the multiple missile strikes. After the smoke cleared, Landslide lowered his shield, which seemed to be dented and cracked with burn marks, his body showing multiple burns and a few dents from the hits. Landslide coughed some smoke from the vents on his faceplate Ug.. Charcoal flavored.

The beetle reached behind his back, drawing out his great chainsword, which Deathroll being a miner would recognize as either some sort of trencher or rocksaw, something that would normally cut through rock and metal like butter. Landslide raised his heavy shield while going into a crouch with his landing gear lowering behind his legs, then activated the 10 foot chainsword and his thrusters, holding the weapon like a lance as he charged towards Deathroll thrusting the chainsword at his chest.

Deathroll didn't dignify Landslide's "lad" remark with a response, fighting back the urge to laugh considering the age difference between them, but was pleased to see the maximal's shield looking worse for wear after his missile attack, and that his body bore some damage as well, proving that while the beetle was sturdy and hard to knock over, he wasn't invulnerable.

Deathroll's optics narrowed however when the beetle drew out a sizable blade, one that resembled mining tools he had used back in the day before he joined the decepticons, a tool that could easily be used as a weapon to slice less heavily armored cybertronians to pieces quite literally. Fortunately, Deathroll's armor plating had yet to fail him, an uncommon mix of Predacon and Decepticon alloys that he doubted Landslide had ever encountered before, however, he himself had yet to test the limits of his new form's durability, so he could not be certain if the chain blade or his Destronium hide would win out against the other, especially at the speed the beetle was now going....However, Deathroll was no coward and feared not testing his limitations, and he KNEW he had a weapon that could match Landslide's sword.

"FOR MEGATRON!" Deathroll yelled, referring to his leaders both past and present by that name, as he changed into his drill tank mode and charged forward as fast as he could go, his drill pointing forward in the same lance like fashion as Landslide's blade, spinning fast enough to pulverize the hardest of stone or metals.

Deathroll would reduce Landslide's blade to broken shards and run him through, his drill would win out over this maximal's cutting implement. However, no reason not to hedge his bets, so Deathroll opened fire with his back mounted beam casters, aiming for Landslide's weapons and thrusters, intending to either strip away his defenses, slow him down, or at the very least soften him up before his drill tore him to pieces!

Phoenix wrote: Megatron's words sounded cold and unforgiving, a clear indication of how determined he was to end this confrontation right now. Nemesis grabbed her aching abdomen where some of Zodiac's shots had penetrated deep through her armor, and she struggled a bit to stand up straight again. But now that her repairs were well on the way, her strength was also returning so it took her but a moment to regain her balance. "Thank you..," she told Megatron genuinely while watching Inferno fire his flamethrower in Zodiac's direction.

Fortunately the fire ant's aim with his primary weapon was not the best as flames had a tendency to take on a life of their own at this distance, allowing Zodiac the opportunity to move to the side and thus avoiding the worst of the initial attack. His wings were about to come in handy as a shield yet again, however, when a second wave of flames came soaring towards him. He crouched down, fully covering himself with the already scorched wings, cringing as the burning sensation licked across him yet again

Megatron merely nodded in recognition of his second in command's thanks, his optics much more interested in the sight of Zodiac's struggles to protect himself from the heat of Inferno's flames, hot enough to scorch and melt metal as Tarantulas could attest, the flames reflecting in Megatron's optics as he watched Zodiac's wings ignite and dance across his hide, enjoying the traitor's hellish suffering no matter how hard he tried to hide it from him, knowing that it had to be an alien sensation for Zodiac, for his body to sustain lasting damage that would not "magically" fade away in moments in the manner to which he had grown accustomed.

Phoenix wrote: He stared at the Predacon tyrant, knowing all too well what was certainly coming. Yet he refused to beg for his life, not wanting that to be his last act in life should it come down to it.

"Megatron, I never imagined you of all bots would be so short-sighted."


Fortunately his voice and posture held up fairly well, all things considering. He hid the hesitation, pain and dread he felt better than he had expected. He had gotten a lot stronger since his days as a frightened youth held captive while they experimented on him. Back then he would have grovelled and begged for mercy. Not now. Not anymore.

In his hand he still held Rattrap's weapon, his own weapons having been physically taken away from him during the battle and the rest he'd been unable to access ever since the nanomachines were deactivated. He raised his still cuffed hands to take aim at the tyrant's face, seeing little option than to blow that smug look straight off his face. But with his wounds slowing him down, he wasn't fast enough. Megatron's initial shot hit him in the shoulder, knocking his arm and then his entire body backwards in a sudden, painful, movement. Zodiac grimaced from the pain, wincing as he moved his shoulder forward to assure it was still intact. As a result of the impact, the weapon had hit the ground with a low thud. A few more shots followed, one narrowly missing his knee while the others slammed into his gut and almost sent Zodiac crashing backwards to the ground. He was able to catch himself at the last possible moment, however, instead staggering a few steps behind him.

"Guess I was wrong in my assumption..," the renegade muttered to Megatron as soon as he regained his balance, his hands now clutching his wounded abdomen, "You are every bit as much of a fool as Primal and Nexus if you can't see what you're about to do!"

"Yes yes, that's nice Zodiac" Megatron replied nonchalantly as he fired away at him, more absorbed in cutting Zodiac down to size and robbing him of his oh so important pride than he was in his pitiful last words, but if only to savor his pain for a second longer, he did bother to add "I was shortsighted for thinking you could be of use to me in the war for predacon independence, shortsighted for not killing you on the spot when you first came to my doorstep baring gifts...Thank you Zodiac, for reminding me why trust should never be granted so readily, and why the maximals can't be trusted with rulership of Cyberton when they allow failures like you to roam freely across the galaxy like scraplets across an otherwise spotless floor, whining for absolution when there are far grander ambitions to achieve than petty revenge over one, admittedly annoying, ape."

Megatron listened to Zodiac's last words to him as he staggered to keep his balance and clutched at the gaping hole in his abdomen, mech fluid spilling out of him as he tried to sound tough in his final moments, the tyrant replying "I'll take my chances with both the maximals AND the Vok over what you almost did to all our kind, Zodiac, Beast of Fools."

Idiot, he truly had NO IDEA how his actions had nearly wiped out all Predacons across the universe, himself included, if his alien weapon hadn't been stopped when it was...Slag, it STILL could cost them everything if the Vok did return in response to the signal he had sent, and they almost certainly would. Truly, Zodiac was not half as clever as he thought himself to be, nor was Megatron one tenth the fool the former shapeshifter mistook him for...Oh well, no point in dwelling over the opinions of the soon to be deceased.

Phoenix wrote: "My lord Megatron, allow me!," she declared while glancing at the tyrant, taking to the air to pursue the fleeing Zodiac. They would have to act quickly as this region was becoming more and more unstable. In fact the mountain was threatening to explode at any moment. Had she waited, she might have seen Optimus Primal swooping in from above, but as things were her attention and that of the other Predacons present was on Zodiac.

"Permission granted, GO!" Megatron commanded as he dealt with Whitegrazer and her knight in garbage ridden armor, Rattrap, confident that this time Zodiac would not escape Nemesis.

OOP wrote: No way was Rattrap going to let Megatron fire at the mare's back like that! He quickly stepped in and held up his hubcap as a shield to deflect and ricochet the Predacon's shoulder-mounted shots, protecting Whitegrazer. It was powerful gunfire, though, and every shot sent a shock through Rattrap's hand and arm that held his hubcap. It stung and began to feel numb.

Phoenix wrote: "Good bye, Zodiac," she told him frigidly, her weapon taking aim at the fragile ground under the traitor's feet. The renegade only had a nanoclick to react before she fired repeatedly at the unstable ground, resulting in the rocky terrain collapsing underneath Zodiac's feet. The renegade barely even had time to contemplate how badly he had underestimated her and the hatred she must have felt for him before the surface he'd been standing on disappeared. Due to the damage to his wings and shoulder he was unable to fly, leaving him little choice in the matter as he slammed into a small platform above the lava. For a moment he blacked out, his impact against the platform violent enough to bring a small rock slide down on top of him.

Megatron watched as his second in command finished Zodiac, the heavily damaged dragon falling into the pits below, where he would surely be crushed to death by falling rocks or melted in lava like Scorponok before him...A true fall from grace. Megatron smiled in approval before turning his attention back to Rattrap and Grazer.


"Worthless Rat, haven't you suffered enough for your foolish sense of mercy?" Megatron scolded as he fired his tail gun at him next, knowing that either his shield would shatter from the much more powerful shot or the rat's arms would buckle under the strain, no matter how strong his little shield was, his body was much too frail and fragile to withstand his true power for long.

Rattrap at times exhibited tendencies that, in another life, might have made him a good predacon, but always his true maximal weakness would shine through in moments just as this...Oh well, no use crying over a dead maximal. It was amusing however watching him overreact to him giving aid to Nemesis earlier, for some reason the idea of Megatron placing value on a soldier who actually did her damn job seemed to astound the poor vermin, priceless.

OOP wrote: "We're on a collision course," Primal darkly warned Blackarachnia, hinting that she should probably make her departure very, very soon. Or perhaps with her agility she could hop off just before the collision and attack Inferno. She had fared quite well before when she was up against him in the past, so he had every confidence in her taking him down if she chose to do so. Otherwise, this was her last chance to bail.

Using some of Whitegrazer's smoke as cover, and seeing how completely engrossed and distracted Megatron was with his sheer desire to destroy Zodiac and obviously forgetting about Primal altogether, Optimus came speeding down to the ground and flew up behind his old nemesis. He bent his knees upward a little, lifting the front of his hoverboard, and went to deliberately slam the bottom of his board into Megatron's back at full speed...

As Megatron prepared to fire another volley at Rattrap and Grazer, he heard the sound of a now familiar flight mode approaching from behind him! Before he could react however, Primal's hoverboard slammed into him at full speed, sending Megatron flying forward.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOO!" Megatron roared in both pain and rage as the impact sent him flying flat to the ground, and right into a collision course with Rattrap and Whitegrazer!

"Bet Primal didn't factor this into his equation" Megatron thought to himself as he crashed into Primal's friends, hoping they would join him as he himself skidded over the edge of the pit that Zodiac himself had fallen into...Only to emerge like a phoenix from the flames soon after with an angry grimace on his face as he flew towards Primal like a bat out of hell, slamming into him with his VTOL's on full power, the transmetal tyrannosaur simply pummeling away at Primal as they flew backwards, Megatron wishing nothing more than to beat his old foe to death with his bare hands like he'd almost done before back in the Predacon's new brig.

Una wrote: Blackarachnia's optics widened a bit. "Serious? He gave her her weapons back. The Maximal ape was serious as he began his descent towards Megatron. You are serious. Well, it was fun while it lasted." All right, it was time for this black widow to ditch her flying body shield. As she prepared to jump, she scanned the area and saw Inferno. Ah! He won't suspect her to do such a thing. She waited. Waited. When the Maximal ape got into range, she jumped and air tackled Inferno.

Inferno cackled crazily as he was prone to do as he proclaimed "I shall gladly aid you in their executions Royalty!"

Inferno intended to blow both Rattrap and Whitegrazer to bits with his gun's missiles, that is until the traitorous widow came flying out of nowhere to tackle him as Primal slammed into his master!

"Royalty!" Inferno called out in concern as he struggled against the widow, snarling angrily as the slippery witch fought back, but Inferno, though not her intellectual equal, was in an entirely other league than her when it came to pure brute strength and durability, and soon seized her with his clawed hands and looked her in the eyes and said "Your time to burn is long overdue, traitor!" as he viciously head butted her in the face and threw her to the ground as hard as he could, retrieving his guns as he screamed "BURN IN THE FIRES OF INFERNO! RRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWW!" as he unleashed twin streams of flame in her direction!

((OOC: It's all right, DarkSpark. I will just post behind you, so you don't have to change anything. Loved your post! ))

"'Grazer! Am I glad ta see you!" he managed a smile. "Thanks for de lift."

"You didn't think I would let Zodiac drop you into a hole now, did you?" Whitegrazer returned a smile towards Rattrap as she pulled him to safety. She was just glad she saved Rattrap from falling to his death. The fact that she remained hidden was a great idea that worked to their advantage. Making her wondering what would have happened if she didn't keep herself hidden. Thank goodness that she didn't have to think nor wonder about that.

"Did dat just happen?

She took a peek as she watched Zodiac fire towards Megatron. Except Nemesis took the bullets. Her optics widened. Nemesis was showing such loyalty towards Megatron. Loyal enough to take shots that were meant for the purple tyrant. Part of her was impressed by such loyalty, but another part of her.... another deeper part of herself, maybe a more selfish part of herself that wished Nemesis gave such loyalty to their side.Wondered if it was just because of Zodiac's involvement or Nemesis was showing her gratitude towards the Predacon leader for taking her back within his ranks. Made her saddened that that couldn't happen on their side, and also, she dreaded what would happen if she had to fight the woman somewhere down the line. Just like Umbra, she hesitated at such. And she realized how dangerous those thoughts were. Complicated emotions she had for those two, as well as towards Zodiac.

Why so eager to take her side?, Zodiac mused via their link as he started to raise his weapon again. She is hardly innocent in all of this. Even now she's protecting your sworn enemy, someone who has attempted to kill your friends ever since the Maximals arrived on this planet.

I know. Very complicated, indeed. She said nothing more. But her silence probably expressed everything towards Zodiac. Nemesis...

"YOU!"

Letting her thoughts distract would have been a fatal error towards herself, thinking Megatron was too focused on Zodiac to give her the time of day, but thanks to Rattrap, he blocked the incoming blows, snapping her out of her inner turmoil and caught the rat from falling from the Predacon's leader's strong firepower. "Forgive me, Rattrap. I wander. Thank you." she expressed her gratitude towards her comrade.

I do what I have to

Images of Zodiac's life flashed before her eyes. Him laying in cage. Scientists performing horrific experiments on him. Painful. Disgusting. Her hands balled into fist, knowing that she was responsible for Zodiac's horrific experiences there. How dare they try to harness her power for something they barely could understand. No Maximal or Predacon could. It was worthless to try, and yet they did, and how many people did they ruin just to get what she had? How many lives destroyed. Seeing Zodiac's experiences, pain, feeling Nemesis', she despised what they went through. She would despise those who did this, but what was worse was the fact that she was to blame. For coming here. For being here, for showing something new. Knowledge these sides both wished to have in their little Cold War.

I know you did. You did what you had to do to survive. To thrive. But you don't have to lose everything in order to get it. What's the point of surviving if there is nothing for you? She could feel Zodiac's confidence was stripped.

I can't!, he argued with her. The predacons will not be as merciful. You're distracting me. Let me do what needs to be done!,

It might not seem like it to you, but I'm trying to keep you alive. We are trying to keep you away from the Predacon's hands. Let us help you. It almost sounded like she was too was pleading. For Zodiac.

You drove me to it! Activating the alien machine was never my first choice. I think we both know what is about to happen because of it.

You are responsible for your decisions as we all are. Now, the only thing we can do is just get away from here. We can use your help in dealing with the aliens. Tried to get Zodiac to see the bigger picture, getting away from the Predacons. There was no time for fighting. We need to get out of here. Now.

But Zodiac... continued. She felt it. Megatron fired his tail gun. She wasn't going to allow Megatron to shatter Rattrap's shield. She got in front of Rattrap, and took Megatron's hits. She felt the pain surging through her body, but she kept herself from showing it. As she looked up, she saw as Zodiac fell through the hole. An ironic twist as he had tried to drop Rattrap to his death, and now, he had been dropped by his former friend. She ran towards him despite the struggle and pain. Zodiac! We are coming! They had to save him. He was still alive. She felt it. As she raced towards the hole, she felt Optimus' presence get closer and closer. Watched Blackarachnia jumped and attacked Inferno. Optimus collided towards Megatron, and Megatron... heading straight towards her and Rattrap. Quickly, she pushed Rattrap away, so when Megatron bashed right into her, Rattrap would be clear of any danger. Hopefully, Rattrap and Cheetor could save Zodiac.

As Megatron was rising up, she was hanging on Megatron's leg. She stared up at Megatron, determined. Determined to not allow this tyrant to hurt Optimus again. No. Grabbed her small pistol to try and shot his thrusters to bring him down.

(Sorry for the wait OOP, been a long past few days of home repair, then as I was writing it up I got a call in about a security system issue they needed me to fix. )

Coming in from the distance, Cheetor saw as Inferno threw Blackarachnia off him and pulled out his guns to set her a blaze. Locking his two arms together, he started to fire laser blasts rapidly at Inferno's backside. Step off Firebug! Cheetor shouted, likely to gain Inferno's attention.

_____________________________

Umbra watched as Nemesis fired on the ground under Zodiac, causing him to fall over the edge. He then turned as Optimus came in knocking into Megatron, who colided with Whitegrazer. Umbra glanced towards Rattrap, then Optimus Primal, only to see Megatron rise back up with Whitegrazer hanging on his leg shooting at his thrusters.

Umbra thought to himself observing the situation, Optimus would probably be distracted with Megatron and Whitegrazer, leaving Rattrap open. Umbra drew his twin swords, then rushed towards Rattrap, stabbing towards him with his acid blade,his poison blade held close defensively. Not the way I'd like to fight you, but it can't be helped. the ninja spoke, as having the Rat with his back to a lava pit wasn't the most sporting.

_________________________________

Deathroll wrote:"FOR MEGATRON!"

Landslide shifted his chainsword as he saw Deathroll rapidly transform and charge at him with his drill, he shifted his hips and turned his thrusters,steering to the side as he brought his shield up to deflect the drill, metal sparks seen flying as the shield and drill make contact brushing against each other. The gunfire from Deathroll's anti air guns peppering Landslide's armored shoulders and the armored shell on his sword,bouncing off with small burn marks.

Making his way past Deathroll, Landslide's thrusters turned one 180 causing him to spin,then locked his foot claws into the ground to suddenly stop with his thrusters cutting out. Don't yer types have anything original to say? It's always just "Fer great leader!" "Death to autobot scum!" Been hearing it fer centuries now! Landslide then transformed to his vehicle mode, rolling on his landing gear up behind Deathroll and dug his head into the ground under the drilltank with his horn lifting and locking him against his upper horns, lifting Deathroll up off the ground. Landslide then turned his thrusters, starting to fly up into the air with the Drilltank still held tightly in his horns, soon gaining altitude.

"Isn't it?," "How far has your Maximal compassion gotten you in this ongoing conflict against the Predacons? Has it prevented your comrades from becoming casualties in the war?"

Rattrap didn't feel like wasting his time trying to explain anything to the renegade. If Whitegrazer wasn't getting through to him, then there was no way that the rodent could. In any case, he had to stay sharp. Optimus was about to plow into Megatron.

"Worthless Rat, haven't you suffered enough for your foolish sense of mercy?"

You know, I'm really gettin' tired of everybody callin' me worthless and weak, he thought bitterly, glaring at Megatron. But his glare soon folded into an expression that suggested, "oh crap," when he saw Megatron lift his tail gun and fire at him. The blast knocked him backwards off of his feet, dropping his hubcap shield and his tail spear/whip. Quickly, he scrambled to get up and grab his weapons.

"Serious? You are serious. Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Optimus hadn't bothered to slow down for Blackarachnia since he wanted as much speed and force as possible behind his attack; she needed to get off now. Fortunately, she didn't hesitate to do so, and she practically spring-boarded off of his hover board and into Inferno for a tackle. Meanwhile, his pink optics were dead set on Megatron. There was a loud clang of metal and sparks that flew off when Primal's board slammed into the tyrant's back, scraping and screeching as their TransMetal bodies slid together before pushing the Predacon away. After hitting him, Optimus put on his brakes and hovered there, grabbing one of his clubs from his back.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOO!"

Watching all of this unfold since he hadn't taken his optics off of their fearless leader flying in from behind Megatron while he and the mare were facing the t-rex, Rattrap was suddenly pushed out of the Predacon's way as he landed on his chest with a thud on the snowy ground. Quickly getting back to his feet, he watched Megatron take the Empath over the ledge with him. "Whitegrazer!" he shouted, fearing the worst. He glanced back at Optimus wondering why he wasn't going after her; he didn't even look worried, he just hovered there patiently waiting. Then again, Rattrap supposed that with their bond the monkey would know if she was in real trouble or not. Suddenly, Megatron came bursting upward out of the pit and straight toward Primal with Whitegrazer hanging on to one of his legs. Was she crazy?! He watched her target his engines on his back to try and take him down, but the amount of thrust that the Predacon leader was ejecting was probably too much interference. She was probably blinded and burning up from the heat. Still, he hoped she could help and not put her life in danger.

Primal's optics locked onto Megatron's which flashed with fury and outrage as he flew toward him. Seeing Whitegrazer dangling from his leg, however, was a bit of a distraction knowing how easily she could get hurt by doing that even though she was trying to take out his flight capabilities.

Look what you did! You put her in this position because you were selfish with your intent to take Megatron down!

YOU TOLD ME TO! Optimus argued.

Megatron then slammed into Optimus with as much force as he had done to him just moments before. "OOF!" the Maximal exhaled. If that wasn't enough to knock Whitegrazer loose, then she might be in for a ride. Or she might manage to disable their opponent's engines. Even taking out just one would be beneficial. Primal tried keeping an arm between his body and Megatron's, pushing against his chest and trying to block his punches with his tail gun and fist, while using his other arm to swing his club at his face, baring his teeth and growling. Both of his hands were still covered in his own blood from beating his chest earlier where Zodiac's lacerations remained - of course, his chest then when it happened was now his back, so there was no visible damage right now in his vehicle mode. One of Megatron's wild shots hit Primal's head, snapping it to the side and blurring his vision for a moment while he and Megatron tangoed in the air. As his optics came into focus, he saw Nemesis going after Zodiac below, the former shape shifter falling. No! "Rattrap! Get to Zodiac!" he shouted down to him. He couldn't let him go. He refused to. He needed answers. He needed to know more about the aliens that plagued his mind who were so intent on targeting him almost every time they showed up and whom Zodiac seemed to have knowledge about one way or another, and he needed to know what had happened to his beloved teacher, Nexus, and if anyone else who was involved with Zodiac's torture was still alive or if Optimus was his last target. I have to know.

Hearing the flying monkey, Rattrap turned his attention to where Nemesis and Zodiac had run off to. They were both farther away from everyone else now, but what made him panic more was when he lost sight of the former shape shifter. Where had he gone?! Did he fall?! He was just about to leave when Umbra showed up. Ugh!

Not the way I'd like to fight you, but it can't be helped.

"I don't got time fer you, tentacles!" the rodent spouted at him, suddenly shifting to his vehicle mode and driving right toward him. As they raced toward each other, Rattrap straightened his tail and slammed on his brakes to skid sideways in the snow, hoping to have his tail trip him. Then he immediately sped off toward Nemesis, kicking dirt and snow into the air while dodging large cracks and crevasses that were appearing from the ground shaking and the lava breaking through. On his way to them, he was able to control his tail by grabbing his gun where Zodiac had dropped it in the snow and curling it up against his back, taking it with him.

Driving faster toward Nemesis and where Zodiac was last seen, his green eyes narrowed. I can't believe I'm gonna try an' rescue dis scum of Cybertron after what he told me and almost killin' everybody... TWICE! Or is it three times now? I must have a few wires loose! he thought. But if saving him would give them more answers to the mysteries that kept revealing themselves, then maybe it would be worth it. Maybe. At least now they didn't have to worry about his invincible, shape-shifting armor. Getting just in range of Nemesis, Rattrap maximized to his robot mode while his tail tossed his gun up into the air. Catching his gun in one hand as he ran toward her, he took out his last electrocuting demo charge, activating it, and he it threw it at her. Then he immediately opened fire at her wings and shoulders, trying to distract her and make her back off so he could assess Zodiac's situation and try and rescue him, if he wasn't already too late. Running up to the edge of the collapsed tunnel, he knelt down on one knee and peered in. "Zodiac!" he called to him.

((OOC: I will post Blackarachnia's part. ))

Royalty!" Inferno called out in concern as he struggled against the widow, snarling angrily as the slippery witch fought back, but Inferno, though not her intellectual equal, was in an entirely other league than her when it came to pure brute strength and durability, and soon seized her with his clawed hands and looked her in the eyes and said "Your time to burn is long overdue, traitor!" as he viciously head butted her in the face and threw her to the ground as hard as he could, retrieving his guns as he screamed "BURN IN THE FIRES OF INFERNO! RRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWW!"

Blackarachnia struggled against Inferno. "You should be more worried about yourself, insect! She knew how to handle the loyal fire ant. Hanging on for dear life, punching the Inferno in the face a couple times, the fire ant griped her with his claws and felt his hardheadness clash against her own. A dizzy spell overcame her. Now, she knew what it felt like when she did it to the others. As the fire ant threw her, her whole body aiming towards the snowy ground below, she shook off the dizzy spell. Hearing the ant's favorite words, she dodged the fire ant's flames by rolling towards her left side then her right side. Dashed then used the snow as a slide to come underneath the ant. I guess you didn't learn your lesson last time, but don't worry, I will make sure to remind you to never mess with a black widow! She let out a yell and pushed her body forward with her legs out with a couple of kicks towards the ant's abdomen and head.

((OOC: Now, Darkspark, I didn't know if Inferno was flying or he is on the ground already. I wasn't sure, so if he was flying, I will edit my post. ))

I know you did. You did what you had to do to survive. To thrive. But you don't have to lose everything in order to get it. What's the point of surviving if there is nothing for you?

There is never nothing, he reminded her bluntly. It was true. His survival instincts were imprinted into the very core of his personality.

It might not seem like it to you, but I'm trying to keep you alive. We are trying to keep you away from the Predacon's hands. Let us help you.

Your help is the reason I'm in this mess. But if you really want to help me, distract the Predacons. Keep them off me long enough that I can get away from this accursed place.

You are responsible for your decisions as we all are. Now, the only thing we can do is just get away from here. We can use your help in dealing with the aliens. We need to get out of here. Now.

The aliens.. The very thought of having to deal with them again extracted a slight shudder from Zodiac. He had some dealings with them in the past, sure enough, but they hadn't exactly parted on friendly terms. Of course he might not have a choice in the matter.

Megatron's voice demanded his attention.

"Yes yes, that's nice Zodiac" Megatron replied nonchalantly as he fired away at him, more absorbed in cutting Zodiac down to size and robbing him of his oh so important pride than he was in his pitiful last words, but if only to savor his pain for a second longer, he did bother to add "I was shortsighted for thinking you could be of use to me in the war for predacon independence, shortsighted for not killing you on the spot when you first came to my doorstep baring gifts...Thank you Zodiac, for reminding me why trust should never be granted so readily, and why the maximals can't be trusted with rulership of Cyberton when they allow failures like you to roam freely across the galaxy like scraplets across an otherwise spotless floor, whining for absolution when there are far grander ambitions to achieve than petty revenge over one, admittedly annoying, ape."

Megatron listened to Zodiac's last words to him as he staggered to keep his balance and clutched at the gaping hole in his abdomen, mech fluid spilling out of him as he tried to sound tough in his final moments, the tyrant replying "I'll take my chances with both the maximals AND the Vok over what you almost did to all our kind, Zodiac, Beast of Fools."

Zodiac had refrained from responding to Megatron's insults, not feeling the need to fuel the fire further. Megatron had made up his mind and there was nothing anyone could say to change it, that much was evident by the tyrant's harsh words. It hardly mattered anyway as arguing the fact wouldn't change the inevitable outcome.

Megatron believed he should have killed the shapeshifter on the spot. If he still had his powers, that would have proved to be a difficult goal to fulfill. But as things were he was vulnerable, wounded, and with few options left. It was a strange situation for someone so used to being in control, someone who always planned at least three steps ahead.

The tyrant spoke of greater ambitions. The renegade listened to his words, finding them bland and predictable at best. It was true Megatron had the potential to be a force to be reckoned with, but Zodiac wasn't about to waste his time by correcting the Predacon leader on how he was the one to underestimate others. It hadn't been for no reason that Zodiac had arranged for the virus to be unleashed upon the Predacons. Nor had his decision to activate the alien machine threatened his own existence much, or at least not at the time since he could have escaped Earth easily enough. Our kind Megatron had called it, yet again limiting his thinking to himself. Not all Predacons in existence traced their ancestry to one location.

It was, however, unfortunate that the Vok would be notified of what had transpired here. Or it was after recent unexpected and most unwelcome events anyway.

Zodiac refrained from responding to Megatron's taunts, merely sending him an exasperated glare. Then the Maximals provided ample opportunity to sneak away, a chance, however faint, to survive this encounter.

"Permission granted, GO!"

Nemesis had wasted no time to pursue her target. And despite Zodiac's attempt to talk her down, she did not hesitate when the opportunity to bring him down came. Zodiac had no chance to escape, in fact he barely had an opportunity to react before the very ground he stood on disappeared. He impacted the ground with a loud thud, the collision against the rocky formation hard enough to knock him out. A small bit of mercy as a number of rocks then came crashing down on top of him, partially burying him.

Nemesis landed near the edge of the crater she had created, peeking down into it while hoping to see Zodiac take his final breath in the lava below. But he wasn't readily visible from where she was standing. Had he gone under already? Swallowed up by the very weapon he tried to unleash on all of them? It would be rather disappointing if that was the case, as she would much rather have seen his final moments so that she knew for certain.

The sound of approaching wheels and the roar of an engine alerted her that she wasn't alone. She looked up, only to see the transmetal rat/motorcycle approaching rapidly. Ironic that the once so silent spy had obtained such a noisy third mode when he became a transmetal.

He threw something at her, something relatively small and familiar.. Her optics flashed as she realized what it was. Not one to fall for the same trick twice, she immediately grabbed her sword and swung it at the incoming object. The sharp blade made impact, slicing the demo charge in half. As the two halves of the now useless weapon dropped to the ground, Nemesis smirked slightly to herself and turned her gaze at the rodent. She was greeted by a burning pain in her right wing from where the rodent's shot impacted a mere split nanoclick later followed by another shot to the other wing. The smirk quickly turning to a pained grimace, Nemesis twisted out of the way just in time to avoid the third shot to the shoulder.

Deciding not to give the rodent the upper hand, she merely hissed from the pain as she seemingly retreated away from the crater.

"Zodiac!"

The renegade didn't respond although he did vaguely take note of someone shouting his name. But in his semi-conscious state he couldn't quite process his surroundings. Most of him had been covered by the falling debris so he wasn't easy to see where he lay on the ledge above the searing hot pool of lava.

Nemesis waited until Rattrap had approached the lava pit, her wings already having healed by then, before she whirled around and opened fire on the rodent with the hopes of pushing him into the pit as well. The rat had been nothing but a thorn in her side so it would certainly be a pleasure to see him melt in the pit below. No warnings, not this time, instead she just fired several rounds at his backside.

OOC: I'll endeavor to find time to post tomorrow guys, just got back from the wedding. And I believe Inferno was on the ground with everyone else Una.

OOC: I know I've asked this a lot lately but do let me know if this post isn't okay, I'm still partied out from last weekend (weddings are INSANE, fun, but INSANE, lol), so I dunno if I did my best here lol.

Naito wrote: Landslide shifted his chainsword as he saw Deathroll rapidly transform and charge at him with his drill, he shifted his hips and turned his thrusters,steering to the side as he brought his shield up to deflect the drill, metal sparks seen flying as the shield and drill make contact brushing against each other. The gunfire from Deathroll's anti air guns peppering Landslide's armored shoulders and the armored shell on his sword,bouncing off with small burn marks.

Making his way past Deathroll, Landslide's thrusters turned one 180 causing him to spin,then locked his foot claws into the ground to suddenly stop with his thrusters cutting out. Don't yer types have anything original to say? It's always just "Fer great leader!" "Death to autobot scum!" Been hearing it fer centuries now! Landslide then transformed to his vehicle mode, rolling on his landing gear up behind Deathroll and dug his head into the ground under the drilltank with his horn lifting and locking him against his upper horns, lifting Deathroll up off the ground. Landslide then turned his thrusters, starting to fly up into the air with the Drilltank still held tightly in his horns, soon gaining altitude.

The maximal had withstood and evaded his attacks with impressive enough skill, but Deathroll was not truly impressed until the bug lifted him into the sky! From here the bug had the advantage no doubt for while Deathroll was still getting more familiar with his new form he was certain he lacked a flight mode, so a fall from too far up or, possibly worse, being carried out into space to drift helplessly was a serious issue. He had to do something about this NOW, or he would likely not survive his first battle with the maximals.

"A war vet, eh? Interesting" Deathroll grunted vaguely, the possibility of this maximal being a remodeled autobot making him hate him even more as he considered his options, something which was becoming harder to do the higher they went, and in his current position attacking him with his drill or guns was out of the question, and while breaking free via transformation was certainly an option, it wouldn't necessarily mean trouble for his foe unless he damaged him in the process or latched on to him before he flew away...Things were looking grim and he could feel his frustration, his determination to live and serve the name of Megatron growing within him, desperate to do his duty and make this maximal or autobot or whatever it called itself SUFFER for standing in the way of the future prosperity of decepticons and predacons alike...He could feel it rising like the tides to swallow up those foolish enough to challenge the power of the waves...

It was then that Deathroll's body began to shake, not with fear, but with some powerful vibration that reverberated through his armor and into the maximal flyer, passing from one to the other, like the seismic sensor he used to detect foes above ground only much more powerful, this was not merely echolocation, this was some manner of attack that even now aimed to shake him opponent apart much like how his electricity had passed through himself earlier...Now the maximal would hopefully either drop him before they got too high up OR would fall to the snowy ground below with him, either scenario was acceptable to Deathroll as he embraced this strange new ability and let it loose to destroy his enemy. If he was going down, this bug was coming with him!

OOP wrote: Watching all of this unfold since he hadn't taken his optics off of their fearless leader flying in from behind Megatron while he and the mare were facing the t-rex, Rattrap was suddenly pushed out of the Predacon's way as he landed on his chest with a thud on the snowy ground. Quickly getting back to his feet, he watched Megatron take the Empath over the ledge with him. "Whitegrazer!" he shouted, fearing the worst. He glanced back at Optimus wondering why he wasn't going after her; he didn't even look worried, he just hovered there patiently waiting. Then again, Rattrap supposed that with their bond the monkey would know if she was in real trouble or not. Suddenly, Megatron came bursting upward out of the pit and straight toward Primal with Whitegrazer hanging on to one of his legs. Was she crazy?! He watched her target his engines on his back to try and take him down, but the amount of thrust that the Predacon leader was ejecting was probably too much interference. She was probably blinded and burning up from the heat. Still, he hoped she could help and not put her life in danger.

Primal's optics locked onto Megatron's which flashed with fury and outrage as he flew toward him. Seeing Whitegrazer dangling from his leg, however, was a bit of a distraction knowing how easily she could get hurt by doing that even though she was trying to take out his flight capabilities.

Look what you did! You put her in this position because you were selfish with your intent to take Megatron down!

YOU TOLD ME TO! Optimus argued.

Megatron then slammed into Optimus with as much force as he had done to him just moments before. "OOF!" the Maximal exhaled. If that wasn't enough to knock Whitegrazer loose, then she might be in for a ride. Or she might manage to disable their opponent's engines. Even taking out just one would be beneficial. Primal tried keeping an arm between his body and Megatron's, pushing against his chest and trying to block his punches with his tail gun and fist, while using his other arm to swing his club at his face, baring his teeth and growling. Both of his hands were still covered in his own blood from beating his chest earlier where Zodiac's lacerations remained - of course, his chest then when it happened was now his back, so there was no visible damage right now in his vehicle mode. One of Megatron's wild shots hit Primal's head, snapping it to the side and blurring his vision for a moment while he and Megatron tangoed in the air. As his optics came into focus, he saw Nemesis going after Zodiac below, the former shape shifter falling. No! "Rattrap! Get to Zodiac!" he shouted down to him. He couldn't let him go. He refused to. He needed answers. He needed to know more about the aliens that plagued his mind who were so intent on targeting him almost every time they showed up and whom Zodiac seemed to have knowledge about one way or another, and he needed to know what had happened to his beloved teacher, Nexus, and if anyone else who was involved with Zodiac's torture was still alive or if Optimus was his last target. I have to know.

Hearing the flying monkey, Rattrap turned his attention to where Nemesis and Zodiac had run off to. They were both farther away from everyone else now, but what made him panic more was when he lost sight of the former shape shifter. Where had he gone?! Did he fall?! He was just about to leave when Umbra showed up. Ugh!

Megatron was seeing red for the first time since his interrogation of Primal back in the brig, anger was no stranger to him of course, but he was WILD with rage right now, lashing out like a savage beast as he pummeled and blasted away at Primal, a lesser opponent no doubt would have been reduced to scrap metal by now under the tyrant's brutal treatment, but Primal took it all and more, the proverbial yin to Megatron's yang and all that...It was infuriating! So he merely attacked even more fiercely and ruthlessly, determined to make the maximal leader PAY for meddling in his affairs once more, his punches and shots a dizzying blur of punishment that must have looked absolutely horrific to an outside observer to watch, let alone be the recipient of said treatment.

So consumed by this animalistic fury was Megatron that he did not notice Whitegrazer clinging to his foot for dear life until Primal's words brought her to his attention.

"Ah, yyyyeesssss...Thank you Primal, sometimes you really do bring out the best in me" Megatron said aloud as he returned to his senses and the "Beast" within returned to its cage, reason triumphing over savagery this time as he turned his attention to his unwanted passenger, shooting Primal away from him with his shoulder guns as he did so he could cope with one of them at a time.

OOP wrote: You are responsible for your decisions as we all are. Now, the only thing we can do is just get away from here. We can use your help in dealing with the aliens. Tried to get Zodiac to see the bigger picture, getting away from the Predacons. There was no time for fighting. We need to get out of here. Now.

But Zodiac... continued. She felt it. Megatron fired his tail gun. She wasn't going to allow Megatron to shatter Rattrap's shield. She got in front of Rattrap, and took Megatron's hits. She felt the pain surging through her body, but she kept herself from showing it. As she looked up, she saw as Zodiac fell through the hole. An ironic twist as he had tried to drop Rattrap to his death, and now, he had been dropped by his former friend. She ran towards him despite the struggle and pain. Zodiac! We are coming! They had to save him. He was still alive. She felt it. As she raced towards the hole, she felt Optimus' presence get closer and closer. Watched Blackarachnia jumped and attacked Inferno. Optimus collided towards Megatron, and Megatron... heading straight towards her and Rattrap. Quickly, she pushed Rattrap away, so when Megatron bashed right into her, Rattrap would be clear of any danger. Hopefully, Rattrap and Cheetor could save Zodiac.

As Megatron was rising up, she was hanging on Megatron's leg. She stared up at Megatron, determined. Determined to not allow this tyrant to hurt Optimus again. No. Grabbed her small pistol to try and shot his thrusters to bring him down.

The female was trying to take out his flight equipment, but fortunately her shots were deflected by the thrust produced by his engines, giving him the time he needed to deal with her.

"Sorry dear, this is flight is first class, you want coach, let me show you to your seat" Megatron quipped as he kicked the maximal empath square in the face as hard as he could, rollerblades turning at full speed, and smiled at Primal as she understandably lost her grip and began to plummet!

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, me killing you, silly me. Shall we?" Megatron jeered as he charged his tailgun and fired a volley of violet colored shots in Primal's direction as he circled the ape like a shark sensing bloodied prey in the water.

Una wrote:
Blackarachnia struggled against Inferno. "You should be more worried about yourself, insect! She knew how to handle the loyal fire ant. Hanging on for dear life, punching the Inferno in the face a couple times, the fire ant griped her with his claws and felt his hardheadness clash against her own. A dizzy spell overcame her. Now, she knew what it felt like when she did it to the others. As the fire ant threw her, her whole body aiming towards the snowy ground below, she shook off the dizzy spell. Hearing the ant's favorite words, she dodged the fire ant's flames by rolling towards her left side then her right side. Dashed then used the snow as a slide to come underneath the ant. I guess you didn't learn your lesson last time, but don't worry, I will make sure to remind you to never mess with a black widow! She let out a yell and pushed her body forward with her legs out with a couple of kicks towards the ant's abdomen and head.

"RRRRAAAAWWWRRRR!" Inferno shrieked in that horrific manner that was unique only to him, something that didn't sound like the voice of a sentient being as the spider's evasiveness and sneak attacks to his back enraged him as he stumbled to keep his balance, falling to one knee from, the ant remembering all too well his humiliating defeat at her hand last time, with his own gun no less!

"Lesson learned!" Inferno growled as he lit up his thrusters and showered Blackarachnia with a torrent of fire, hands pressed down into the ground to keep himself from lifting off as he used his flight mode equipment to burn the traitor to his colony!

Naito wrote: Coming in from the distance, Cheetor saw as Inferno threw Blackarachnia off him and pulled out his guns to set her a blaze. Locking his two arms together, he started to fire laser blasts rapidly at Inferno's backside. Step off Firebug! Cheetor shouted, likely to gain Inferno's attention.

Inferno recovered his gun and was preparing to turn around and finish Blackarachnia off, looking forward to the sight of her deep fried corpse, only to be sent flying forwards as the flying feline shot him in the backside, interrupting and probably damaging his thrusters as they sputtered and sparked and sent him skidding across the dirt, face first! Inferno continued on this path until crashing into a nearby rock formation, motionless but for the faintest of twitches, seemingly out cold.

There is never nothing,

She shook her head. Then tell me, Zodiac, what does lay in front of you after all of this is over with? What life awaits you? She wondered. After all, part of her wondered how Zodiac got this far, but also, wonders what Zodiac thought waited for him. A person such as Zodiac with his abilities, no, without his abilities what he believe would happen. She didn't believe it would be a very promising future. With or without his abilities.

Your help is the reason I'm in this mess. But if you really want to help me, distract the Predacons. Keep them off me long enough that I can get away from this accursed place.

We would do what we must, but I suggest you don't try to drop anymore of us down any crevices. She reminded Zodiac back. She hadn't forgotten what he tried to do to Rattrap. An error on his part. If he hadn't, he wouldn't had been dropped down a hole himself. It's in your best interest to cooperate with us, not hinder. Hindering or harming us in any way would prove more trouble than you can handle. As you are now finally aware.

Hopefully, Zodiac would listen to her words. Understand that he needed to work with them, not against them to help in his survival, but if he continue to do what he has done before, she couldn't help him.

Whitegrazer held on to Megatron's leg for dear life as the two tangoed in the air. Her entire body was on fire. She took a quick glance at herself. She looked horrible, but what did she expect? Optimus collided with Megatron and Megatron collided against her full throttle, skidding her entire body like a ragdoll against the ground. Her entire front side was covered in black smolder. She didn't even realize her hand gripped Megatron's foot until she felt teh feeling of being lifted in the air. Good thing for her quick instinct to grab. All she could now focus on was keeping her hands grasped on Megatron's bulky foot, but she couldn't just keep hanging around like this. She needed a plan to help Optimus and stop Megatron. There wasn't much she could. She must do something, though. The fact that Optimus was fighting Megatron now was a big no-no to her. She glanced at Optimus, who looked at her in surprise that she was there, giving it away to Megatron.

"Ah, yyyyeesssss...Thank you Primal, sometimes you really do bring out the best in me"

Megatron was a dangerous foe. Especially when his emotions changed dramatically from one moment to the next. The rage and fury he felt earlier changed into a pure joyous, calm and collected like he was fighting an old friend. She couldn't allow that. Optimus, ignore him. Let me deal with Megatron. Rattrap may need help in securing Zodiac's safety.

"Sorry dear, this is flight is first class, you want coach, let me show you to your seat"

Megatron's other foot smashed her face and his roller blades skidded across her face. Burning. Couldn't see anything. Pushing her out towards the ground before. She couldn't. She couldn't let go. She dropped her small pistol into the ground below with no other choice and held on with both hands tightly wrapped around Megatron's foot, but... it was hard to keep a grip. Optimus... Her hands were slipping. What a foolish move on her part. You might need to catch me. She let go and started falling to the ground, but she wasn't giving up. As she too the time, she grabbed a smoke grenade quickly and threw it at Megatron. Hopefully, it hit him with a burst of smoke, blinding him. Giving Optimus a temporary chance to dodge, evade, and maybe counterattack.

After seeing Inferno become unconscious, Cheetor looked towards Blackarachnia for a moment, then looked around the battlefield. Noticing Megatron with Whitegrazer hanging off his leg. No! Cheetor shouted transforming to his vehicle mode as swiftly as possible, running towards Megatron and Whitegrazer with his thrusters increasing his already phenomenal speed. His optics widen as the world almost felt like slow motion, watching Whitegrazer being kicked in the face and fall free from Megatron. Cheetor's afterburners kicked in as he thought to himself Gotta.. make it!

Rushing past Megatron as just a blurr, Cheetor rushed down to Whitegrazer, grabbing her arm with his jaws, nearly dislocating them in the process. He locked on hard as he turned his body and thrusters, attempting to gain altitude. Though he was able to keep them above the lava, he seemed to be struggling greatly considering the major size and weight difference between the two.

Deathroll wrote:"A war vet, eh? Interesting"

Eh.. something like that. Landslide said in response. As he gained altitude, he then felt Deathroll shake. Not so much trembling in fear, but shake like a jackhammer sending vibrations through Landslide as if he was a car on a pothole littered road. The shaking jarred against his head the worst, causing Landslide to perceive the world as if it was shaking, starting to fly out of control.

Opening his horns he released Deathroll, letting him plummet to the ground. Gah! That party trick must be a hit with the ladies! he quipped.The beetle then started to make adjustments with his thrusters to keep himself from crashing, flying downward. As he came down, Landslide looked towards Cheetor struggling with Whitegrazer above the crevasse that had opened. Altering his heading he flew down towards the two, flying under Whitegrazer scooping her and Cheetor up with his horns.
Whoa! Hey thanks big guy! Cheetor responded as he released Whitegrazer, flying up into the air.

Landslide flew down to the ground near Optimus setting Whitegrazer down Takin' flying lessons from the lad? Might wanna get some wings first. Landslide joked transforming to his robot mode, his shield and sword drawn.

________________________________________

Rattrap wrote:"I don't got time fer you, tentacles!"

Umbra was taken by surprise as Rattrap suddenly sweeped him with his tail, knocking the Ninja octopus over, rolling up to his feet again as he turned watching Rattrap speed off.

Rattrap wrote: "Zodiac!"

Umbra's optics narrowed as he heard Rattrap. Was Zodiac still alive? He'd have to take care of that. Putting away his acid sword, he pulled out a throwing blade, raking the blade along his poison sword to collect some poison slime on the edge. After which he observed gunfire towards Rattrap, noticing Nemesis near by. Umbra decided to take the opportunity moving towards Rattrap in the opposite direction of the gunfire. With Rattrap distracted by Nemesis, an opportunity would soon arrive..

"RRRRAAAAWWWRRRR!""Lesson learned!"

Blackarachnia smirked when her kicks bought the pyromaniac down, but she should have known better than to take it so lightly. Inferno's thrusters went straight at her. Her arms attempted to cover her face as she was blown a few meters away due to the sheer force. Despite her annoyance towards Inferno's undying loyalty towards Inferno, also the grudge she held against him for attacking her when he first got out of the pod, the fire ant wasn't one to take things with a calm air. His maniac persona, is rage, was just as burning hot as his flames, which made her wonder who she didn't want to be the target of their wrath: Megatron or Inferno? Both weren't the type to let even the small grievances against them laying down.

Step off Firebug!

As she shook off, and growled at the ant's new makeover for her, ready to aim and maybe give him a new look, the young Maximal feline came to her assist, firing at the ant's backside until the ant fell to the ground unconscious. She looked up in the air. "Thanks kid!" Now that the fireant was out of the way. She needed a new prey to fire upon. She looked towards Optimus and Megatron, seeing the white mare fighting for her life as she hung on to Megatron's leg. How did she get up there? The black widow shook her head at such...craziness. When the white mare fell, Cheetor went to help her.

There was her chance to get back on Megatron. But she wanted to do more than hurt him. She wanted to humiliate him.

Blackarachnia watched as Umbra was slowly making his way towards Rattrap's backside. Blackarachnia smirked. How owuld the rat react to her saving his life, and oweing her one? She really wanted to see the look on his face. Pulled out her grappling hook and fired behind Umbra. Her grappling hook wrapped around Umbra's body. Hey! Tentacles! You want to practice your flying skills? I would be happy to help. She winked as she proceeded to spin the Predacon around.