Deliberatta picked herself slowly up from the mangled bodies of 
her teammates.  "There!" she said, sobbing.  "I've destroyed my 
companions!  What more do you want?"

The alien hovering over her did not respond, but instead 
inspected the bodies.  "Minimum of energy use... fully 
deceased... moderate levels of energy expended..."  The 
hovering form set down near Deliberatta.  "Well done," it said.  
"You have proven yourself."

"To be WHAT?!?" she screamed, rage overcoming her.  With a 
shriek, she lunged at the form standing nearby, spear leveled.  
The being did not move, and the spear slammed through its 
body, coming out the other end.  The being glanced at the spear 
momentarily, then looked at Deliberatta and blasted her.  Her 
crumpled body let go of the spear and was hurled across the 
arena, slamming into the wall and sliding to the bottom.

The being yanked out the spear and dropped it uncerimoniously.  
The solid lines of its form wavered, then disappeared, leaving a 
small nova of energy.  The nova drifted upwards to its 
companions.

"She has been destroyed?" asked the head being.

"It could not be avoided," replied the being that had recently 
arrived.

Another being shimmered sharply.  "Perhaps your idea of finding 
the ideal being was not on target as we had thought."

"We have yet to study those from our laboratory," said the 
second one.

"Granted," said the first.  "You have allowed the object to be 
claimed by them?"

"Yes," replied the second.  "They should arrive soon."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Blackarachnia angrily overturned another table.  "Where is the 
staff?" she asked Juliet for the tenth time in half as many 
minutes.

"I don't know," replied Juliet.

"You needn't look any further," said Headlock, leaning against the 
doorframe.  "I gave Megatron the staff."

With a growl, Blackarachnia slowly rose, then pinned Headlock 
against the wall in one swift motion.  "What in Inferno did you do 
that for?" she spat, careful not to injure him too much.  She 
would want all of the possible damage she could exact on him 
extracted as slowly and painfully as possible.

"Megatron sent out a scout party with the staff," replied Headlock, 
trying to pry Blackarachnia's claws off of his neck.  "They're 
investigating the standing stones.  This way, if the staff is 
harmful, Megatron's flunkies will take the harm.  If not, then we'll 
be able to snatch it from them easily enough."

Blackarachnia snarled for a moment, then she let him drop.  "I 
suppose you're right," she said, glaring at him.  "Though I don't 
have to enjoy it."

Headlock rubbed his neck.  "I don't paticularly enjoy it myself.  
But one must work with what one has available to them."

With a snarl, Blackarachnia walked into her personal quarters.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Lazorbeak clipped the treetop as he clumsily glided down to the 
stone formation.  *Damned arial transformation.  Next body, I'm 
getting a tank.  Anything but these wobbily airborne modes.*

Buzz Saw was tapping his foot impatiently.  "You do still have the 
staff, don't you?" he asked.  "If not, I don't know about Cidacon 
and Ramhorn, but I'm sure not going to fly back to the 
Soundwave."

"I have it," snarled Lazorbeak at Buzz Saw.  He reached into his 
subspace pocket and pulled out a long staff.  "I'm the responsible 
one of the two of us.  You know that."

A missile exploded a few feet behind the five Predacons.  "You'll 
be the DEAD one in a couple of minutes!" shouted Bonecrusher, 
barreling out of the trees.

"Maximals!" shouted Sea Clamp, firing twice and then taking 
cover behind a larger rock.

"You think?" asked Rattrap, lancing out with a pair of bursts and 
diving behind a rock.  Cidacon blasted at the rock twice, and 
Rattrap rolled out from behind it, firing erratically.  Converting to 
fly mode, Cidacon spun towards Rattrap, blasting out.

Armordillo began to rush over to help, but Ramhorn slammed 
into him in beetle mode.  Spinning along the ground, Armordillo 
dug his fist into the ground and leaped towards Ramhorn.  With a 
flip, Ramhorn transformed and piled into Armordillo, and the two 
rolled along the ground, trading blows.

Bonecrusher slammed into Sea Clamp, and he blasted a missile 
point-blank into the Predacon.  Sea Clamp yelped in pain, then 
grabbed Bonecrusher's arm and yanked hard, trying to tear it out 
of the socket.  Bonecrusher delivered a swift kick to Sea Clamp's 
head, then flipped back and transformed.  With a guttural yell, he 
leveled his horns at Sea Clamp and rammed forward, spearing 
the Predacon on his horns.

Razorbeast transformed from boar mode and cradled his cannon 
in his arms, then instinctively dodged to one side as Buzz Saw 
fired in his direction.  Rolling briskly, he brought up his cannon 
and lanced out at Buzz Saw, slamming into Buzz Saw's shoulder.  
Buzz Saw resisted a yell, but instead whipped around his legs 
and fired at Razorbeast.  Bullets exploding around him, 
Razorbeast sprang to one side, dodging behind a rock and 
crouching down.

Lazorbeak noticed Nightpounce coming for him.  In desperation, 
he grabbed the staff and brought it up, then pointed it at her.  
"Don't make me use this," he snarled at her, unsure of what her 
reaction would be.

It was not something he wanted.  "Very nice, Lazorbeak.  You 
have a metal rod.  You'll understand if I'm not paticularly 
impressed," said Nightpounce.  Bringing her quasar cannon on-
line, she blasted at Lazorbeak.

"You leave me no CHOICE!" shouted Lazorbeak.  Praying to 
Primus and Unicron that the staff would do something suprising, 
he slammed his thumb on the button as Nightpounce slammed 
into him.

The staff certainly did something suprising.  A thin beam of 
energy struck the spot where the pair of them were fighting, then 
spread out and encompassed the entire standing stones area.  
The other Maximals and Predacons watched in suprise as their 
commanding officers disappeared.

Buzz Saw began to move towards the stones.  "What are you 
doing?" asked Rattrap.

Buzz Saw looked at him quizzically.  "We're going after our 
commanding officer."

"No," insisted Rattrap, "WE are going after OUR commanding 
officer."

"No, we are."

"I thought of it first."

"You did not."

"Look, why don't we just both go after our respective 
commanding officers?"

"That would work."

The Maximals and Predacons both dived into the vortex.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Nightpounce picked herself up off of the ground.  Every 
conceivable part of her body ached.  She reached to one side to 
pick up her laser rifle or her quasar cannon, and was shocked 
when neither was there.

"Where am I?" she asked no-one in paticular.

"The exact translation would be 'Place of Eternal Military Tests of 
Skill'," said a floating mass of energy, setting down near 
Nightpounce.  "A more condensed name would be 'The Arena'."

"Why do I not like that?" asked Nightpounce, balancing on the 
balls of her feet and curling her hands into fists.

"Well, the name is somewhat deceiving.  In truth, the actual 
arena is created on a different plane entirely, depending on the 
optimum enviornment for the combatants."

Nightpounce relaxed slightly, but still was wary.  "What... ARE 
you?"

"Would a slightly more corporeal form help?" asked the energy 
mass.  With a flash, the form reshaped itself into a shimmering 
image of Primus Trion.

A single tear was brought to Nightpounce's eye.  "You could have 
chose a slightly better form, to be honest," she said, wiping the 
tear away and steeling herself.

The image that was Primus Trion but yet was not raised an 
eyebrow.  "A scan of you psyche revealed this form to have 
comforting and familiar connotation."

"You may be powerful, but you're no psychologist," she said.  
"Err... what can I call you?"

"My name is..."  He waved a hand to dismiss it.  "My actual name 
is unimportant.  I run the contests in this arena, and as such have 
been given many names by many species.  I suppose you could 
call me... Mercutio."

She raised an eye.  "Ahem.  Mercutio?"

"What?  Don't you read the Bard?"

"I suppose it is rather fitting," she conceded.

The others began to come to.  "Unnh... Mind filling me in?" asked 
Rattrap as he stumbled to his feet.

Nightpounce waved at their captor.  "This is... Mercutio.  Why 
we're here, I have no idea."

"Oh, you'll see very soon," said Mercutio.  "You see, the reason 
we called you here is to try and find who among you is the 
ultimate warrior."

"Wait a minute," said Rattrap.  "Let me guess.  You're going to 
take out a crossbow and give us all a sporting headstart."

Mercutio raised an eyebrow.  "Maybe I didn't quite make myself 
clear enough to you.  I'm not the hunter here.  You are."

"You want us to hunt each other down like animals?" asked 
Nightpounce.  "Granted, our transforms could easily put ideas in 
your head, but still, by most any culture's measure, that's pretty 
slagging barbaric."

"Sucks not to be omnipotent, doesn't it?" asked Meercutio with a 
smirk.  "The rules are very simple - the last one alive, lives.  
Throw as many dirty punches as you want, hit below the belt, and 
basically keep this fight as dirty or as clean as you want.  Just 
make sure that either there's only one of you standing or all of us 
are dead."

"Who are 'you', anyways?" asked Lazorbeak, his face twisted in a 
grimace.

"We are -"  Mercutio put a finger to his mouth.  "Whoops!  We 
don't want to give away that little secret just yet, do we?  I'll just 
send you to your little game."  He began to walk away, then 
turned back and said, "By the way, good luck.  You're going to 
need it."

With that, the assembled robots flashed out again.  Mercutio 
simply grinned in anticipation of the combat.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

For the second time in the same day, Nightpounce regained her 
senses.  Only this time, at least half of her was pleased with what 
she saw.

She was lying in a jungle.  Water dripped from the treetops, 
exploding on the ground with a small >plipp<.  The heat was 
overwhelming.  Only a small amount of light trickled through the 
dense canopy, leaving small pinpricks of light on the soft jungle 
floor.

Nightpounce stood up and stretched.  *Home!* exclaimed the 
panther half of her body, thrilled to be in a natural enviorment.  
The other half of her mind, however, was busy looking for her 
companions.

Razorbeast stood up first.  He glanced around, then transformed 
and sniffed the ground.  "This is odd," he growled.  "It smells like 
the jungle, it looks like the jungle, it feels like the jungle... but it 
isn't the jungle."

"I know," replied Nightpounce, trying to draw her laser rifle.  
Instead, she drew a photon pulse rifle.  When Razorbeast tried to 
retrieve his weapon, he got the same thing.

Armordillo and Rattrap were helped up by Bonecrusher as the 
larger Maximal staggered to his feet.  "Why the heck did that 
Mercutio creep bring us here?" asked Rattrap, looking around.

"I think it's to give us the home advantage," replied Nightpounce.

"What do you mean?"

"They said they wanted us to hunt.  This is the best way to give 
us a place to fight where we'll all be fairly well matched."

Nightpounce glanced around.  "We'll have to split up.  
Bonecruscher, you're with me.  Rattrap, Armordillo, and 
Razorbeast, go the other way.  I'll try the northern end."

With a flip, Nightpounce transformed and gracefully sprang 
through the forests.  With a sigh, Bonecrusher transformed as 
well and began to ram through the trees.

Rattrap stared after them.  "We're all going to die."

"Will you stop saying that? You've said that before, and it's never 
happened," replied Razorbeast.

"At least then we knew where it was we were.  This time around, 
we don't even know where in the galaxy we are.  Heck, we aren't 
even sure we're still in the galaxy."

"Don't worry," said Armordillo, heading south.  "Let's just do what 
Nightpounce told us to and hope we do all right."

Razorbeast transformed and followed Armordillo.  "'Let's just do 
what Nightpounce said,'" mocked Rattrap.  "Could you be any 
MORE of a bootlick?"

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Ramhorn shattered another tree with his massive horn, and the 
tree toppled over, spreading a large splotch of light on the forest 
floor.  "Nothing here," he announced to Sea Clamp.

"Crap," replied Sea Clamp.  "There has to be some way to get 
out of this place.  I'm starting to get dehydrated."

From nearby, Bonecrusher and Nightpounce sat in wait tensely.  
"We're going to have to kill them, you know," said Bonecrusher, 
the caution obvious in his voice.

"Not if my plan works," replied Nightpounce.  "If we can make it 
look like everyone else is dead, then I can get a shot at the head 
commander."

Bonecrusher looked at her, agape.  "That's an insane plan!" he 
shouted, still whispering.  (If you don't think you can whisper 
while shouting, try it out some time.)  "You're going to get yourself 
killed!"

"Probably," replied Nightpounce.  "But the rest of you will live.  
That's the important part."

Bonecrusher looked her over.  "You know, it becomes harder and 
harder to believe that everything you know about leadership you 
learned from Primus Trion."

"I know," said Nightpounce.  "Now get over there and get ready to 
take Ramhorn on my signal."  Bonecrusher nodded and walked 
over to another section of the forest, out of Nightpounce's view.

Steeling herself, Nightpounce flipped forward and fired her rifle in 
a spray at Sea Clamp and Cidacon.  "Bonecrusher, go!" she 
shouted as Ramhorn leveled his horn and rushed at 
Nightpounce.

Ramhorn's grin as he charged at Nightpounce vaporized as 
Bonecrusher bowled him over, piling into the smaller Predacon.  
With a twist, Ramhorn transformed and brought up a leg to kick 
away his Maximal assailant.  Bonecrusher winced as the kick 
slammed into him, but then began to blast a missile at Ramhorn.

Nothing happened.  Bonecrusher carwheeled to one side and 
cursed himself for forgetting that his weapons were inactive.  
Aiming his rifle, he blasted out a swath of fire at Ramhorn, who 
piled forward into Bonecrusher.  The larger Maximal toppled 
backwards, but quickly recovered, springing forward with a kick 
and knocking Ramhorn over.

Cidacon cartwheeled towards Nightpounce, lancing out with his 
photon rifle.  The fire hit the ground, and the soil erupted in small 
explosions as it bit nothing but earth.  Nightpounce, however, had 
already twisted around and flipped behind the Predacon.  She 
fired twice, and sent Cidacon tumbling towards the ground.  He 
landed with a crash, and tumbled over until he smashed into one 
of the larger trees.

Just as she was celebrating her victory, however, Nightpounce 
was grabbed by Sea Clamp from behind.  The Pred laughed and 
tightened his grip, and Nightpounce could feel her ribs starting to 
crack.  Turning her rifle around in her free hand, she aimed at 
Sea Clamp and clumsily fired, blasting his leg.  Sea Clamp 
dropped her, staggering to try and remain upright.  Nightpounce 
lowered her rifle at her opponent and charged.

For someone his size, Bonecrusher was suprisingly agile.  He 
flipped forward into another graceful spinning kick, knocking 
Ramhorn back to the ground.  Springing forward and over 
Ramhorn, Bonecrusher then doubled over backwards and 
slammed his fists into Ramhorn.  His victory was short-lived, 
however, as Ramhorn grabbed his arm and flipped Bonecrusher 
back, then staggered to his feet.

Unprepared for the turnaround, Bonecrusher tumbled down in a 
mess of limbs.  Ramhorn transformed and rammed into 
Bonecrusher, furthering the damage.  Ramhorn backed up again 
for another charge, but Bonecrusher leveled his photon pulse 
rifle at Ramhorn and fired, smashing into Ramhorn.

Ramhorn transformed as well, landed spryly on his feet, and 
blasted at the hand Bonecrusher was holding the rifle in.  The 
blast sent the rifle spinning out of Bonecrusher's hand, and 
Ramhorn grabbed the rifle, blasting both rifles full force at 
Bonecrusher.  Bonecrusher transformed, then charged into 
Ramhorn, his horns digging into the Pred.  Ramhorn dropped the 
rifles as Bonecrusher stopped suddenly, causing Ramhorn to fly 
forward, tumble down, and smash into a tree.

At times like the one at hand, Nightpounce was glad that she had 
spent seventy years of her life at the Cybertronian War College.  
Even a major in tactics was stronger then someone who had 
never been.  *Dive, kick, spin, flip, fire,* she thought to herself, 
skidding below Sea Clamp's leap and kicking him in the 
midsection, propelling him into the air.  Spinning out from under 
him, she twisted into a backflip, then stopped in midair and 
blasted the out-of-control Predacon with her photon rifle.

As Sea Clamp fell, Nightpounce cried out in pain as she felt a 
series of blasts pound into her back.  Unsteady but alive, 
Cidacon raised to his feet and lanced out again.  Nightpounce 
rolled desperately to avoid the blasts, and slammed gracelessly 
into the ground.  With a smile, Cidacon advanced towards the 
slender female.  *This will be the first kill,* he thought to himself.  
*The others will all fall to me with time, but this female will be the 
first to be destroyed.*

His smile turned to an expression of utter shock as he felt 
Nightpounce grab his leg.  "I may not be as fast as Cheetor, but 
I'm pretty good," she said.  Bringing her arm up quickly, Cidacon 
was flipped over and landed on his head, an audible crack filling 
the jungle.  Cidacon stumbled away, but Nightpounce brought 
her rifle back to bear and fired repeatedly at Cidacon, knocking 
him over and away.

Sea Clamp unsteadily rose to his feet.  He glanced at his 
teammates, both of whom were barely standing.  "That's it, 
Maximals!" yelled Sea Clamp.  "I'm going to take you out!"

"You're bluffing," said Bonecrusher, transforming back to robot 
mode.

"How do you know?" growled Sea Clamp.

"Because, if what I saw was any indication, then it's unlikely that 
you posess any more energy than its taking you to stand upright."

"Maybe not," growled Sea Clamp, "but the three of us can still 
take you out!  Merge to form TRIPREDACUS!"

Wobbily, Cidacon launched himself forward and reformed himself 
into a pair of legs.  With a twist, Sea Clamp sprang up and 
transformed into a body, slamming down onto the legs.  Flipping 
out, Ramhorn smashed into the gestalt's back, locking on as the 
arms.  With a roar, Tripredacus towered over the two Maximals.

"Crap," said Bonecrusher.  Slinging his rifle over his back, 
Bonecrusher charged forward towards Tripredacus, head 
lowered in a charge.  Tripredacus winced slightly as the Maximal 
rammed into his leg, then grabbed Bonecrusher by the collar and 
hurled him into a tree.  The tree shuddered as Bonecrusher hit it, 
then toppled over.

"Pitiful," announced Tripredacus, and he stalked over to 
Bonecrusher.  Raising an arm, he prepared to smash 
Bonecrusher, but was cut short as Nightpounce raked his back 
with blasts from her rifle.  A snarl emerged from Tripredacus's 
lips, and he lunged forward to try and tackle and crush 
Nightpounce.  Nightpounce rolled to one side, and the ground 
shuddered as Tripredacus hit it.

As Tripredacus rose to his feet, Bonecrusher lanced out with a 
beam from his rifle.  "I recover quickly," snapped Bonecrusher.  
Tripredacus stood up again, but was hit by another intersecting 
beam from Nightpounce.  He roared in pain, then tried to draw 
his cannon from subspace, but grabbed thin air.  He roared again 
as the beams shattered his shoulder, and he dropped down in 
pain.

Tripredacus looked up from his damaged shoulder.  "You... hurt 
me, Maximals.  No-one... has EVER... had the... AUDACITY... to 
hurt me.  You... will... PAY!!!"

"Cold day in Inferno first," said Nightpounce, blasting his body 
relentlessly.  Tripredacus backhanded her with his remaining 
arm, but was then doubled over with pain as Bonecrusher 
slashed into him.  Nightpounce recovered from her initial shock 
and transformed, then leaped forward and slashed at 
Tripredacus's face.  The massive Predacon struggled from the 
pain, then suddenly darted up to a standing position.  
Bonecrusher and Nightpounce were thrown back from the 
sudden rise.

Yelling in pain, Tripredacus took a step forward, almost as if 
trying to run away from his fate.  Then, he fell backwards, 
slamming into the ground as his gestalt form broke up.  The 
three members hit the ground, sprawled in pain and completely 
incapacitated.

Nightpounce grabbed a tree to help herself stand, the wounds 
covering her body still smoking.  A few feet away, the form of 
Mercutio appeared, hovering a couple of feet over the bodies of 
the Predacons.

"Not bad at all, Nightpounce," he said, nodding at the trio of 
bodies.  "I really didn't think that the two of you could take out a 
gestalt, especially right after another battle."

"We're more than capable of winning in your little game, 
Mercutio," snarled Nightpounce.  "Why do you even care about 
testing us like this?"

Mercutio grinned.  "Suffice to say that the Ancients require we 
find the best warriors for when they make their return."

"The Ancients?"

"Can't give away that secret just yet, mon ami.  I'm afraid that 
would be letting you know a little too much."

"I am NOT," said Nightpounce angrily, "your friend, companion, 
pal, buddy, compadre, homme, or whatever other form of the 
word you wish to use.  If anything, I would like you to materialize 
so that I could strangle you to a slow and agonizing death."

"Tsk, tsk," said Mercutio, waggling a finger at her.  "That doesn't 
sound very much like a member of the Maximals."

"At the moment, I'm not FEELING very much like a member of 
the Maximals."

Another laugh from Mercutio.  Nightpounce consoled herself by 
imagining him being ripped to shreds by Ground Zero.

"I hope you do well in this game," said Mercutio.  "It would be 
very amusing to have you among our finest warriors."  With that, 
he flashed out.  Nightpounce mustered up as much lubricant as 
she could and spat it at the spot he had been only seconds 
before.

"Are they really dead?" asked Bonecrusher, inspecting the 
bodies.

"No," replied Nightpounce.  "The bodies are pretty much shot, but 
the Spark will last for at least a week more without maintainence.  
If my plan goes right, then we'll be out of here well before that."

Bonecrusher nodded.  Grabbing a vine, he tied the three 
Predacons together at the feet, then slung the vine over his 
shoulder and dragged the Predacons behind him and 
Nightpounce.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Rattrap transformed and leaped down from the tree, weapon 
drawn.  Crouching, he glanced around, then stood back up and 
walked over to where Razorbeast and Armordillo were standing 
watch.  "I can't see any of the Predacons," he said.  "The place 
looks relatively safe.  At least, as safe as some alien 
battleground can ever be."

Razorbeast nodded.  "That's what I've been seeing, too.  Maybe 
Nightpounce and Bonecrusher took all of them out ahead of time.  
Which would mean that we need to kill them if they come after 
us."

Armordillo shook his head.  "I don't like this.  We're hunting down 
our teammates and our enemies."

"We'll have to kill each other, too," remarked Rattrap glumly.

Razorbeast looked at Armordillo and Rattrap.  "I can't bring 
myself to kill either of you two.  No matter how irritating you can 
get."

"That goes for me too," said Rattrap.

"Ditto," said Armordillo.

The bush a few feet away rustled slightly.  Instantly, the three 
overcautious Maximals dropped to the ground and unleashed 
their weapons upon the bush.  The body of a small rabbit fell to 
the ground, smoking from the blasts it sustained.

Rattrap cursed.  "Slag.  If we keep jumping at every noise, we'll 
be sure to attract the Predacons.  Wherever they are at the 
moment."

Armordillo glanced behind himself.  "Err, guys?" he said 
tenatively.

"Yeah?"

"I think we know where the Predacons are now," he said as he 
dived to one side.  Seconds later, Lazorbeak's rifle raked the 
ground with fire.  Buzz Saw was close behind him, and 
transformed, then lanced out as well, causing a dangerous swath 
of firepower.

Almost without thought, Razorbeast and Armordillo sprang 
towards Buzz Saw.  Laughing, the larger Predacon dived below 
their clumsy assault, then zoomed back upwards.  Armordillo fell 
to the ground, but Razorbeast spread his wings and rocketed 
upwards after Buzz Saw.  "Did you forget I could fly so soon?" 
asked Razorbeast, lancing out at the suprised Predacon.

Snapping out of the state of suprise, Buzz Saw banked to the left 
and traced a crossing path of fire at Razorbeast.  Tucking his 
legs close to his body, Razorbeast dropped slightly, then spread 
out again and rammed into Buzz Saw.  Unprepared, Buzz Saw 
stopped flying from shock, and was carried along by the furious 
blows of Razorbeast.  Recovering, Buzz Saw dived backwards, 
then came straight up, hoping to discombobulate the Maximal 
with the sudden change in trajectory.

Razorbeast was unfazed.  Kicking his thrusters in full, he balsted 
forward, ignoring the slight pain as Buzz Saw's blasts clip his left 
wing.  Rolling and turning back to face Buzz Saw, Razorbeast 
grabbed Buzz Saw's arm and twisted him around, then pressed 
his rifle into Buzz Saw's back.  He fired twice, and Buzz Saw's 
wings cut out, leaving him no way of flying.  Buzz Saw spread his 
wings and glided to the ground as Razorbeast twisted around 
again and rocketed after him.  Buzz Saw turned and aimed, then 
lashed out at Razorbeast's left thruster.  It cut out, and 
Razorbeast was forced into a spinning dive towards the ground.

Lazorbeak glided over Rattrap's head, then changed his 
trajectory and cut out his thrusters, diving fists-first into Rattrap's 
head.  Rattrap barely managed to twist enough to let Lazorbeak 
slam into his back, thrusting him down.  Springing off of Rattrap, 
Lazorbeak charged his rifle.  *Good, old-fashioned ground 
combat,* thought Lazorbeak.  *Nothing like it.*

Rattrap transformed and rolled at Lazorbeak, bowling him over.  
On the other side, Rattrap transformed back to robot mode and 
turned to face Lazorbeak.  "That trick always fools you Preds," 
said Rattrap, lancing out at the purple Decepticon.  Lazorbeak 
dove to one side, then rolled and brought his rifle back to bear on 
Rattrap.  Springing into a standing procedure, Lazorbeak blasted 
out, knocking Rattrap backwards and causing him to fall over, 
dropping his rifle to the ground.  Lazorbeak snarled, slung his rifle 
over his back, and leaped for Rattrap.

A kick to the face sent Lazorbeak sprawling backwards.  Rattrap 
staggered up, then dove for the rifle, lying on the ground.  Seeing 
Rattrap's plan, Lazorbeak dove for the rifle as well.  The two 
grabbed the gun at the same time.  Flipping over, Rattrap 
slammed his heel into the back of Lazorbeak's head, and the 
stunned Predacon let go of the rifle.  Rattrap drew it back to him, 
cradling it in his arms and aiming it at Lazorbeak.  Without a 
word, Lazorbeak rolled to one side, then flipped backwards, 
stood up, and flipped his rifle into his arms.

Armordillo leaped for the descending Buzz Saw, tackling the 
larger Predacon.  The weight of Armordillo was too much for 
Buzz Saw's wings, and the two of them collased to the ground in 
a tangle of limbs.  Razorbeast slammed into the ground nearby, 
then got up and staggered towards Buzz Saw.  Kicking 
Armordillo off of him, Buzz Saw grabbed Razorbeast and flipped 
him over, slamming him into the fallen Armordillo.  Razorbeast 
responded with a sudden flare from his right engine, making 
Buzz Saw loose his grip.  Razorbeast skidded to a halt and 
brought his rifle to bear.

A quick blast from Buzz Saw sent Razorbeast sprawling.  
Lunging for Razorbeast, Buzz Saw grabbed the Maximal's head 
and pressed his rifle to his neck.  Razorbeast pressed his rifle 
into Buzz Saw's torso, preparing ot fire.  Before he got the 
chance, Buzz Saw grabbed the barrel and yanked it to one side, 
then knocked the rifle out of Razorbeast's hand.  Pressing his 
rifle against Razorbeast's neck again, he fired once, letting go of 
Razobeast's head.  Razorbeat flew backwards before skidding 
along the ground and stopping entirely.

Anticipating the next attack, Buzz Saw turned and kicked quickly, 
smashing into Armordillo and knocking him back.  Bringing his 
rifle to bear again, he aimed at Armordillo's head, setting the rifle 
on the highest power setting available to it.  Armordillo began to 
move away, but Buzz Saw fired, smashing through the thick 
armor and blasting at his neck.  The Maximal dropped to the 
ground lifelessly.

With both of their rifles aimed, Rattrap and Lazorbeak circled one 
another, each waiting for the other to fire first.  Finally, Rattrap 
lanced out with a beam at Lazorbeak.  Lazorbeak slid below the 
bem, then raked Rattrap with fire from his rifle.  Rattrap stumbled 
backwards, his chest smoking and filled with small holes.  
Lazorbeak aimed at Rattrap's head, and prepared to fire, blasting 
his foe to Inferno.

"You won't get me _that_ easily!" shouted Rattrap, ducking below 
the beam that Lazorbeak lashed out with.  Charging forward, 
Rattrap hit Lazorbeak squarely in the jaw with an uppercut, 
sending him sprawling backwards.  Rattrap advanced towards 
the Predacon, and Lazorbeak activated his thrusters, flying up 
and backwards, away from Rattrap.  Spinning over, Lazorbeak 
landed behind Rattrap, weapon drawn.

Before Rattrap could even start to turn, Lazorbeak pounded out, 
blasting Rattrap forward.  Rattrap was propelled forward, his 
back smoking with damage.  As he stumbled forward, Rattrap 
was grabbed by the head by Buzz Saw, who grabbed Rattrap's 
rifle and tossed it to one side.  Lazorbeak came around and 
pressed his own rifle next to Buzz Saw's, and the two Predacons 
fired at once, blasting Rattrap back.  His body flew until a 
slammed into a tree, where it slumped forward and over.

"Very nice," said Mercutio, fading in over Rattrap.  "Although I'm 
afraid that defeating Tripredacus is slightly higher on the style 
rating, a victory is a victory, after all."

Lazorbeak growled as Buzz Saw gathered up the bodies of the 
Maximals.  "The other two defeated Tripredacus?"

"Barely," said Mercutio.  He would have grinned if this form's face 
had a mouth and not a faceplate.  "Rather egotistical, I'm afraid.  
No class in his death at all.  Made Sly Stallone's acting look 
convincing."  Mercutio stepped over to the fallen Rattrap and 
picked him up by the head.  "Ah, alas, poor Rattrap, I knew him 
well."

"You knew him?" asked Buzz Saw.  Mercutio and Lazorbeak 
sighed in unison.

"No," replied Mercutio, letting the body drop again.  "But it was an 
excellent bit of acting, wasn't it?"

Lazorbeak ignored the question.  "Why are you telling us about 
the Maximal's status?  I thought you favored them to win."

Mercutio laughed.  Well, "laugh" isn't exactly the right word.  
More like a cat choking with a good-natured air.  "Where did you 
get the idea that I favored ANYONE in this contest?  I'm as in 
favor of you as I am of them.  As long as the fight is good, I 
couldn't care less who wins."

Suddenly, Mercutio became serious.  "Make no mistake, I will not 
end this battle until only one of you remains.  And that includes 
your own faction.  I expect one or the other of you, or possibly 
even both of you, to be dead before this ends.  I don't care if a 
Maximal kills you or you kill each other."

The serious attitude melted away.  "So cheer up, both of you!  
After all, you're going to have a lot of fun today.  Assuming you 
don't die first, of course."  With that, he flashed out.

"I like him less every time we meet," snarled Lazorbeak.  He 
began to walk in a vague direction.  Buzz Saw hefted the bodies 
and carried them along after him.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Sooner or later, we'll have to find another way of resolving this," 
said Nightpounce, shifting her balance to the other foot.

The two Maximals and Predacons stood across from each other, 
weapons trained.  Neither side fired, simply eyed the other warily.

"Look, I've explained this once already," sighed Nightpounce.  "If 
you give me the weapons, I can bring you all to a point where 
your body is dead, but your Spark is still alive - as all of the 
others are now.  Then, I'll try to get us all back to our respective 
camps from beating up on the commanders."

"How convenient that you have to be the one," snapped 
Lazorbeak.  "Why not someone else?"

"I explained that also.  Twice," said Nightpounce, shifting her 
balance again.  "Neither Buzz Saw not Bonecrusher is bright 
enough to execute this plan.  That leaves you and I, Lazorbeak.  
And I simply have a larger build then you do."

Lazorbeak lowered his rifle slightly.  Buzz Saw's remained 
poised.  "Buzz Saw, release your rifle," said Lazorbeak.

"But sir -" began Buzz Saw.

"RELEASE YOUR SHOCKING WEAPON OR I'LL TRY YOU 
FOR INSUBORDINATION!"

Buzz Saw practically hurled the weapon to the ground.

Nightpounce gathered the weapons up.  "I'll recalibrate them in a 
few minutes," she said.  She then picked up one of the rifles and 
glanced around.  "Anyone want to go first?"

"I might as well," grumbled Buzz Saw.

Nighpounce walked over to him and pressed the rifle against 
Buzz Saw's throat.  "I'll do my best," she said as she fired.  Buzz 
Saw fell backwards, unmoving.  "Next?"

Lazorbeak gestured towards himself.  Nightpounce nodded, then 
walked over and pressed the rifle against his throat.  "Have some 
faith in me," she said as she blasted him.  Lazorbeak fell over 
gracefully.

Bonecrusher steeled himself.  "I hope this works, Nightpounce," 
he said honestly.

"I hope that it does too," said Nightpounce as she fired into 
Bonecrusher's throat.  "For both of our sakes."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"This is a puzzling devlopment," said Mercutio honestly as he 
surveyed the scene.

"What can't you understand?" said Nightpounce angrily.  "I won 
the contest by fooling them all, and managed to deck myself out 
in the process."

Indeed, Nightpounce was decked out.  One either shoulder were 
dual-barreled cannons, and in each hand were triple-barreled 
cannons.  "I've won fair and square.  Now, bring me back."

Mercutio nodded, and the jungle around them disappeared.  The 
two of them were standing back in the middle of the Arena.

"We're back here?" asked Nightpounce, slightly suprised.

"We never left the Arena," replied Mercutio.  "You see, 
maintaining hundreds of different dimensions is ineffecient and 
dreadfully dull, to boot.  However, it is very easy to simply 
maintain a mindscanner, then augment the brain waves until the 
subconcious percives the scan as reality.  Most of you envisioned 
a jungle, so you wound up in a jungle."

"Then why did you tell us that the actual battle didn't take place in 
the Arena?" asked Nightpounce, storing all of the information in 
the back of her head for future use.

"If you knew that we were simply going to superimpose an image 
into your subconcious, then you might mess up the process and 
see nothing.  The dimension idea is just a lot of smoke and 
mirrors to get you expectant, and therefore easier to place an 
image into your subconcious."

Nightpounce nodded.  "Where do I go from here?"

Mercutio smiled.  "That's the fun part.  I get to take you home."

"Where exactly would that be?"

"Tempest," replied Mercutio.  With that, the bodies, Nightpounce, 
and himself disappeared from the arena.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"I'm impressed," said Nightpounce.

Tempest was, in a word, chaos.  Well, not entirely - there was 
consistence, but it was only in the fact that what was there 
remained there.  But what was there was completely random.  
Greek-style temples stood next to 20th century skyscrapers.  
People flew as birds walked.  Tempest was nothing short of 
flamboyant.

Mercutio shrugged.  "It's not so impressive once you get used to 
it.  After a few billion years, the novelty wears off."

With a flip of his wrist, Mercutio encased the bodies in a small 
bubble of energy, then lifted them a few feet off of the ground.  
Nightpounce was beginning to have some idea of the power that 
these beings posessed.

"Come on," said Mercutio, encasing Nightpounce in her own 
bubble and floating towards a building that looked like a cross 
somewhere in between a pyramid, a temple, and the innards of a 
lava lamp.

"You have returned," said an amorphous blob of energy.  It was 
hardly a question.

"And I finally bear fruit," added Mercutio, gesturing towards 
Nightpounce.  "She survived, and made no attempt to destroy 
us."

"Admirable," agreed the blob.  "Have you found a recognizable 
pattern?"

"Yes," replied Mercutio.  He then emitted a series of high-pitched 
screeches.  Nightpounce dropped to her knees, holding her 
audio receptors in pain.

The blob reshaped itself into a version of Stormcloud.  *Better not 
tell Dives about this,* thought Nightpounce.  *We'll never hear the 
end of it.*

"Interesting," said the thing that was Stormcloud but yet was not.  
"You have named me... Lawrence?"

"A figure of wisdom and science," replied Mercutio.  "It was a 
fairly close match to you."

"Agreed," said Lawrence.  He beckoned for Mercutio and 
Nightpounce to enter.  "The Council is waiting for you."

Lawrence turned to enter the building.  Mercutio followed, with 
Nightpounce and the bodies following close after.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The five figures continued to stare at Nightpounce.  She could 
almost feel the curiosity eminating from them.  To the farthest 
left, one that looked like Dinobot and called himself Tybalt.  To 
the rightmost, one that looked like Rhinox and called himself 
Romeo.  Slightly left of the center, one that looked like Cheetor 
and called himself Benvolio.  Slightly right of the center, one that 
looked like Terrorsaur and called himself Paris.  And in the 
center, one that looked like Optimus Primal and called himself 
Hamlet.

Nightpounce began to wish that she had spent more time 
studying human culture.

"Why did you kill your companions?" asked Tybalt.

"Because I had no choice in the matter," replied Nightpounce.

"Were you loyal to your companions?" asked Romeo.

"As much as any one person can be," she replied.

"Do you not view your destruction of them as betrayal?" asked 
Benvolio.

"Betrayal is a choice to turn upon your companions, but it is 
always a choice.  I had no choice, therefore I did not betray," she 
replied.

"Would you now change your loyalties to serve us and the 
Ancients?" asked Paris.

"My loyalty to my companions is null and void, therefore it goes to 
those who have earned it.  You have already earned my service.  
Treat me well and with respect, and you shall earn my loyalty as 
well," she replied.

Hamlet waited a long time before speaking.  "Why should we not 
kill you?" he asked.

Lawrence and Mercutio were aghast.  "Sir," began Lawrence, 
"killing her would be wasting years of research and -"

"Your protest is noted, Lawrence," said Hamlet, waving a hand 
dismissively.  "However, it is ignored as well.  Answer the 
question, female."

Nightpounce took a while before answering as well.  "Because I 
have passed your test," she said finally.  "Any honorable culture 
would honor the agreement they made when the contest was 
entered.  I was promised, quite simply, to live if I was the last one 
alive.  I met these conditions.  Perhaps I am not the most 
powerful Transformer, but I am the one who managed to survive.  
And I feel that my combat skills are high enough to merit me as 
more valuable alive rather than dead."

Hamlet thought for a moment.  "Mercutio, take her to a temporary 
room.  We will debate the merits of allowing her to join.  We will 
reach a decision on the morrow."

Mercutio nodded, then led Nightpounce down a hallway.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

For the second time, Nightpounce stood in front of the Council of 
Five.  She didn't like it any more the second time then she did the 
first time.

"We have deliberated long on this topic," said Hamlet coldly.  
"But in the end, we have reached a final decision.

"Nightpounce is fit to join us."

Had Nightpounce really wanted that, she would most likely be 
jumping for joy.  However, she had to act as a disciplined military 
officer.  She bowed.  "I accept this honor, Hamlet, with the 
greatest of thanks."

"Your formalities are unnessecary," said Hamlet.  "Now, what is 
your area of expertise?"

"By nature, I am a scientist and a tactician," replied Nightpounce.  
"However, one does not spend seventy years at the Cybertronian 
War College without learning at least a thing or two about 
personal combat.  I am trained in fifteen different forms of 
unarmed combat, although only proficient in five, and I am 
trained in all standard weapons and most experimental weapons 
in the known universe."

Hamlet nodded.  "Excellent."

"That's not all," added Nightpounce.  "I also can create some 
fairly impressive weapons on the spot."

Upon saying that, Nightpounce flipped her cannons onto her 
shoulders and drew her handheld cannons out of subspace.

"Impressive," said Hamlet.  "Very impressive."

"Powerful, too," added Nightpounce.  "Watch."

With that, Hamlet suddenly realized that all of Nightpounce's 
weapons had been trained on him ever since she brought them 
on-line.  He scolded himself for not being more alert, but that was 
after Nightpounce's array of weapons blasted into him.  He 
slammed against the wall, feeling his energy break up and 
disperse.

"Photon rifles can't do that!" shouted Tybalt, standing.  "What the 
hell are those?"

"Mercutio gave away more than he intended to," replied 
Nightpounce, raking the room with fire.  "My scanners picked up 
the energy wavelength of your species fairly early, and after that, 
it was easy to modify the photon output to disrupt the 
wavelength."

Tybalt snarled.  "You have struck down upon us within the 
boundaries of our hospitality.  You will pay for this affront."  
Springing forward, Tybalt extended an energy blade from his 
hand and slashed at Nightpounce.  Nightpounce slid below, then 
swept a spinning kick upwards at Tybalt.  Her leg swished 
through thin air.  She scolded herself for forgetting that the aliens 
were non-corporeal, then rolled aside as Tybalt brought the blade down again.

Bouncing up, Nightpounce lanced out at Tybalt.  Roaring, Tybalt 
slid to one side, and the blast harmlessly exploded against the 
floor.  Turning back towards Nightpounce, one of his arms
spiraled outwards and encased Nightpounce in an energy net.  
Struggling, Nightpounce was dragged towards Tybalt, and he 
raised his energy blade to cleave her in twain.  With a cry,
Nightpounce lashed out at Tybalt's arm that had formed the 
energy net, then struggled free as the net dissolved.

Nightpounce flipped backwards twice, then skidded smoothly to a 
halt.  She brought her cannons back to beat, and sprayed the 
area around Tybalt with weapons fire.  Tybalt grinned. "Missed 
me," he said to her, then prepared to leap forward.

"Did I?" asked Nightpounce, tightening her field of fire to blast 
Tybalt.  The torrent of power slammed Tybalt into the ground, as 
he struggled to get free of the force Nightpounce was attacking 
him with.  She pressed on the assault, increasing the power until 
her cannons were sparking from the demand it put on their 
internal projection units.  Tybalt gave one last cry before his body 
unraveled like so much yarn.  The strings then disappeared.

The other members of the Council were already on their feet, but 
Mercutio blasted one of them away.  "This way!" he shouted to 
Nightpounce, moving the bodies of the others out the doorway.  
Nighpounce fired one last blast into the crowd, then followed 
Mercutio.

Another energy bubble encased her, and she found herself 
flashed back into the middle of the Arena.  "Don't tell me that we 
never left this place either," sighed Nightpounce.

Mercutio laughed.  "You did leave, Nightpounce.  You certainly 
left."

"Aren't they going to have your head for this?" asked 
Nightpounce.

That evicted a shrug.  "Probably not.  Killing their own is rather 
frowned upon.  Besides, we haven't had a gladiator this 
interesting in years.  I'll be fine."

"But why did you help me?" she asked.

Mercutio turned serious.  "Because I've seen firsthand what the 
Ancients want to do.  And we're going to need every line of 
defense we can possibly get."  He handed her the staff that had 
given her entrance.  "Keep this.  It's more powerful than it seems, 
and you're definitely going to need it."

Nightpounce nodded.  "How do I get back?" she asked.

"Same way you got here," replied Mercutio.  "Good luck, 
Nightpounce.  Good luck to you and all of your companions.  
You're going to need it."

Holding the staff in front of her, Nightpounce pressed her thumb 
down on the button on the staff.  There was a flash, and all that 
was left in the Arena was Mercutio.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"I think I see them," said Cheetor.

Windrider strained his eyes.  "Yep, that's them.  C'mon, let's go!"

Nightpounce slowly rose to her feet.  *It worked!* she thought.  *It 
actually worked!*

"What happened?" asked Cheetor, aghast.

"Aliens happened," replied Nightpounce, transforming to panther 
mode.  "Radio Vixen and tell her to get some replacement bodies 
ready for these four.  Oh, and tell her to get a CR chamber 
ready."

"What about the Predacons?" asked Windrider.

"Leave them," she replied.  "They'll be picked up."

Windrider nodded.  Nightpounce collapsed to the ground, 
exhausted.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Headlock looked up, somewhat suprised.  "Well, hello, empress," 
he said.  "To what do I owe the pleasure of your - urk!"

Blackarachnia grabbed him by the neck with a claw.  "You are a 
COMPLETE *IDIOT*!" she bellowed at him, spitting all the 
lubricant she could muster into his face.

"I beg... to differ," he wheezed, trying desperately to pry her claws 
off of his neck.

She looked at him with contempt, letting go of his neck and 
letting him drop to the ground.  "You said that it was wise to allow 
Megatron access to the staff.  Now, the troops have lost the staff, 
and any use for it we might have found is now null and void."

"Exactly," replied Headlock, powering up his fusion cannon.  
"Just as I had planned from the start of this whole affair."

"What.  Do.  You.  Mean.  By.  That?" snapped Blackarachnia, 
glaring at him angrily.

"Five of Megatron's best troops were almost killed," replied 
Headlock, standing back up.  "Tarantulas had to construct 
entirely new bodies for all of them, and only barely managed to 
save their Spark.  Whatever was up there could dismember your 
forces in a matter of minutes."

The expression of anger on Blackarachnia's face could most 
likely wilt flowers at eighty klicks.  "NEVER," she snarled, 
"presume to think for me.  I am the brains of this operation.  As 
far as I am concerned, you are walking cannon fodder."

Headlock nodded.  "I understand that.  But if the staff can do that 
do them, then it would be of no use to you.  I was merely trying to 
save you time and effort."

"And in the process, you cost me an advantage," replied 
Blackarachnia.

"I apologize, empress," said Headlock, bowing his head.

Blackarachnia glared at him a moment longer, then then twirled 
around on her heel and stormed out.

Sitting down at his computer, Headlock opened a comm link to 
Megatron.  "Ready to report, my lord," he said to the massive 
figure.

"Good, Headlock," said Megatron, nodding and smiling.  "What 
do you have to report today?"

Headlock grinned.  "She is becoming paranoid.  I believe that the 
strain of being a covert operation at all times is beginning to 
reach her psyche.  Most of her troops are a little curious as to her 
motives, as well."

"Excellent, yesssss.  I am glad to see that your own covert 
operation is working well.  Any news on what she has planned 
next?"

"I'm afraid not," replied Headlock.  "About the only person she 
trusts is Juliet, and maybe Tarantulas.  She still feels that I am 
suspect in my motivation for joining her little anarchist splinter.  
And what news of the wounded?"

"They're recovering decently.  Lazorbeak is still a little angered 
that we couldn't have given him a ground-based transform this 
time around, but the DNA was just that much easier to bond with 
him the second time."

"And were our erstwhile hosts at fault?"

"It would appear only indirectly.  Apparently, they all were forced 
to fight to the death.  One of the Maximals managed to bring 
them close enough to death to make them appear dead, then 
brought them all back to the planet."

Headlock nodded.  "I will continue to keep you posted as best I 
can.  Headlock out."

The communication disappeared.  Headlock leaned back over 
his computer, typing furiously as usual.

At the door, Drill Bit smiled.  "Oh, you'll be posted all right.  On 
the wall.  With Blackarachnia's claw through your head."

Smiling, Drill Bit walked back to his quarters.  He wondered what 
he could leech out of Blackarachnia for this juicy little tidbit.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Nightpounce winced as Vixen fused on another section of her 
leg.  "The aliens seem to act more like Greek gods more than 
anything else I can think of.  They have power, and they abuse it 
to an extreme."

Optimus Primal nodded.  "If that's the case, then what we already 
know of them is thrown out the window.  They're even more 
dangerous then we originally surmised."

Nightpounce nodded.  "What's more, though, it seemed as if they 
saw themselves as merely servants of another force.  Mercutio 
simply referred to them as 'the Ancients'.  If they can make the 
aliens afraid, then I'm _really_ afraid."

"As we all are," said Primal.  "Did Mercutio give you any idea 
what exactly these 'Ancients' were?"

"Not really," replied Nightpounce.  "He made it pretty clear that 
the Ancients were going to return from someplace, but he wasn't 
very specific about it."

"Ancient legends have a tendency to be vague," said Vixen, 
reconnecting a few servos in Nighpounce's left leg.  "It's easier to 
believe them that way."

Primal nodded.  "I'll be calling a staff meeting as soon as you're 
repaired.  Let me know when that is."  He stood and walked out 
of the room.

Nightpounce sighed.

"What's the matter?" asked Vixen.

"I guess I still miss Primus Trion," replied Nightpounce.  "It's hard 
to lose someone like that."

Vixen looked at Nightpounce sympathetically.  "Nightpounce, we 
had no choice -"

"I know," replied Nightpounce.  "And it's that sheer simplicity that 
terrifies me.  I feel as if I let him down, by not keeping him from 
the corruption of power.  I could have done more."

"And it wouldn't have helped."  Vixen was looking at Nightpounce 
intently.  "There are some things that are inevitable, no matter 
how hard you try.  One being can only do so much to alter 
events."

"I know.  But I still feel I could have done more.  I never do what I 
could have.  If I had reacted faster, I could have used the staff to 
get us out of the Arena from the start."

"You showed that we could play on their own terms," said Vixen.  
"You paid the ante.  This round is over, unless they want to 
decide to raise the stakes."

Nightpounce nodded.  "Let's hope that this is the last we hear 
from them for a while."

"I'm inclined to agree."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Vixen rubbed her temple.  *Whew,* she thought, leaning back in 
her chair.  *This has been quite a day.*

There was a beep at the door to her quarters.  "Enter," she said, 
a little suprised.  *Who would be calling at this hour?* she 
thought.

The doors slid open, and Stormcloud stepped in.  Any misgivings 
vanished from Vixen's face, replaced by a smile.  "Hi, love," she 
said, kissing him lightly.  "What brings you to this neck of the 
woods?"

"Feet," he replied.

She grinned.  "Nice to see you, too," she said, smiling.  
"Seriously.  Why did you come?"

Stormcloud smiled as well.  "Because I was reminded about what 
really matters lately."

He got down on his knees.  "Vixen, when I first met you, I was 
barely even acknowledging anyone but myself.  I lost myself in 
my work, trying to shove the deaths of my companions out of my 
mind.  I exiled myself, for all intents and purposes.

"You helped me out of it."  He gave a sideways grin.  "Well, you 
and Rattrap.  But you began to show me that there was a world 
outside of the computer.  That I could very well succeed if I 
wanted to.

"I lost track of you for a while.  But I found you again.  And that 
was one of the most joyful moments of my life.  When you nearly 
died, I felt like I was truly lost.  When you returned, so did my 
faith.

"For the last few weeks, I've been ignoring you to some degree.  
But when we traveled back in time, Nightpounce reminded me of 
how fast everything I have could disappear.  And realizing what a 
threat these aliens could pose... it gave me a chance to re-
assess my priorities in life."

"What are you saying?" asked Vixen, slightly confused.

Stormcloud looked into her eyes, as he had before, and as he felt 
ready to do for the rest of his days.  "Vixen... will you marry me?"

Vixen gasped.  "Isn't that somewhat a... human idea?"

"Does it matter?  The idea is the same.  I want to make sure that 
no matter what, I will be able to spend the rest of my days with 
you.  You've meant a great deal to me, and I think the same goes 
for you.  Will you do me this honor?"

Vixen was silent for a moment.  Finally, she spoke.

"I would be honored to be your wife."

Stormcloud stood up and hugged her tightly.  He reached into 
subspace and pulled out a small black box.

"Err... what's that?" asked Vixen.

"An engagement ring," replied Stormcloud.  He opened the box 
and took out a small circlet of purplish crystal, glowing slightly 
from within.

"It's carved from an energon crystal," he explained.  "I used my 
energon field generator to drain it until all it produced was a soft 
glow.  But there's enough energon in it so that you can eat it if 
you ever need to."

She shook her head.  "Always practical, Stormcloud."

Stormcloud slipped the ring onto one of her fingers.  It hummed 
slightly, and Vixen admired the beauty of it.

They kissed.