20.May.07
BEAST WARS REKINDLED
Chapter 16: Uncertain Allies
Xenin watched with pride as his army of Dark Legionnaires and Mechanauts poured
into Robotropolis, fully armed and ready to engage the enemy. Sure enough,
A.D.A.M.'s army of SWATbots emerged to challenge them. Robots and cyborgs
clashed as the armies created by Dimitri and Dr. Robotnik met, grappling in a
struggle to the end.
"All is going according to our stratagem," Isaac said. The new Grand
Master turned to look at his new allies. Isaac and Shadow had personally joined
forces with him, each seeking a different objective. Shadow wanted to destroy
Deathstreak, thinking the Predacon an insult to his appearance. Isaac, on the
other hand, sought to add the knowledge of the Transformers to his already
formidable database.
"Isaac is right; time for us to move in," Shadow said.
Nodding, Xenin checked his pistol, making sure it was fully charged. Running one
last systems check on his cybernetic implants, he nodded. "It's time for
Robotropolis to fall.”
Sneaking through Robotropolis, the coalition of Mobians and Maximals could
hardly believe their eyes. All of the Mobians had faced the battling troops at
one point or another, and seeing them locked in combat was disturbing. To the
Cybertronians, it was simply amazing to think that the Dark Legion, whom they
had been forced to contend with since day one, was now on their side. However,
they did not allow themselves to get distracted as they reached A.D.A.M.'s
citadel.
"Nicole, where's the most easily accessed entrance?" Rotor inquired.
"Concealed entrance directly ahead," the handheld computer droned.
"Allow me," Knucklehead said. Calling upon his innate Chaos abilities,
he sent a bolt of energy slamming into the wall. Soon enough, a door was sent
flying off its hinges, completely devastated by the Maximal's attack. Turning to
his companions, he smiled. Bowing to Twinbrush, he extended his arm towards the
door. "After you, my love."
Twinbrush kissed Knucklehead on the lips, smiling. "Thank you, kind
sir."
Everyone else suppressed chuckles as the Maximal duo made their way into the
citadel, followed by the Freedom Fighters. Next came the Chaotix, with Dinobot
bringing up the rear. Checking to make sure that no security measures had been
activated, they made their way deeper into the fortress.
They had not gone far when Knucklehead froze, his eyes narrowing. Seeing this,
Sally spoke. "What is it?"
Knuckles, whose Chaos senses were only slightly below Knucklehead's felt the
same thing. "There's a massive source of Chaos on the top floor."
"That wouldn't be Deathstreak, would it?" Vector inquired.
"He's the only enemy in this place who uses those powers," Tails
pointed out.
"Why would he be drawing attention to himself?" Sonic asked.
"Either he's calling us out, or he's not doing it on purpose," Mighty
reasoned.
"Whatever the reason, I'm going up there," Knucklehead replied.
"You sure you want to try and tackle him by yourself, sugah?" Bunnie
queried.
"Better him than us," Antoine said.
"Don't you want to take someone with you?" Ray questioned.
"No, this is something I must do alone. Until we meet again, my
friends." With that, Knucklehead ran back the way they had come from.
Shortly after, the others heard the clanging sound as he dug his spurs into the
outside of the fortress, making his way up to where Deathstreak waited.
Traveling deeper into the citadel, the Freedom Fighters, Chaotix, and Dinobot
slowly ascended, trying to locate Speedbat and A.D.A.M.. Finally, their search
led them to a large balcony with two doors opening onto it. Looking around,
Charmy voiced the question they were all wondering. "Where could those two
be?"
In answer, the other door slid open. Dinobot whirled to face the threat, only
for a quartet of missiles to strike him in the chest. Knocked backwards, Dinobot
hit the rail and flipped over, toppling off the edge. Before Twinbrush could do
anything, however, a sonar attack sent her flying into the air.
Flying out from the door, Speedbat grinned at her former comrade. "Looks
like we get to settle accounts, miss goody two shoes!"
Distracted, the remaining intruders were caught off guard as A.D.A.M. emerged
from the door, returned to Beast Mode. Wearing an insane grin on Knucklehead's
face, he stretched out his arms. Clouds of nanites shot outward, landing on the
Freedom Fighters and Chaotix and binding them like chains. Before the group
could struggle, A.D.A.M. beckoned. Unable to resist the tug of the nanites, the
Mobians were pulled inside, leaving Twinbrush to battle her old friend.
Unfortunately for A.D.A.M., Dinobot was no stranger to plummets. Extending his
huge claws, he quickly dug into the side of the citadel, catching himself.
Unfortunately, the smooth building offered no footholds. Thus, Dinobot was stuck
hanging above Robotropolis.
Fortunately for Dinobot, the sound of a hovercraft engine caused him to turn,
looking into the startled eyes of Xenin and Shadow. Only Isaac, his face
incapable of expression, remained stoic. Clearing his throat, Dinobot spoke.
"I don't suppose you could give me a hand getting up, could you?"
In the command chamber of the fortress, Deathstreak ceased shuddering. He opened
his eyes, feeling powerful as he never had before. Ripping through his
restraints with ease, he leapt to his feet.
The Predacon was instantly aware that he had grown taller, outstripping the
stature of even Knucklehead. In addition, his body no longer appeared to be an
ordinary if outsized Mobian. Now his form gleamed with fur and skin that was
both organic and mechanical. A grin stretched across his face as he recognized
the technology of a Transmetal 2.
Suddenly, a loud clanging sound reached his ears. Deathstreak's eyes glinted as
he sensed the coming of his nemesis. "Knucklehead..."
Forced to remain in Beast Mode in order to fly, Twinbrush was at the mercy of
Speedbat. The flying Predacon was capable of soaring even in Robot Mode, and in
her mechanical form possessed powerful sonar attacks. Completely without
weapons, Twinbrush could only flee in terror.
A.D.A.M. grinned at his hostages as he led them into the Roboticizer room.
"Say hello to your fate, fools."
"Moron, the Roboticizer doesn't work anymore, or have you forgotten the Bem?"
Espio said.
"I haven't forgotten, Chameleon. I have modified the Roboticizer so that it
can now overpower the immunization effects of the Bem Robotizer. Once you get
put in there, you will be my mindless slaves. Now then, who first?"
Looking at them, A.D.A.M. indicated Julie-Su. The female Echidna struggled as
the nanites began dragging her towards the machine. Knuckles, unable to do
anything, yelled despairingly. "Julie!"
"Oh, are you two in love? I'll be sure to put you in the same labor
force."
Turning to Knuckles, Julie spoke. "Don't worry about me Knuckles, just stop
him!"
"If only he could, but sadly my nanites have blocked his Chaos energy. So
sorry."
Just as A.D.A.M. finished gloating, a loud shriek reached everyone's ears. They
turned to see a long, bone-white claw slicing diagonally through the wall. When
it reached the floor, it pulled back. An identical claw pierced the wall and
made a second line, going the other way. It repeated the process of the first
claw, then the triangle of metal fell inward as it was kicked.
Moving with all the speed of a Velociraptor, Dinobot leaped at A.D.A.M.. Coming
behind him, Xenin and Isaac fired at the nanites binding the Mobians. The clouds
were vaporized instantly. Thus freed, Knuckles ran over to Julie-Su, the two
embracing in relief. Grouping around their rescuers, they watched as Dinobot and
A.D.A.M. fought.
Dinobot was clearly the superior fighter, but A.D.A.M. had an unfair advantage.
Any time that Dinobot sliced away part of him, a cloud of nanites would extend
from his body to recover it and regenerate the severed connections. Dinobot's
own wounds were healed by purple energy emanating from the Spark in his chest.
The two seemed immortal, unable to do permanent damage to each other.
Suddenly, Dinobot seized upon a plan. Renewing his offensive, he drove A.D.A.M.
into the Roboticizer. On cue, Shadow hit the button, sealing the tube and
activating the machine. Everyone watched as yellow light filled the cylinder.
After a moment, the machine and its controls sparked and exploded.
Staggering out of the wreckage, A.D.A.M. glared at Dinobot. "You fool! By
trying to Roboticize a machine, you have ruined my device!" A.D.A.M. rushed
Dinobot, prompting the Maximal to slice across his chest. To his shock, no
nanites appeared to regenerate him.
"What?"
Determining the cause, Isaac spoke. "An EMP generated by the Roboticizer
explosion has deactivated all technology native to Robotropolis. All other
technology is still fully functional."
Dinobot smiled fiendishly, a terrifying sight with his array of razor sharp
teeth. A.D.A.M.'s eyes widened in shock as Dinobot's eye laser flared out,
burning into his forehead. Effectively lobotomized, the as now deceased ruler of
Robotropolis fell to the floor. No longer sustained by his nanites, A.D.A.M.'s
body fell apart. Knucklehead's parts lay scattered across the floor, putting an
end to the misuse of the Maximal's body.
The same EMP that shut down the nanites deactivated not only A.D.A.M.'s SWATbots,
but also his program in Speedbat's mind. Speedbat suddenly blinked, her Predacon
side deleted again. Stopping in midair, she held her head. "Twinbrush? What
happened?"
Knucklehead burst into the command chamber to find himself face to face with
Transmetal 2 Deathstreak. Unmoving, the Predacon faced his Maximal counterpart,
rage evident on his face. "It's time to put an end to this,
Knucklehead."
"I couldn't agree more."
With that, the two lashed out. Lunging at each other, they met in a grapple,
each trying to overwhelm the other. To Knucklehead's shock, Deathstreak
overpowered him, throwing him across the room. Before he could recover,
Deathstreak had teleported to stand next to him, punching him in the stomach
with a fist that felt like a cannonball.
On his knees, Knucklehead took a moment to regain his senses. Once that was
accomplished, he struck at Deathstreak, lifting off the ground to fly into him.
However, Deathstreak outmatched him again, brining him down with a current of
paralyzing Chaos energy.
Desperate to reach a stalemate, Knucklehead called upon his own Chaos energy. He
shot a massive beam at Deathstreak, which the Predacon met with one of his own.
Finally, the energy grew too powerful, and both were sent flying back.
Before he could attack again, Deathstreak suddenly found himself being pelted
with attacks. He looked to the side to find Speedbat, Dinobot, Julie-Su, Xenin,
Isaac, and Shadow all firing at him. Knowing that he was outmatched by superior
numbers, he rose into the air. "Deathstreak, Terrorize!"
Deathstreak's form looked virtually the same, except that it was now made of
Transmetal 2 technology. Looking at his enemies, the Predacon snarled. "You
have won this day, fools, but I shall be victorious!" With that, he
disappeared.
Some hours later, Knucklehead stood arm in arm with Twinbrush, the other
Maximals and their Mobian friends behind them. They stood facing the Dark
Legion, who had been victorious. For a long moment, neither side spoke.
Finally, Xenin stepped forward. "I understand that should we ever meet
again, it will be as enemies. However, rest assured that the Legion does not
intend that for some time."
"What will you do?" Dinobot asked.
"I plan to go to Albion, to help them recover from Dimitri's sabotage and
place him and his relatives in their custody. I leave Robotropolis to you. Until
we meet again." Xenin then surprised them all by saluting Knucklehead, to
which the Maximal replied in kind. He then turned and walked away, followed by
his compatriots.
Speedbat turned to Shadow and Isaac. "Aren't you two leaving?"
"I'm not going anywhere until Deathstreak is obliterated."
"And I have yet to learn more about you Transformers."
Looking off into the distance, Dinobot spoke. "So be it. But I have a
feeling that unless we win these Beast Wars, and soon, all will fall to
ruin."
To be continued...