A Snake in the Fold
By: Wicked Woman
Author’s Notes: Thank you for the reviews and I’m glad that you liked the little surprise I gave you with the black box. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: All I own is the place where I type my stories… wait, no I don’t.
Tarantulas was making a few adjustments to Mantorr in his hidden lair near the Predacon base. Thanks to the security grid the new Maximals had, Mantorr had obtained serious damage due to the effects of the auto gun that the Maximal, Taurus had found from the wreckage at the former location of the Axalon. He didn’t want to even think about what was in store inside the cave. Tarantulas figured that if the grid had made Megatron upset, then the Maximal bull was as good as the last technical genius—almost.
Mantorr just got up from Tarantulas’ workbench and looked at his repaired body. “If I ever fight that Maximal again…” He grunted in anger. Being shot by a measly little weapon annoyed him to no extent. If he ever saw Taurus again, he would have his revenge.
“Calm down Mantorr,” Tarantulas said. “After all, it wasn’t your fault you were easily brought down.” He quickly hid a treacherous grin before facing the newest Predacon. “It was that stupid Maximal and his cheap parlour tricks. And Megatron’s incompetence doesn’t help matters either.”
The mantis turned to his comrade with sheer interest. “You see,” Tarantulas started. “I was able to scan your exo-structure and came across an incredible discovery.”
“Really?”
Tarantulas turned on his computer and brought up a copy of Mantorr’s schematics. “You see, your system is somehow different from any other Transformer I’ve seen on Cybertron or this planet.” The spider then pointed to the torso. “Apparently, your strength depends on the might and power the leader has. Since our leader is Megatron, well… I can understand why you’ve lost every battle you entered.”
Mantorr was confused by the scientific discovery his comrade had come across but since he had close to no intelligence in the current category, he decided to acknowledge it. “So…” he asked. “You’re saying that… because Megatron’s incompetent, I haven’t been at my fighting potential?”
Tarantulas nodded. “Which is why I suggest you work with me, in secret that is. So once we overthrow that tyrant, we can choose a new leader depending on how much stronger you get. Of course, you mustn’t tell anyone else about your structure or of this plan. They’re all too blind by Megatron’s words. Only when the time is right can they be informed.”
“Right.” Mantorr said. He then transformed to beast mode. “I think I’ll report to our ‘leader’ now.” With that, the mantis was gone. Tarantulas chuckled to himself as he turned to his computer. “What a pathetic fool.” He turned on the computer, which showed a slightly different schematic of Mantorr. “And to think, all I needed to do was make a few adjustments to his schematics and he came into my clutches. A special strength indeed.” The spider then let out an evil laugh that echoed though out the entire lair.
*******
Caterina picked up one of the automatic slingshots that had been connected to the main one, which was completely destroyed by Megatron’s missile. She turned to her comrade Taurus.
“Um, maybe you should try not connecting the defences to each other.” Caterina said.
“Well, I was about to fix that problem when the Preds attacked the base.” Taurus stated. Behind him, Bone Crusher put down another piece of the Axalon he had been told to retrieve after their latest encounter with Megatron’s troops.
“Was that before or after you were looking at your new weaponry?” He asked. If Taurus had been human, he would’ve begun blushing from embarrassment.
“Well I’ve already put away the chain guns.” Taurus said. “No way I’m gonna be using them again.”
Wolf Fang and Claw Jaw had just put down a pile of energon. They both had come in as Taurus finished his comment.
“Why bother doing that?” Wolf Fang asked. “They did some actual damage to the Predacons last time.” He walked up to the others with Claw Jaw close behind.
“Yeah, Ol’ silver’s got a point thare.” Claw Jaw stated. “They’re actually ‘bout tha only thangs actually helping us win… well barely.”
“But they’re not mine.” Taurus said. “I shouldn’t have even tried to crack the code to the case.”
“Well, if they’re not yours, then who’s are they?”
Taurus turned to his leader. “I’ll need some confirmation before giving out that piece of info. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong answer.” Suddenly, the alarm rang out.
“Warning: Stasis pods detected, Delta Quadrant.”
All five Maximals turned to the computer as if on cue.
“YEE HAW!” Claw Jaw shouted with excitement. “We’s get’s our sixth comrade!”
“Maybe even more.” Bone Crusher added. “The computer did say ‘pods’ as in more than one.”
“Then again,” Wolf Fang stated. “Delta Quadrant is in Predacon territory after all. No doubt Megatron’s already heard the message too.”
“Claw Jaw.” Caterina said. “You haven’t had a real mission yet. You go find the pods and welcome the new recruits. The rest of us will deal with Megatron.”
*******
At the Predacon base, Megatron had indeed received the same message the Maximals had. He figured that the new protoforms would make an excellent new addition to the Predacon cause. The tyrant had been loading a disk he had recently taken from the Maximal’s base, which he referred to as a cave, when the alarm had sounded.
“What a better way to celebrate my new found information than to reprogram Maximals, yesss. What could be a better achievement?” Megatron said with glee. Suddenly, his computer activated.
“File loading: Completed.”
“Ah, speaking of which,” Megatron typed in a few codes and received the information downloaded with great interest. After a few seconds found something of more interest than Maximal codes and future defences. “Ah, so that’s what they’re looking for.” He said.
Mantorr entered the base and transformed.
“Ah, Mantorr.” The tyrant greeted his comrade. “What excellent timing. I have an important mission for—.” The computer alarm came online again.
“Warning. Maximal energy signature detected.”
Megatron growled with frustration. “Oh of all the rotten—!” Megatron turned to his comrades. “Forget the old strategy. You defend the perimeter. I’ll go after the pod myself.” The Predacon leader transformed to beast mode and ran out of the base.
“Taranchulas was right.” Mantorr said to himself. “Megatron is incompetent.”
*******
Most of the Maximals were near the Predacon base, in beast mode while waiting for any bit of company they found.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Taurus asked Caterina. “I mean, what if they all just gonna go after the pod?”
“Megatron isn’t dumb.” The Jaguar said. “He’ll leave a few comrades back at base to protect it. And send at least one of them over to pods and try to reprogram them. So they’ll show up to defend territory.”
Suddenly, a missile almost hit Wolf Fang, missing him by only a few inches. The silver wolf hit the ground next to Taurus. Caterina turned to her comrade with a smirk across her face.
“See.”
Inferno, Waspinator, Terrorsaur and Mantorr flew by firing their weapons at the enemy. Blackarachnia and Scorpinok were on the ground running towards the Maximals position while charging up their weapons. The Maximals transformed and prepared to defend themselves.
“Gee, ya think these Preds actually practice before every battle?” Bone Crusher said sarcastically. “Their aim’s getting’ better!”
“Just keep an eye out for any missing Preds.” Taurus yelled back. Caterina pulled out one of the demolition charges she found and threw it over to Inferno. The blast damaged the fire ant, but he still kept charging. Wolf Fang shot Scorpinok but ducked in cover from Blackarachnia’s cyber venom.
“Hey!” Wolf Fang stated. “I can’t see Megatron or Tarantulas!”
“Just great!” Caterina said. “Just when I think Megatron couldn’t be more of a creep, he gives himself the easy job!” Caterina dodged another blast from Waspinator. Growling with annoyance, the Maximal leader aimed her weapon and fired at the bug, blowing him up into tiny pieces. “Aw, I almost feel sorry for him!” She and Taurus ducked down when Terrorsaur used his laser eyes on them. The Maximal scientist gave his leader a look of shock.
Caterina merely shrugged. “Hey I said Almost!” Caterina ducked from another fire blast.
*******
Claw Jaw reached the Delta Quadrant without any hassle, of course he started to wish that he had a better beast mode. He didn’t have time to worry about it, he had a mission to accomplish. After a few cycles of walking, Claw Jaw was able to find the area. There lay two stasis pods on the ground.
“Aw, only two?” Claw Jaw quickly hurried down to where the stasis pods were and transformed. “Guess I’d better hurry it up b’fore tha Preds show up.” As if on cue, the Maximal squid heard motor sounds. “Uh oh.”
*******
Tarantulas scurried towards the Delta Quadrant in beast mode to avoid the energon surge. He had also been alerted about the stasis pods in the area and he was not going to allow the Maximals to reach them first. He wasn’t about to let Megatron get to them either, at least not until he had a chance to alter them for his own personal gain. When he got to the area, all he saw was one stasis pod.
“Only one?” Tarantulas asked sounding disappointed. “Well, one pod is better than none I suppose.” Tarantulas let out a low chuckle before beginning to check on the pod, not even thinking about checking the area for Maximals, for Claw Jaw was hiding behind a rock very close to his location along with the second pod.
“Now,” the spider cackled. “All I need to do is—” As if on cue, Megatron landed right in front of Tarantulas in his beast mode from a cliff side. The tyrant let out a roar while transforming to robot mode then walked over to his comrade.
“Ah Tarantulas.” He said. “How nice of you to guard the stasis pod until my arrival.”
Tarantulas sneered. He hated pretending to be loyal to the saurian but he had no choice… for now at least. Soon, he would be able to overthrow the tyrant and lead the Predacons in his place, but in the meantime, he had to be patient. “Uh, yes Megatron.” He said. “The pod is yours to reprogram.” The spider stood aside for Megatron to get to work.
The tyrant raised an eye ridge as he scurried by. Megatron knew that the spider was up to something. However, since he was useful when it came to technology and computer activity, he thought he’d play along with Tarantulas’ ‘loyalty’. After all, he learned that it was best to keep your friends close and his enemies even closer.
“Quickly!” Megatron ordered. “The Maximals could be here any minute. There is absolutely no way I will allow another Maximal to help those low ranked rookies in their search for Primal!”
Tarantulas moved over to the pod and got to work. There was no way he could continue with his deception with Megatron standing over him. He’d have to reluctantly hand the protoform’s life over to him and try to get it on his side later.
Claw Jaw was shocked with what Megatron had said. ‘Ah great!’ he thought. ‘Now ol’ Megs knows what we’re doin’. I’ve gots to get this proto-form online without them knowin’.’
*******
Mantorr continued to fire at the Maximals. He had his enemies on the run from his razor blades and it felt good to him that he was winning. The green mantis chuckled to himself as he sent Bone Crusher flying into the newly dug trenches of his foes. ‘This is easier than I thought.’ Mantorr thought to himself. Then it hit him. He was actually winning. He was flinging the Maximals around like they were nothing. Something was different, and he knew what it was.
‘Megatron’s not here…’ Mantorr thought. ‘I’m doing great in battle, and Megatron isn’t around. Tarantulas is right. He’s the reason why I haven’t been at my best!’ Mantorr was too busy in thought and trying to blast Taurus and Bone Crusher that he didn’t notice that Caterina jumped from a cliff behind him and landed on the Predacon’s back, which snapped him out of his thought.
“HEY!!!” Mantorr began to concentrate on getting the new Maximal leader off of him. “What are you, a leach? GET OFF!!!” He received his answer when the cat leaped off just as he was shot in the back. The now-angered Praying Mantis glared at Taurus as he fired another one of his missile launchers and hit him dead on. Terrorsaur noticed the odd behaviour Mantorr was experiencing. The pterodactyl knew that he wouldn’t he as stupid as to take himself off guard. However, he didn’t have question it further when Wolf Fang tackled him down.
“KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TARGET, LEATHER MOUTH!” Terrorsaur took the opportunity to kick his enemy off of him. Wolf Fang then landed hard on a rock next to a hovering Inferno.
“You shall burrrn for your crimes against the Royalty!” Inferno set his gun on fire and aimed it towards Wolf Fang. Bone Crusher grabbed a rock and threw it at the gun, plugging up the hole causing a back blast.
“Can’t you tell the difference between a Mech and a Femme?!” Bone Crusher then ran off as Scorpinok started firing at him, missing him every second.
*******
The DNA scanner finished scanning the area for any life forms. Megatron was beginning to grow impatient as Tarantulas was working.
“Can’t you type those codes any faster?” Megatron growled in annoyance. The spider turned to his leader.
“The DNA scanner is on the frits so I have absolutely no idea what type of life form it’ll pick up.” Tarantulas said. “We’ll have to work with what we get.” The pod finished downloading the DNA data it received from the scan.
“DNA scan: completed. Replicating.” Megatron and Tarantulas stepped back, as there was a blinding light. Claw Jaw sunk back behind the bolder he was hiding behind to shield himself. When the light faded, a cobra head emerged from the pod.
“Ah, yesss.” Megatron beamed. A snake will prove useful in the fight against the Maximals, especially if it was poisonous. Megatron was just about to greet the new Protoform when the rest emerged, which was a scorpion’s body. The snake’s head was merely connected to it. Megatron stepped back in shock as he came out of the pod.
“Say now,” the protoform said. “What in tarnation are you?”
“I said that we’d have to work with what we’ve got.” Tarantulas muttered to Megatron.
“Indeed.” Megatron cleared his throat and produced the famous smile. “Ah, yes. I am Megatron. Leader of the Predacons, which makes you my new comrade. And this here is Tarantulas.”
“You mean ta tell me that I’m one of you?”
“Ah, so you weren’t damaged in the crash. That is excellent news.” Megatron was hoping that this strategy was working. Tarantulas only had time to change the activation code. The rest of the convincing was up to Megatron to do.
*******
Claw Jaw sunk back down and crawled over to the hidden pod and turned on the system. “I’ve gotta git this here proto-form online before they’s all realize.” The Maximal squid began to work on the system and opened up a file.
“Slag!” he said. “The dang D-N-A scanner ain’t a-workin’ right. Well, it’ll hafta do.” Claw Jaw pressed a few more buttons to make sure that the pod wasn’t damaged in the crash.
*******
Megatron and Tarantulas were too busy trying to convince the new protoform that he was a Predacon, they didn’t notice that he was looking around as if he heard something.
*******
“Gee, what a day,” Claw Jaw said as he read more information from the pod. “My friends are a-fightin’ tha enemy, this pod has a dang slow D-N-A scanner and Megs knows ‘bout our hidden ‘genda!”
“Care ta have a littl’ help thare, partner?”
“Yeah sure, thanks.” Claw Jaw then froze. There was no other Maximal ordered to help him so who exactly was behind him? The Maximal slowly turned to find the protoform standing right behind him transformed.
“Dang nation,” Claw Jaw said. “It’s almost like lookin’ in a weird mirror.” The protoform then revealed cobra-head arm and fired. Claw Jaw moved out of the way but his arm was hit with the blast and paralyzed. “Whoa, that’s some do-hickey.” Claw Jaw was able to dodge another blast and ran.
“Hey!” The protoform yelled. “Git back here right now! You can’t run and hid from Quickstrike!!!” With that, he ran after the Maximal. Megatron and Tarantulas came from behind the bolder in beast mode.
“Well, it would seem that our new Predacon has found a target already, yesss.” The tyrant turned to his comrade. “Let’s see how this ends.”
Both Predacons started laughing as they moved forward, not even noticing the stasis pod beginning to scan for life forms.
Claw Jaw knew that Quickstrike was chasing after him but only two things mattered to him right now: 1, getting the poison off his arm and 2, getting the new Pred away from the pod. If the Predacons got a hold of the protoform inside, then there would be no doubt that the Maximals would never win another fight again. The Maximal squid didn’t notice the little rock in front of him until he tripped over it and tumbled to the ground. Quickstrike slowed down and chuckled to himself.
“That all ya got, partner?”
Just then, the poison on the Maximal’s arm disappeared and Claw Jaw was able to grab his ink gun and fire at Quickstrike’s optics.
“ACK!!! Why you good-fer-nuthin’ Squid-face!”
Claw Jaw quickly ran around a corner and stopped to catch his breath as the fuzor desperately tried to remove the ink off of his face. The Maximal sighed of relief but panicked when he turned to run and saw Megatron and Tarantulas transformed.
“Going somewhere?” Megatron asked as Tarantulas chuckled evilly. Megatron raised his charged weapon at his enemy.
*******
The stasis pod’s scanner shut off and slowly went back into its slot. “DNA scan: Completed. Replicating.” After a few seconds, the pod hatch opened.
Quickstrike was finally able to get rid of the ink. He looked around to find no one else there. “Where are ya, Squid-face?”
As if on cue, Claw Jaw was suddenly blasted out of his hiding place and into the side of another cliff. Out emerged Megatron and Tarantulas.
“Did you really think that you could escape from us?”
“Well… it was worth a shot.” Claw Jaw failed to get back up after Tarantulas kicked his shin.
“Foolish Maximal.” Tarantulas aimed his weapon at the weakened Maximal when Megatron stepped in front of him.
“No,” he ordered. “I shall handle this myself.” Megatron then charged up his weapon again.
“Cease and desist, vile villain!”
All four transformers turned to the direction the voice came from. Far in the distance was a figure, a pair of wings flapped in the wind as it came closer to where the others were standing. As it came further, it was revealed to be a silver wolf with eagle wings and talons for his front legs and wolf legs for his hind legs.
“Silverbolt, Maximize!” The protoform then transformed to robot mode and landed right in front of the awestruck group before him.
“YEE HAW!” Claw Jaw beamed. “He’s one of our boys!!!”
The Maximal called Silverbolt then took two wing missiles and fired them at the Predacons, missing Megatron.
“You had chosen the wrong side Maximal scum!” Before Megatron could retaliate, Claw Jaw shot him from behind and knocked him down. Tarantulas and Quickstrike struggled to get back on their feet from the blast when Megatron turned to them. “Quickly! Return to beast mode. Fall back at once!” All three Predacons transformed and headed back to base. Claw Jaw waited for them to be out of distance before getting back up. Silverbolt walked towards them.
“Hey, thanks partner.” Claw Jaw said.
“It was nothing my friend.” Silverbolt replied. The then turned to the distance and at the invisible enemy. “Three against one is never a fair odd.”
Claw Jaw looked at his new comrade oddly for a moment then shook it off. “Uh…yeah what you said. C’mon we’s gots ta see if the others are alright.”
*******
Caterina was facing off with Blackarachnia in battle. “You can’t win, Maximal.” The Black widow sneered.
“Of course I’ll win,” Caterina said. “Good will always beat evil. It’s just matter of time before you acknowledge it.” Blackarachnia charged towards her but Caterina flipped her over her head and watched her hit the ground with a thump. “See.”
Taurus and Wolf Fang got ready to fight Mantorr. Their weapons had been damaged during the fight and their last resort was hand-to-hand combat. Mantorr was about to make his move until Megatron showed up.
“Predacons, fall back at once. We have what we came for!” He then charged away with Tarantulas and what looked like a new Predacon following behind him. Terrorsaur pushed Bone Crusher away and ran flew off after his leader.
“Hey, hey, hey, the party over already?” Scorpinok and Inferno picked up pieces of Waspinator and ran off after the others. Mantorr picked up the fallen widow by Caterina and took off after his comrades, leaving Caterina and the others standing alone in complete shock. The Maximal leader’s comlink came online.
“Claw Jaw ta Boss lady, come in.”
“Report Claw Jaw.” Caterina didn’t look at her comlink but answered it.
“Well, we’s gots a new comrade!”
Caterina’s optics looked like they were ready to pop out of her head. “Really! A new comrade!!!”
“Yep.”
“Well, that is good news.” Wolf Fang said. “Looks like our group just increased.”
“Er, eh, only my one there.” Claw Jaw stated. “Them dang Preds got a hold of the other pod.”
“Ok, that’s six for us. But the Preds now have…” Bone Crusher began to think about how many Predacons there were now. “Let’s see, Megatron, Inferno, Scorpin—”
“There are now 9 Preds.” Taurus said irritated.
“ANYWAY!!!” Caterina said. “We have a new comrade to show around, and a stasis pod to deal with. Bone Crusher, Taurus, you two go over to Delta Quadrant and get that pod. The rest of us will head back to base.”
The Maximals went their different ways and headed to their destination.
*******
Mantorr was headed to his quarters after he had finished his repairs. His mind was full of the events that occurred during battle. “Hmmm…other than the out come, this battle was my best yet. I was able to do more damage than I have been able to do before. If Megatron hadn’t ordered us to retreat, then I would have won the battle.”
Mantorr then stopped in his tracks. “But Megatron wasn’t exactly battling with us when I was at my best. Tarantulas might be right, it does depend on the competence of the leader. And if that is the case, then Megatron must be over thrown soon, if I’m gonna be the greatest fighter in the Beast Wars.” Mantorr then entered his quarters and the door automatically slammed shut.