Two's Company

Part Two

By: Sapphire

PG L

Myst awoke with a start.  It was dusk and the air had cooled considerably.  The sun had melted into the ocean, leaving in its wake a dull mustard glow on the horizon.  Some stars were already out and the wind had picked up.

She sat up and rubbed her arms, mainly for comfort.  She looked about her and saw no one.  The crashing waves no longer comforted her.  Rather they worried her as the noise masked possible sounds of approach.

"Rampage?" she called out uncertainly.  No response.

She glanced over her shoulder.  The tangled foliage was filled with shadows.  She stood up and moved away from it.  The moon was out in full tonight and somehow created a sense of predestination.

"Rampage?" she called out again and this time her voiced expressed her fear.  Suddenly the huge crabbot was the only thing in the world that she wanted near her, despite his fearsome appearance.

And then she heard it.  A terrible scream, carried on the wind.  It rose up in pitch and conveyed pain...intense pain.  The sound made her blood run cold.

That scream belonged to Rampage.

*                      *                        *

He clawed at the earth and writhed as the surges of energy ripped through his body.  His one hand clutched at his chest in a futile attempt to stop the pain.

"Don't you dare defy my orders again!" berated Megatron.  The voice came from his comm. link.

"What...do you...want me...to do?" Rampage gasped.

The agonizing pain ceased and Rampage fell forward, hands preventing him from landing flat on his face.

"I want you to return to base.  I have some things to discuss with you and the rest of my minions."

"I'm coming," Rampage grunted.

"Yess, you do that.  I'm also eager to hear how you've eluded my scanners this long."

Rampage refused to reply that.

"Leave immediately, if you know what's good for you."  Megatron cut the connection.

Finally free from Megatron's listening ear, Rampage allowed himself to heave a pained sigh.  Soft thuds grew steadily louder and he sat upright to see Myst break out of the bushes.  Alarm and fear were radiating from her.

"Primus, 'Page!  Are you all right?" she asked frantically.

Rampage got to his feet in a fluid motion, hoping to hide the pain that still lingered in his body.

"I'm fine.  Megatron just decided to give me a friendly jolt.  He wants me to return to base."

"But I thought he couldn't contact you.  I thought the signature blocker prevented that."

"It did, up until now," Rampage sighed.

He reached for a small grey device attached to his left side.  It was so small Myst had never noticed it.  He plucked it off and looked at it.

"Hmm...."

"What is it?"

Rampage bounced the little thing lightly in his palm.  "Two lights.  The one for the comm. is red.  The signature light is green...which means he can contact me, but he can't see me."

"Malfunction?" she queried.

"I doubt it," Rampage said with a shake of his head.  He turned to her, arm outstretched and his palm open.  He was offering the device to her.

"You want me to take it now?" Myst asked.

"Now's a good time.  I have a hunch Megatron's planning an outing, that's why he's called me in for a meeting.  If our plan is to work, you're going to need this."

Myst stepped forward and took it.  She looked it over curiously.

"You can put it anywhere.  It doesn't matter," Rampage informed.

She put it on her hip and looked up at him.  "Do you think Tarantulas will be at the meeting?"

"No.  He'll certainly know about it, but he won't attend.  I'm sure the 'malfunction' in my blocker is his doing, to enable Megatron to contact me and get me out of the way."

"So that I'm vulnerable," Myst finished.  She lowered her gaze but Rampage could detect the fear easily.  He was always acutely aware of it.

"This is going to be a problem. Tarantulas is a lot stronger than me," Myst voiced her concern.

"But he can't fly.  Why not just fly to somewhere high and inaccessible?" Rampage suggested.

"You'll let me know when it's safe to come down?" she asked.

"I will."

Myst nodded slowly and opened out her wings.  "Off I go then.  I'll see you later."

Rampage watched her take to the air and transform to beast mode in a forward roll.  With a few strong flaps she was on her way.

Once she was gone, he let out another pent up sigh.  He'd been quietly fighting the urge to savour her fear.  He felt drawn to her when she was afraid and old feelings of anger and hatred resurfaced in him.  But then he reminded himself she was not afraid of him.  That was the difference.

Myst was afraid to be away from him.

How peculiar it all was and yet...a relief, somewhat.  For the first time since Transmutate, Rampage had somebody who didn't revile him.

He found that strangely comforting.

Rattrap holstered his gun and took two bombs from the weapons rack.  He opened his wrist compartments and inserted one in each.  Lastly, he attached the signature blocker under his arm.

"You all set?" Optimus asked.

Rattrap looked at his leader and nodded.  "All set."

"If things get hairy, Rattrap, get out of there, all right?  Don't risk your life to prove anything."

"I'm already riskin' my life, an' I got nuthin' ta prove," Rattrap replied matter-of-factly.

Optimus opened the blast doors and looked out into the gloom.  Rattrap came up beside him.

"Sumthin' big's happenin' tonight.  I can feel it," Rattrap murmured.

"So can I," Optimus said.  "Be careful."

Rattrap transformed to vehicle mode and revved his engines gently.  The other Maximals were unaware of his mission, save for Depth Charge who'd serve as his rescuer should things go wrong.

"I'll be back before ya know it," Rattrap reassured him and then left and drove out into the night.

Megatron raised an optic ridge at the sight on his computer screen.  Usually he let one of his troops watch the monitors but due to recent events he felt it important that he keep an eye out for strange activity.  His patience had been rewarded.

For a minute or two, both Rampage and Myst had shown up right next to each other on the grid.  Both remained stationary and then Myst's signature blinked off the screen.  Just Myst's.

So Rampage had passed on his blocker to the femme.  Why?  To hide her from him, or Tarantulas?  Surely he wasn't so naive to assume the spider couldn't see past his own technology?

Whatever the case, Rampage was obeying orders now.  He was closing in on the Darkside.

Megatron intended to keep him here for as long as possible.  Tarantulas needed to be allowed enough time to track and retrieve the converter.  If that failed, Megatron had a back-up plan that required Rampage, anyway.

He got off his 'throne' and turned to see the first of his soldiers to turn up for the meeting.

"Ah, Waspinator. All repaired I see.  I don't recall you using the CR tank."

Waspinator buzzed uncertainly.  "Waspinator suffered internal damage.  Waspinator self-repaired."

"Right," Megatron said flatly, clearly unconvinced.  To the small Predacon's relief he did not pursue the matter.

Waspinator looked forward to the day he didn't have to come under Megatron's scrutiny anymore.  He lived for that day.

Myst had a gut feeling that she shouldn't go any place that was too far from Rampage.  She chose a high rock formation that was within sight of the Predacon base.  Even though she was closer to the enemy, she felt safer there than some far-out, remote location.  From this vantage point she could survey the relatively flat, barren plains around the lava pits.  Tarantulas's blocker may have hidden him from her internal scanners, but it did not hide him from her sharp bateleur eyes.

She was prepared to wait here until Rampage emerged from the base.  It occurred to her that it might be a while before that happened.  All she could do was hope he'd be out soon and sit tight in the meantime.

*                    *                  *

Rampage stomped into the command room.  He realized he was he last to arrive when all the Predacon's turned from Megatron to look at him.

"Long time no see, crablegs," Quickstrike piped.

Rampage ignored him and turned to Megatron.  "What do you require me for?" he asked the tyrant with forced politeness.

"Nothing just yet.  All you need to do is listen," Megatron said.  He turned to his troops.  

"My fellow Predacons, I have both good news and bad news for you all."  There was a collective murmured groan.  Good news was usually bad news when it concerned them and bad news was usually awful.

"The good news is we're all going on an excursion soon.  Within the next day or so, even.  I have a surprise for the Maximals I wish to deliver, and you will all accompany me."

Megatron definitely had Rampage's attention at this stage.  While the crabbot remained cool and calm looking, Megatron noted the light in his eyes.  He continued.

"The bad news is some of you will have to act as bait, to lure some of the Maximals out."

"Oh no..." Waspinator grumbled.

"Only a small hindrance before a great victory, so you needn't complain, Waspinator," Megatron chided.

 The wasp lowered his head miserably.  Megatron tapped his fingers together. "I'd love to tell you all exactly what I'm planning, but I'm afraid that if I did, I might have to kill some of you.  And that would be a terrible waste."

"Will you need all of us in the field?" Rampage spoke up.  Megatron brightened at the sound of his voice.  Rampage found that unsettling.

"Ah, interested in taking part, are you Rampage?" Megatron asked superciliously.

"I've got a lot of pent up anger I'd like to take out on something," Rampage replied derisively.

"You will have your chance then.  I'll need you to do the knocking on the Ark's doors."

Rampage knew what Megatron was asking of him and for once he was not reluctant to do it.  This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.  He'd be out in the open, presumably with Megatron near by and Myst would be lying in wait.  If all went well, he'd get his spark back before he had to blast the Ark's entrance at all.

Rampage grunted disdainfully.  He didn't want to let on that he was in fact eagerly anticipating this 'excursion'.

"All of you will remain in base for the next few days until it's time to go out.  I don't want any of you straying and delaying my plans because of your absence," Megatron ordered them all.

Rampage cursed mentally.  How was he going to alert Myst about this and warn her that he'd not be around for a time?  All comm. transmissions were most definitely being monitored in here.  Megatron already looked like he suspected him of something and so he'd be keeping a watch on him.

It was also a worry that Tarantulas wasn't here.  Rampage had suspected as much, but now that he was trapped here there was little he could do to help Myst if she encountered the spider.

"I have nothing further to tell you.  You may retire to your quarters," Megatron told them.  Quickstrike and Waspinator left immediately but Megatron had to ask Inferno twice to leave.  Rampage ambled down the corridor to his quarters, deep in thought.

Megatron was planning something, something which required him to be out of the way.  This worked well for Tarantulas so he figured the two were in cahoots.  For some reason they wanted Myst, or at least something from her.  The femme had been vague about what Tarantulas had done to her.  Rampage had seen she'd been sliced open, so the scientist was obviously looking for some internal instrument.

What could Myst possibly have inside her that was so imperative to Megatron's plans?

Rattrap was grimly aware that he'd have to get past his old defence shield.  Sentinel shimmered down over the Darkside, morphing to fit its ugly form.  He mentally cursed Depth Charge for being such a hard-headed klutz. If it weren't for him, he'd not have to contend with this extra headache.  At least his signature blocker hid him from the scanners of the external auto-guns.  Once he defeated sentinel, he was as good as in.

The Maximal transformed to robot mode and hid behind a rock.  There were plenty of hidden cameras around here.  He drew a gun from his left side.  It was no ordinary weapon, however.  It emitted a low frequency sonic pulse that temporarily disabled any electrical device in the area.  After that he'd make a dash to the shield and dig.  He had a window period of two cycles before the cameras reactivated. But the cameras were only half his problem.  If anyone was actually being a good bot and watching the monitors, they'd notice when the feed stopped.  The alarm would be raised and everyone would be on the alert for intruders.

However, being the clever bot he was, Rattrap had planned for that.  With some minor adjustments to the blocker he was now transmitting a Predacon energy signature.  That would throw them for a while and as long as he stayed out of sight, he could do a quick snoop of the base to see what he could find.

Exactly two and a half cycles later, Rattrap was doing just that.

Night had finally descended upon this side of the world and the wind had grown colder.  Myst was perched on the rocky edge of her watch post and was currently wrapping her wings around her for comfort

Two hours had passed since Rampage had entered the Predacon base.  Either this was a very long meeting, or Megatron was detaining him.  Whatever the case she was beginning to get restless.  She was cold and hungry and growing increasingly uneasy.  What was going on in there?

And why did she care so much, she wondered.  Once she got Rampage his spark back, how much could she trust him that he wouldn't harm her?  The crabbot had some obvious violent tendencies.  She didn't have to see him in action to know that.  A number of times she'd sensed aggression from him, although he never acted on it.  It was as if he were constantly battling to contain some primal urge to slag something, whenever he was irritated or angry.

She noticed he was very in tune with terror.  Whenever she was afraid, he had a new alertness in his eyes.  It was a peculiar thing - did he get some sort of kick out of it?  Perhaps she was reading too much into it.  Maybe he was just very aware of that emotion.  After all, he was an empath and he did have an appearance that would strike fear into the sparks of most bots.

She couldn't say she disliked his company, though.  She found him interesting to analyse and he had so far been diligent in protecting her.  She doubted he needed her help so much that he would go to such lengths to look after her.  So there was something else at play here - she just wasn't sure what.

She allowed her eyes to close a little.  Beast mode was most comfortable for her in this position but she found urges like sleep to be more acute when she was in this mode.  It wasn't that she was tired, really; she was just very weary of waiting.  The uncertainty and feeling of constantly being on edge was very draining.

Opening her eyes briefly, she caught sight of a strange formation of birds in the air.  No, they couldn't be birds, not at this time of night.  Bats, maybe?

It was a dark swarm pitted against the starry sky and it was gradually getting closer.  Myst narrowed her eyes and switched to infra-red vision.  She gasped.

Those weren't bats.  Those were---

Before she could react, she felt a number of things crash into her from behind.  Sharp stings and violent jolts of energy coursed through her circuitry.  She turned around, only to see an airborne arachnoid heading straight for her face.  The next thing she knew, she was blinded and overcome by what felt like thirty of the stinging, shocking little robots.  She tried in vain to fight them, to scratch them off her with her claws, but it was no use.  They were smothering her and then she felt herself lose her grip and fall.

She cried out furiously as she felt herself tumbling down.  This was Tarantulas's work, curse him!  She could almost hear him roaring towards her plummeting form in vehicle mode.

The last thought she had before she hit the earth was that Rampage would come for her.

He had to.

Rattrap blasted a rotating passageway camera before it had a chance to focus on him.  He'd been doing this consistently throughout his travels through the Predacon base.  Thanks to Dinobot's detailed description of the Darkside, the Maximals had created a fairly accurate holographic map of the ship's inside.  Rattrap had been here before and so, with the map memorised, he had a fairly clear idea where he was going.  Three places to check: the control room, the laboratory and Megatron's quarters.  If something was going on here, it'd be happening in one of those three rooms.

The sirens were of course blaring and he could hear bots shouting to each other, racing through the corridors looking for him.  Megatron's voice could be heard barking orders.

"Waspinator, get outside and check the perimeter!  Inferno, Rampage, patrol the left wing. Quickstrike, you take the right."

It was only a matter of time before one of those dolts found him.  He'd have to act quickly.  

He turned the corner and immediately back-tracked.  He'd almost stepped in front of Inferno, but the antbot was just turning into the corridor.

"Damn ant," Rattrap cussed.  He glanced upwards.  There was a vent not far from him.  If he was quiet about it, he could sneak through there...

He took out his tail whip and speared the lid of the vent as quietly as he could.  It was fastened tightly.  He applied as much force as he could from the awkward angle he was in and the vent cover strained and broke.  One lone screw came tinkling to the floor and Rattrap heard Inferno's approaching footfalls stop.  There was a tense pause and then he could hear the Predacon breaking into a sprint.

"Slaggit," Rattrap cursed again.  He withdrew his spear, judged the distance and sprang up.  His hands gripped the edge of the vent and he pulled himself up.  Even though he was a small bot, this was a very tight fit.

He scrambled forward on his belly, painfully aware of the clattering he made.  He wasn't planning on moving far in this vent.  Inferno would roast him within minutes.  No, he had a different plan.

He stopped crawling when he came to the next vent lid and felt for his blaster.  He squeezed it up from his side along the the wall of the vent, grimacing as the metal grated.

"I see where you're at, invader!" he heard Inferno's voice waft upwards.  "Prepare to be burrrrned alive!"

"Not if I can help it," Rattrap grunted.  He finally got his blaster in front of him, cocked it to the right, and fired.  The shot blew a hole in the wall which led directly into the laboratory.  Rattrap squirmed as fast as he possibly could, but not before Inferno grazed his shin with two shots.  He gritted his teeth and heaved his upper body out of the vent.  He fell out of the hole and landed, thankfully, on the floor and nothing sharp.  He could still hear Inferno pelting the ventilation shaft with shots.  

Rattrap didn't hesitate to search the room.  He didn't have to search long, though.  He pulled off a cover that was draped over some oddly-shaped object on top of a very large table.  Rattrap stared at it.  It was a mismatch of parts with only one central barrel running down the center.  To him it looked like the possible beginnings of a gun, or some components for a complicated machine.  He frowned.  Was this the big secret?  It didn't look like much at the moment, but that could change.

He reached to take a part but was given a nasty shock from an invisible force field around it.  

"Yowch!  Geez, whatever it is, Megs sure doesn't want anybody touchin' it," Rattrap thought aloud.  His attention was drawn back to Inferno when the ant tried the door.  It was evidently locked.  Rattrap heard Inferno clumsily punching in a code and knew he had to get out of here.

"I guess I could just blow it up."  He looked at it worriedly.  Maybe this wasn't it, maybe he was wasting his time here...

Still, it couldn't hurt to damage a Predacon laboratory, could it?

He glanced around the room and saw nothing more of interest, and so he popped open both his wrist compartments and drew his bombs.  He tossed one at Inferno as the antbot entered and then raced to the hole in the vent that he'd come through.

"Have fun bein' burned alive, ant!" Rattrap called as he braced to leap into the shaft.  Before he jumped, though, he threw his second bomb in the direction of the supposed weapon.  Rattrap was already squirming down the now holey vent when both bombs detonated.  He tore his way out of his entrance hole and landed in a less-than-elegant position on the floor.

"Oi!  My achin' back..."  He sat up and rubbed the area of pain.  That explosion would most certainly have diverted attention to this region of the ship.  He had to get out, pronto.

He transformed to vehicle mode and travelled fast as he could down the passageway.  Quickstrike turned into the passageway as Rattrap was leaving it.  The rat didn't slow down, instead he rammed into the shins of the surprised fuzor and sent him hurtling over him.  Rattrap's wheels screeched as he turned the corner sharply and raced to his destination: an outer wall.  Transforming again in mid air, Rattrap squeezed off several shots and blew a hole into it.  He landed on his stomach, skidded forward and out of the newly created exit and fell several meters to the ground.

*               *            *

In all the turmoil, Megatron had still managed to hear an incoming call from Tarantulas.  He pressed his wrist to his left audio.

"I've obtained the converter.  I'm right near the base, although I can see there's a fuss going on there.  Is now a bad time to deliver it?" the spider asked.

Megatron glanced up at his monitors to see Rattrap speeding off into the distance, a flustered Waspinator chasing after him.

"No, now's as good a time as any.  The cause of the fuss has left," Megatron sighed wearily.  There were five of them in the base and they still couldn't locate the intruder.  A beep sounded from his computer, alerting him of a fire outbreak in the laboratory area.  How annoying.

"Where should I go?  Where have you stored it?" Tarantulas questioned.

Megatron settled back into his chair, watching Rattrap's Predacon signature move away from the ship with mild interest.  As if taunting him, when the rat was out of the danger zone, he switched his signature back to Maximal.  Megatron snorted.

"To the storage hull.  Wait for me there.  I need to clear up this mess before I'm able to start work."

"Fine, Tarantulas out."

Megatron checked his monitors again.  Five Predacon signatures were now present on the grid.  He wasn't sure how Rattrap had gotten in or what he thought he'd achieved by doing so, but it was a clear sign that the Maximals were worried.  They were certain he was up to something and this was their attempt to find out what.  

Megatron had anticipated an infiltration attempt and so the weapon was being constructed in an off-shoot base room, in the storage hull.  It was a well-sealed area and a less likely target for a snoop. He had, however, left some parts for Tarantulas in the laboratory.  Now that was in flames he'd have to replace the promised load with more precious parts.  He had extra, but his supply wouldn't last long if things like this kept happening.

He opened a channel to Waspinator, who still appeared to be hovering around outside the Predacon base. "Waspinator, get inside and help Inferno deal with the fires in the laboratory."

"Yes Megatron."

Megatron told sentinel to stand down, in anticipation of Tarantulas.  He then checked the hallways were clear.  Well, Quickstrike had just hobbled in and dipped his legs into a CR tank, Waspinator was now making his way to put out the fires in the laboratory and Rampage was very obediently still patrolling the left wing.  He'd leave the crab for now. It was better that he was distracted for when Tarantulas made his entrance.

In fact, he very well could have made his entrance already.  The spider was that sneaky.

He opened the link to Waspinator again.  "When you've cleaned up in there, I want you to repair the damages the vermin caused to the rest of the ship.  Only then may you go back to your quarters."

"Yes Megatron."

Megatron was briefly curious as to why Waspinator wasn't complaining, but more important things took centre stage in his mind very quickly.  He got off his chair and made his way to the storage hull.

For the second time in as many days, Myst found herself lying broken on the floor.  Her chest was split open, her circuits were severed and her power converter had been brutally removed.

Rampage had not come for her and she was beginning to suspect he never would.  What good was she now to him, anyway?  Without her converter, she'd slowly become weaker as her body was unable to absorb energon and she'd waste away.  Her current energon stores in her body were being drawn on by her spark, but with the converter missing, the energon was not converted to the right form of energy and her spark kept getting shocked.  This caused her systems to malfunction and gradually short circuit.  In a few days, the damage would become too severe and she would die.

Tarantulas had been quick about it this time.  She was already comatose when he started work on her and by the time she came to, all she could hear was the fading noise of his engines as he sped off.

She stared up at the stars, breathing steadily.  The pain was immense and she kept twitching with the first signs of system corruption, but she was strangely calm. This was it.  This was how it ended.  For all her efforts to stay free from restraints like factions and allies, she'd still managed to get herself caught up with the Predacons.  If she had just joined the Maximals, even on a temporary basis, she was sure that she wouldn't be in this position right now.

Well, she had made her choice and this was the outcome.  There was no point in dwelling on it.

So she closed her eyes and hoped for sleep to take her again while she lay on the hard barren earth, dying.