Article 2259 of alt.toys.transformers.fanfic: Path: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu!usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!ev322 From: ev322@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Suzanne M. Ferree) Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers.fanfic Subject: [Fanfic] Twins and Tales pt. 7 Date: 30 Aug 1999 16:13:28 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Lines: 522 Message-ID: <7qeaj8$pqe$1@pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu> Reply-To: ev322@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Suzanne M. Ferree) NNTP-Posting-Host: owl.ins.cwru.edu Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu alt.toys.transformers.fanfic:2259 |sf>In the last part, I forgot to mention that Safari & Rivet were also my characters. Oh well. It's not like anyone is reading them on here anyway. :P Disclaimer: The names & characters of Thundercracker, Skywarp, Blast Off, Swindle, Megatron, Dirge, Insecticons, Starscream, Galvatron, Cyclonus, the Sweeps, Scourge, Perceptor, Deluge, Shockwave, Soundwave, Autobot, Decepticon, Cybertron, Jetstorm, Vector Sigma, Constructicons, Transformers, and anyone or any other place mentioned that I've forgotten or overlooked are copywrite Hasbro (and/or Sunbow). Scorpia's name is copywrite Takara (Scorpia didn't have a tech spec, so I hope they don't mind me making up my own interpretations). Rosestar, Cloudscape, Flamethrower, Edge, and Yell (Plus, the character of the ghost, whose name I'm not going to reveal in this part.) are my characters, but I've lent one or two out when people have asked permission. I also made up planet Thane & that Ghostbury portal thing (not that I really care about the latter). I'm not charging/making money off this & no one else should charge/make money off of this story. If you like/hate anything in the story (or even if you're non-emotional like Shockwave & just want to reply w/ your interpretations), *please* e-mail them to one of my accounts (preferably not the Juno one--I like to save comments & Juno's save functions are rather lame.). Go to http://www.cyberspace.org/~suz/fanfic.html or http://members.tripod.com/~Safari/tnt.html for the older parts. Collect them all to make a whole story! ;) Twins and Tales part 7 *************************************************************************** (While Rosestar waits in front of her control panel for the action to start, Cloudscape walks in.) Cloudscape: There you are. I've been looking all over for any sign of life in this place. Where are Thundercracker & Skywarp? Rosestar: You've returned at a bad time. There's going to be an entrapment at any minute. How did you get back? Cloudscape: Blast Off dropped us here. See, Swindle planned to come here anyway, so I joined him. He's at one of the guest buildings taking a break. Are TC and Sky helping w/ the entrapment? Is *that* why they aren't here right now? Rosestar: I... I swear I didn't know about it until I arrived here on Thane. Cloudscape: It? What happened? Did something happen to them? Is it that bad? (Rosestar nods.) Rosestar: Do you remember hearing Starscream's coronation on that scratchy reception I picked up? Cloudscape: Even though Starscream was my least favorite brother, it doesn't mean I could forget his death... Rosestar: Starscream's... elimination of Megatron cost us another price. While Starscream went after Megatron to toss him out, Dirge spaced Thundercracker and Skywarp. Cloudscape: Well, at least the female Insecticons... (Rosestar shakes her head.) Cloudscape: Someone spaced the Insecticon leaders too?!? We came back here for nothing? Rosestar: Well, somehow Starscream is alive again. Cloudscape: That might be a good thing for you, but the female Insecticons made up a great portion of our crew. They even rebuilt themselves into Earth insects using the information from Starscream's transmissions. You know that the group will want to pay tribute to their fallen leaders. They probably could care less about Starscream. Rosestar: I know, but I don't want them to know about the deaths yet. Besides, I'm sure that the rest of the scientists could use some help on this plan. They're at the local portal. Be sure to hide if you see our victims. Cloudscape: Thanks, I will. ------------------------------------------------------------ (Later at sector 17, Galvatron, Cyclonus and the Sweeps arrive.) Flamethrower: As you can see Galvatron, this portal emits the same signal as the tracer I placed on Octane's back. Galvatron: ...And this little *toy scorpion* found the one secret that all my useless guards have been missing these past attempts? (Scorpia's eye starts to glow darker red. Flamethrower picks up Scorpia & scratches around her scorpion neck. Scorpia's eye color starts to return to normal as she relaxes.) Scourge: I don't trust this. I could have sworn we've looked in this sector of space already. Galvatron: Maybe you're just trying to make up *excuses* for your *incompetence*! Sweep 1: Scourge might be right--this area *does* look a little familiar. Maybe we should turn back... Galvatron: Cowards! You're all cowards! Fine, you Sweeps can guard this side of the portal, but don't think I'll forget this--ever! (Flamethrower drops Scorpia.) Cyclonus: Mighty Galvatron, the Sweeps are cowards, but they worry about your safety. We should stick together, in case this is an ambush. Galvatron: You're right. Flamethrower, since you've been here before, you lead the way. (Flamethrower, Galvatron, Scourge, 3 Sweeps, and Cyclonus enter the portal and arrive near Thane.) Flamethrower (raising her right hand to point out the landscape): Most of these buildings appear to be rusted shut or buried in sand, but I noticed one over there had a hinged door. That's when I returned through the portal and called. Cyclonus: Hmmm, some of the buildings remind me of old ones on Cybertron. Flamethrower: Here it is! I didn't explore it because no one but Scorpia knew where I was. Cyclonus: The Sweeps should wait outside. Galvatron: Agreed. (Flamethrower, Cyclonus, Galvatron, and Scourge enter the room from the west, to find a simple rectangular room. Along the dark south wall stands a long mirror, protected by reinforced glass. A huge cylindrical cell reminiscent of a Transformer-sized telephone booth lies in the eastern corner w/ its door open. Flamethrower walks over to the booth and bends over to the ground inside of it.) Flamethrower: Look at this. It almost looks like... (*slam* The massive door shuts, pushing her inside the cell.) Flamethrower (pounding on container walls): Galvatron! (Galvatron transforms into cannon mode as the Sweeps scurry inside the building. Galvatron tries to blast through the tube.) Cyclonus: Don't! (Flamethrower backs away from the western side.) (Galvatron fires, but the cell absorbs the blast. *slam* The outside door to the room shuts as Flamethrower resumes her pounding on the inner walls of the container.) Scourge: We've got to do something! (Lightning-like jolts start to shock Flamethrower, as Flamethrower feigns a fall to the ground.) Sweep 2: Now what? (Suddenly, bright light beams illuminate the ceiling.) Sweep 1: You *had* to ask. (The beams gush through everyone in the room, except the captured Flamethrower. The light pillars stream through them for about ten seconds.) Galvatron: No! (Galvatron struggles into cannon mode and fires at the entrance to the room. A hole materializes through the entrance. A voice awakens over the intercom.) Galvatron: Per...Perceptor? Recording--Pressure imbalance has caused a destabilization in the coaxial underdrive. Self-destruct sequence of the torture chamber has commenced. (Flamethrower stands up & tries to bash the cell's door again.) Recording--Releasing locking mechanism. (Flamethrower falls out as the door unlocks. One of the Sweeps offers to help her up.) Flamethrower: I'm ok. Help get Galvatron out of here before this place explodes! (Galvatron stands up and limps.) Galvatron: I can stand on my own! (As wires start dropping from the ceiling and flames ignite, the Decepticons leave the chamber.) Cyclonus: Is anyone damaged? Galvatron (weakly): They've stolen... *it*. Flamethrower: Stolen what? Galvatron: They've taken a *piece* of me. Sweep 1: But all we saw were light beams and... (Galvatron grabs Sweep 1's head.) Galvatron: Are... are you *contradicting* me? Sweep 1: Never. Cyclonus: We must return to the portal for repairs. I'll handle Galvatron. Leave. Sweep 2: You don't have to tell *me* twice! (The Sweeps and Scourge enter the portal and leave.) Galvatron: Flamethrower, leave... a marker. Flamethrower: A what? Cyclonus: He means he wants us to return after repairs. Flamethrower: But the area is rubble now. We won't be able to find anything. Cyclonus: I don't care. Look what they've done to Galvatron. We must make them pay. Flamethrower: Very well. (Flamethrower leaves a tracer on the Thane portal before the three of them enter the portal. Soon Edge pries the tracer off and crushes it in his right hand.) Edge: There, now we've got to quickly close this side of the portal. Deluge: Yeah, yeah, I know. You'd think with all our so-called "scientists" around here, I might get a *break* every once in a while... (Cloudscape arrives.) Cloudscape: I heard there's a plan in action. Could you use an extra hand? Deluge: It's about time someone *useful* returned! Thanks for the offer. Just hold this yellow wire right here, while I make the adjustments. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ (Sometime later from within the confines of the machine, a familiar spirit of the past looms in the dark surroundings. Megatron sees his silvery self but as if floating in a sea of black ink.) Megatron: Where in the name of Cybertron am I?!?!? (shouts) Shockwave!!! Soundwave!! Report. (pause) I demand a reply immediately! Blast! Anyone here? Am I one with the oblivion? (From all directions at once, voices awaken.) [voice] Rosestar: Oblivion? That's *Megatron's* word. [v] Cloudscape (excited): If he's Megatron, then are the others Thundercracker and... [v] Starscream: Shh. This is going to be fun. Megatron: NO! How can this be! Rosestar, could you have survived the millennia? Starscream, you *must* be destroyed! I saw it! I felt the power. Was Galvatron just a dream? [v] Starscream: Of course Galvatron was a dream! Don't you remember? We won the war and forced the Autobots to build your palace on Cybertron. Soundwave and Shockwave oversee the slaves. Rosestar and I are your official palace guards--that is, until we overthrow you someday. Autobot slaves are carrying energon cubes on platters as Optimus Prime's decapitated head stares at your glorious regime. (Rosestar echoing laugh surrounds Megatron like a forcefield.) Megatron: Stop patronizing me, Starscream! Give me the truth. Are we destroyed? [v] Rosestar: Sometimes I think we'd all be better off if we *were* destroyed. [v] Starscream: *Ex*-leader, you don't really want the truth. It's worse than you could ever imagine. Megatron: Ex-leader? Bah! You've taken over again, haven't you! Restore my optical arrays and my other functions and I'll *show* you how much of an ex-leader I am! I'd crush you in any equal fight and you know it! [v] Starscream: Crushing *me* won't reactivate your circuits, *nor* will it regain your lost leadership! If you want your leadership back, you'll have to win against yourself! Megatron: What?!? [v] Starscream: Galvatron has the Decepticon throne, not *you*. Megatron: Galvatron?!? I am... was... Starscream, what have you done to me?!?!? [v] Starscream: As you might remember, Galvatron has been unstable lately. Your mind and what you could call "Galvatron's mind" have been fighting for control of his body. To make things worse Galvatron's mind has been deteriorating. It's like two Decepticons fighting over an exploding planet. [v] Rosestar: Actually, we captured you by accident. Galvatron has been driving the Decepticon Empire into the ground and several factions have appeared. Before you know it, there won't be any Decepticon Empire left. Starscream, I tell you what. I have a feeling that he's not interested in our *generous* offer... so much for resurrecting the famous reign of Megatron! Let's just end the old 'con legend for good. It's better to remember him the way he was. Turn him off. Megatron: No! Starscream, I made you my Air Commander. That *must* mean something to you. Rosestar, your rank is hardly meager. Cloudscape, talk! At least *you* hold no grudge against me. Someone has to speak up for me! Soundwave? Someone, defend the truth! [v] Cloudscape: Soundwave and Shockwave aren't here. Sorry. Megatron: Think for yourself, Cloudscape. Tell them to free me! [v] Flamethrower: At one time, I would spoken up for you, Megatron. Megatron: Flamethrower! Thank Cybertron! Shockwave would still want you to do that. For the sake of the Decepticons, I must remain and be restored! It's the only way we can ever win! [v] Flamethrower: However, that was before I returned to find Shockwave missing! I've seen no trace of his whereabouts. He's been one of your loyal seconds-in-command for almost as long as I've been functioning. He held Cybertron together when you couldn't & when *you* were deactivated. Without him, you have no right to rule... or function. Megatron: Wait! Unicron damaged Cybertron and jeopardized Shockwave. I had no control over that. [v] Flamethrower: Did you ever search for him? Did you ever try to signal him? Megatron: I could only control Galvatron's body for brief glimpses. Each moment took almost all my strength to crush his will and take over. I never had enough access time to attempt a contact. [v] Flamethrower: For Shockwave's sake, I wish I could believe you. Megatron: You can. Your rank... [v] Flamethrower: You could promote me to second-in-command or demote me to "chief of the retrorats." I care *nothing* for rank. I obey Shockwave and only Shockwave. When Shockwave obeys you, then *I* obey you. When you betray him, you also betray me. Although Shockwave wouldn't find logic in revenge, I am NOT Shockwave. If he's been destroyed, I hardly see why we should resurrect you as a reward. Megatron: Shockwave has survived for millions of years. A mere hand scraping across Cybertron couldn't have killed him. Rebuild me again and I'll find him if he functions. [v] Flamethrower: If??? Megatron: I'll find him *where* he functions. [v] Rosestar: It doesn't work that way here. You can't just promise *one* of us to free you. You need half of us to approve it--and you'll *never* get half. Megatron: Half? Who do I have to choose from? [v] Rosestar: It's no use; you should just give up now. We've got myself, Starscream, Cloudscape, Jetstorm, Deluge, Flamethrower, Yell, Edge... Perceptor? You're not supposed to be here... I mean, you haven't been here in eons... How long have *you* been listening? [v] Perceptor: I've overheard your lively discussion with the remnants of Megatron's psychological essence, if that's what you're inquiring. I find this entire incident to be most intriguing. From a purely scientific standpoint, the idea of separating one specific frequency of psychological data from another is just astounding. Megatron: I refuse to be treated like a science experiment! [v] Perceptor: On the contrary Megatron. I doubt in all likelihood that you'd recommend disagreeing with my assertion that we revive you, if for no other purpose than to satisfy a curiosity over whether or not the task could be accomplished, and perhaps we could, at the same time, investigate the possibility of widespread applications on the principal, such as temporary suspended animation for battlefield casualties and... [v] Rosestar: Let me get this straight. You, an Autobot, want us to revive *the* Megatron, in the name of science?!? [v] Starscream: Ah! I see. Then if we loose him, we've only lost *Megatron* and not someone important. Megatron: Starscream! [v] Rosestar: Don't take it so personally, Megatron. We've all got to explode sometime. [v] Cloudscape: If it works, couldn't we revive Thundercracker and Skywarp in the same way? [v] Perceptor: If this works, the applications could be limitless. [v] Starscream: Can we restore his pain circuitry first? [v] Rosestar (laughs): We might. I can't believe you said that! We have to vote on it first. Oh, the possibilities! [v] Starscream: Provided we agree on this, what will we do if it works? *That's* the troublesome part. You don't think we can actually *trust* him around here, do you? [v] Rosestar: Well, we could exclude him from headquarters, but still give him access to the other facilities. [v] Starscream: Limited access. I'm not sure if I can even trust him w/ *that* much. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ (After a duration of silence, Megatron hears a returning voice from outside but in a more quiet and cautious tone than her previous approach.) [v] Flamethrower: Megatron? Soundwave sent me. The others don't trust me yet, so I needed to be more harsh than normally. Megatron: I don't agree with what you've done, but I understand now. Continue. [v] Flamethrower: I knew how much these scientists hate Galvatron, so I guessed that someone here would experiment with a dial, causing your release. Megatron (chuckles): That sounded like a long-shot risk. I'm sure Shockwave wouldn't have approved. [v] Flamethrower: True. In part my malfunction is due to a female Autobot prisoner who short-circuited some of my logical conditioning. Megatron: Not to mention Vector Sigma... [v] Flamethrower (sighs): Don't remind me. If only it had made me as emotionless as Shockwave had wanted me to be, I wouldn't have to worry about the temptation. Megatron: What's the plan now? [v] Flamethrower: I need to convince at least half of the members to vote for you, which won't be easy. Before Galvatron came along, this place used to double as an anti-Megatron club. However, when you were in charge, those here simply grumbled. Luckily, they genuinely detest Galvatron, and now look fondly upon the years of your reign. Megatron: What are Soundwave's plans? [v] Flamethrower: Basically, he said that if I rescue you, he won't stop me. I know that at its core, it means he wants you rescued, but I'm not sure if there's another meaning. (Megatron laughs) Megatron: Since you've freed me from Galvatron, Soundwave will be willing to help behind the scenes, but he can't leave Galvatron or take any other public action until I have my body and full powers. For instance, he might help to convince the Constructicons to rebuild another copy of my body, but he couldn't leave to help work on it. [v] Flamethrower: Understood. first thing is first. I'll start the attempts to convince the members and report any progress later. Flamethrower out. Megatron: At least there's finally some *hope* to this mess. (A new female voice springs to life, but this one doesn't surround Megatron. Instead, it comes from within his void.) voice: Hope? Don't count on it! I'm going to do everything *I* can so that you're *not* revived. Megatron: Your voice sounds so familar. Why is it coming from in here and not all around? the female voice: I *better* sound familar--I'm the ghost that *you* created! /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ -- Suzanne Ferree | "Swinging Safari" & "Eternal Flame" E-mail: ev322@cleveland.Freenet.Edu | aka: Safari@TF1 & or: suz@grex.cyberspace.org | aka: ex-Flamethrower@2005 or: safari6@juno.com | http://www.cyberspace.org/~suz/beta.html