Transformers
Robots in Disguise

105 - Fusion

by Mike Watson

	Midnight Express looked up at the night sky.  This planet was funny like that.  You 
could only see stars at certain times.  The rest of the time you saw only one star, so very 
bright and very close.  Cybertron wasn't like that.  The techno-organic life on it did not 
live on sunlight, but had adapted somehow for starlight.  The stuff grew like wildfire too.  
Crazy Cybertron.
	Earth on the other hand, Earth had completely organic life on it.  It needed the sunlight.  
That was what gave it the great and unique character it had.  It was really quite a beautiful 
planet if you stopped to look, which he knew most hadn't.  Too busy with the whole war thing.  
Such is life, Midnight Express concluded.
	"Hey, quit yer slackin' and make with the searchin'!" Rapid Run shouted at Midnight 
Express, snapping him out of his trance.  "We gotta get us some energon to bring back to 
the home base."
	Midnight Express stared at Rapid Run for a second with a curious look on his face.  How 
in Primus had he gotten that accent they would never know.  One of the great mysteries of 
the Matrix was what it was.  That or a bad joke on Rapid Run's part.
	"Yeah, well, I haven't found much over here," Midnight Express said quietly.
	"Well then, move yer skid plate to another spot, chief," Rapid Run said, somewhat annoyed.  
"We need to get back to base in a megacycle, so move it!"
	"Right, right," Midnight Express said, annoyed.  He reactivated his energon scanner and 
went back to looking at the boring ground, turning his back on Rapid Run.
	Rapid Run did the same, muttering to himself, "That boy ain't right, I'll tell ya."  
Just then his scanner let out a series of beeps.  He'd found something!  "Hoowee, boy!  I 
found some energon!" he yelled, clearly excited.  "Help me dig it out!"
	Midnight Express ran over to where Rapid Run was and they both started to dig up the earth 
until the energon was exposed.  They were cubes!  Not raw crystal like what they had found 
before!  It was usable energon!
	"Nice find, Rapid Run, this makes the search worthwhile!" Midnight Express said happily.
	"Ahh, such a shame we have to take it from you," Megatron's voice stung their ears.
	Rapid Run and Midnight Express both quickly looked towards the source of the voice.  Megatron 
in robot mode and Bruticus in beast mode were standing not fifteen yards away from them.  
Rapid Run quickly drew his weapon, ready for battle.  Midnight Express, who had been kneeling, 
stood up and did the same, except he was pounced on by Bruticus, causing him to fall flat on 
his back, the snarling demon dog standing on his chest, growling in his face.
	Megatron took this opportunity to strike.  While Rapid Run was distracted by the quickness 
of Bruticus, Megatron jumped over towards him and fired some laserfire at him.  Rapid Run, 
however, became very aware of the danger and quickly blocked the fire with his shield, though 
he didn't have the proper footing, causing him to fall backwards as well.
	Megatron then put his foot on Rapid Run, who quickly flipped his shield in the way so Megatron 
ended up putting his foot on the shield.  Rapid Run then quickly, with all his strength, 
pushed up on the shield, causing Megatron to lose his balance and fall as well.
	Meanwhile Bruticus was attempting to savagely bite Midnight Express' head off, with Midnight 
Express having limited success holding Bruticus back by his central head.  Bruticus barked 
repeatedly, causing spittle to land on Midnight Express' face.
	"Man, that's not cool at all," Midnight Express said.  He then, with a sudden burst of 
strength, managed to push Bruticus off him and stand up.
	"Bruticus, terrorize!" Bruticus snarled, then transformed.  "I will tear you apart, 
Autobot!"
	"You've gotta catch me first, ugly," Midnight Express quipped.  He fired his weapon at 
Bruticus, who easily dodged it.
	"That the best you've got?" he snarled.
	By this time Midnight Express was pretty annoyed by this stupid Predacon.  "Listen, buddy, 
I've just about had it with you!" he yelled angrily.
	Bruticus found this particularly amusing as he took a small step back and smirked.  "Fool, 
your complaints will be the end of you!"
	"Oh yeah?" Midnight Express said.  "Transform!"  With that he transformed into his train 
mode and charged Bruticus.  However, rather than move as Midnight Express had expected, Bruticus 
stood his ground and braced himself.  Midnight Express hit him and full speed, but Bruticus 
grabbed onto the front of his train mode and dug his feet into the ground, causing them both 
to stop after tearing up the earth a bit.  He then dug his claws into the sides of Midnight 
Express and spun him around a bit, flipping the train over.
	"Your resistance is futile, Autobot, give up the energon!" Megatron commanded Rapid Run.
	"Heck no, varmint!" Rapid Run yelled back.  "I'd rather give you a big kiss, ugly!"
	"That will cost you dearly, Autobot," Megatron said coldly.  He charged Rapid Run, his 
staff extended.  However, before he got to Rapid Run he split it in two, giving himself twin 
swords.  He attempted to strike Rapid Run repeatedly, but each time Rapid Run blocked the blow 
with his shield.  It was almost as if he knew Megatron's next move before he made it.
	"Curse you!" Megatron yelled in anger.  He then reattached the swords and drove it into 
Rapid Run's shield as hard as he possibly could.  It worked and the blade punctured the shield 
and slashed Rapid Run.  Rapid Run staggered back from the unexpected attack and Megatron 
continued to advance.
	"Midnight, I could use yer help, buddy," Rapid Run said, nearly helpless.
	"I'm a bit busy at the moment," Midnight Express said.  He was currently engaged with 
Bruticus.  The Predacon was taking swipes and stabs at him with his dagger which Midnight 
Express either dodged or blocked with his arm, causing damage and pain, but not as much as if 
it hit him in a more vital spot.
	Megatron slowly walked over to Rapid Run and pushed him down.  Rapid Run was now flat on his 
back with Megatron towering over him.  Megatron grabbed Rapid Run and lifted him up to his 
level, his face only inches from the Predacon general.
	"You lose, Autobot," he said, putting his hand on Rapid Run's head, ready to twist it off 
with a single swift move.
	"Not today, ugly," Rapid Run whispered.  He fired his shield rocket which caused Megatron 
to fly backwards and land a good twenty yards away.  When he staggered to a stand there was some 
very noticeable damage on his upper body.
	Bruticus, still fighting with Midnight Express, looked over at his injured leader.
"Megatron!" he yelled in near horror.  He looked quickly at Midnight Express, then yelled 
"Transform!" and returned to beast mode.  He then ran over to Megatron and the two staggered 
away.  Midnight Express and Rapid Run, both injured themselves, were in no condition to chase 
after them.
	"Yeah, that's right, slagheap!" Rapid Run yelled at the retreating Predacons.  "And next 
time you won't leave in one piece!"
	Midnight Express walked over the his comrade and noticed the gash on his chest.  "Oh jeeze, 
buddy, you hurt?"
	Rapid Run looked down at his wound, running his finger along the outside of it.  "Yeah, 
I'll manage," he said, looking at the large number of stab wounds on Midnight Express' arms.  
"How about you, pal?"
	"Nothing a few cycles in the CR chamber can't fix," he said.  "Come on, let's grab those 
energon cubes and head back to base."
	"You get no objections from me, kid," Rapid Run said.  "None at all."
	
										* * * * * *

	Back in the Vertigo Megatron emerged from the CR chamber.  He looked down at his chest, 
where the damage had been a few megacycles ago.  Nothing.  Amazing things, these chambers.  
They kept many transformers alive for many years.  Along with stasis lock, it made it very 
hard to kill another Transformer.  He would find a way though.  He always found a way.
	During the great war, after the Maximals had been destroyed by their own kind, the alliance 
had struck, and struck hard.  They took out a lot of Autobot forces.  The first few stellar-cycles 
of war had been the Predacons and Decepticons most triumphant.  And Megatron capped it all off 
by destroying the leader of the Autobots.
	Strange how he was an Autobot, since he was reformatted.  Silverbolt, warrior and soldier 
from the Beast Wars and Spark Wars.  He fully accepted Primal's insane visions and the Maximal 
way of life.  However, during the civil war between Maximal and Autobot, his wife, Blackarachnia, 
was killed.  At first Silverbolt thought the Autobots had done it, but soon after he found that 
she and a large group of Maximals had committed mass suicide.
	The supposed Oracle, now speaking through another member of the Beast Wars, Cheetor, had 
instructed him to do so.  That was what he said before he was killed by Silverbolt himself.  
Ah, love can do strange things to ones mind.  Even so much as to kill someone who fought 
bravely on your side in two wars.  Silverbolt then joined the Autobots and became the general 
of their army as he was the one with the most experience.  Him killing his long time friend 
was proof enough for the Autobots that he was on their side.
	And indeed he was.  After two stellar-cycles of the Autobots fighting an uphill battle, 
Silverbolt led them to a near victory.  He killed many high powered Predacon and Decepticon 
generals, but he was no match for the mighty Megatron.  No.
	However, it appeared that Rapid Run, the one who had damaged him, was a match.  This was 
an interesting development to say the least.  Sometimes defeat angers a warrior so that they 
are overcome with emotion the next time they battle.  This however, this could be used to his 
advantage.  Megatron clicked on his communicator.
	"Dark Scream, find Bruticus, Scourge and Sky Byte and have them all report to my quarters 
along with yourself," Megatron said.  "I have a plan."
	"Yes Megatron, sir," Dark Scream responded over the commlink.
	"Megatron out," Megatron said, clicking on the communicator again.  He looked out a small 
port in the room; the sun was just beginning to rise.  Today would be a good day.

										* * * * * *
										
	"I still don't see why we need all three of us out here tonight," Midnight Express objected.
	"Well, them Predders nearly got the best of us, hombre," Rapid Run said.  "The big cheese 
is just being careful."
	"But still-" Midnight Express started to say.
	"But nothing, Optimus is right, we need to be more careful with Megatron and his goons 
around," Rail Spike cut him off.
	"I know, but do we really need three of us to gather energon?" Midnight Express said.  
"It'd be quicker with less."
	"Yeah, and Megatron would overpower ya quicker too, kid," Rapid Run noted.
	Midnight Express decided it was futile and went back to scanning.  The scanners Sideburn 
had built were very handy, but they detected energon in all its forms, including the unstable, 
and unusable, crystal form.  If only there was a way for it to distinguish between the two 
types, then the searching would go a lot quicker.  Light bulb!  Midnight Express sat on the 
ground and opened up the scanner, tinkering with the inner workings.
	Rail Spike looked over at Midnight Express.  Fooling around again.  Ah well, let the kid 
have his fun, right?  He wasn't on this planet by choice.  Not that any of them were, but 
Midnight Express had youth on his side, so it was overlooked.
	Of course the concept of youth and old age for protoforms was a strange one.  It was 
possibly left over programming from their previous states on Cybertron.  The large majority 
of Decepticon protoforms were not original, but in fact volunteers.  Well, forced volunteers.  
Either way they knew nothing of their original states, as if they had ever existed.
	Just then a large explosion echoed, and Rail Spike was flung backwards.  He stood up, 
smoldering and disoriented, to see the grinning face of Sky Byte, flanked by Scourge, Bruticus 
and Dark Scream.
	"What in the Matrix do you want?" Rail Spike said, quite annoyed.
	"You are not what we came for, Autobot," Sky Byte said.  He then fired another rocket 
into Rail Spike who was tossed another few yards by the blast, but this time he did not get 
up.
	"Rail Spike!" Midnight Express yelled.  "Slagging Preds!"  He quickly drew his weapon, 
and aimed it at Sky Byte.  However, before he could fire he was swatted by Scourge, who he did 
not even notice approach him, causing him to fire straight up in the air before falling down.
	"I am NOT a Pred," Scourge growled.
	"Dang varmints!" Rapid Run yelled.  "I'll slag every last one of ya!"  He drew his weapon 
and charged in the general direction of all the Predacons, though he had no real plan, he knew 
he had to help out his fellow Autobots.
	"I don't think so, Autobot," Bruticus, the only one not in robot mode, growled.  He quickly 
jumped, landing on Rapid Run's shield.  Rapid Run quickly dropped his shield, and punched 
Bruticus in the center of his three heads.  Bruticus stumbled backwards, surprised by not only 
getting hit so quickly, but by the power behind it.
	"That's right, ya ugly three headed thing," Rapid Run gloated.  "I'm gonna tear you a new 
one!"  He ran towards the stunned Bruticus, but was grabbed from the sides by Sky Byte and 
Scourge, who easily overpowered him, slamming him backwards into the ground.  Rapid Run 
struggled to free himself, but the two were too strong for him to overpower them.
	Sky Byte looked up at Dark Scream, who hadn't moved from his original position, watching 
the battle the entire time.  "Dark Scream, do it," he commanded.
	Dark Scream walked over to the struggling Autobot with some equipment in his hand.  "Hold 
still, Autobot, this won't hurt," he said with an evil grin on his face.  "Much."
	"What in the heck is that thing, ya ugly?" Rapid Run yelled, a slight trace of fear in 
his voice.
	"We're just going to alter your programming," Dark Scream said as he configured a few 
settings on the device.  "This will override your Autobot shell program," he paused.  "You'll 
be on our side."
	"Great, just what I want, to be a smelly Pred," Rapid Run said.
	"Actually, you'll be a Decepticon," Scourge corrected him.
	Rapid Run looked up at Scourge with some slight amusement.  "Like that's any frickin' 
better, ya big stupid!"
	"Quiet, fool!" Scourge yelled in anger, raising his hand to strike.  However, before he 
could, Sky Byte blocked his hand.
	"We need him functional," Sky Byte said curtly.
	"Now, say good-bye to the Autobot way of life," Dark Scream said.  He lowered the device 
onto Rapid Run's head.  It was a fairly small cylinder which sat on top of the head of its 
host.  Once attached, four small jointed legs came out of the sides, each tipped with a needle.  
The needles punctured Rapid Run's head, sending out electrical and magnetic signals which 
would override, but not erase, the Autobot shell.
	Rapid Run's eyes began to flash wildly, and he suddenly tensed up, and then went limp.  
From Rapid Run's perspective, everything went black.

										* * * * * *
										
	"How do you feel?"
	It was Dark Scream's voice.  Dark Scream.  What in tarnation was going on here?!  Rapid 
Run opened his eyes.  "What do you want, varmint?"
	"Did it work?" another one asked.  Sky Byte, that was his name.
	"I don't know," Dark Scream responded.  The to Rapid Run he said, "What is your allegiance, 
Rapid Run?"
	Rapid Run rubbed his head.  Four were standing over him.  Two of them, Bruticus and Scourge 
had their guns aimed at him.  Great.
	"M-my allegiance?" he said, confused.
	"Yes," Dark Scream said calmly.  "Are you Decepticon or Autobot?"
	The words hit something inside him.  "Autobots?" Suddenly Rapid Run snapped to attention.  
"I hate them dang Autobots!" he exclaimed.  "I'd like to kick all their kiesters!"
	Scourge and Bruticus lowered their weapons with some relief.
	"Then you shall get your chance, friend," Scourge said.  He motioned at Rail Spike and 
Midnight Express, unconscious, laying on the ground.  "Destroy them to prove yourself, Rapid 
Run."
	Rapid Run looked at the unconscious Autobots.  Something about them was familiar.  He 
knew who they were, but, there was something else.  What in the heck was it?
	"Why do you hesitate, Autobot?!" Sky Byte said, angry.
	"Autobot?" Rapid Run said, looking at Sky Byte.
	Sky Byte suddenly realized his error, but was unable to say anything.
	"He meant, why do you hesitate to destroy the Autobots?" Dark Scream, ever the quick 
thinker, said.
	"No reason," Rapid Run said, looking suspiciously at Dark Scream, then at Sky Byte.  He 
turned towards the two Autobots.  Midnight Express was starting to stir.  He looked up at 
Rapid Run.
	"Buddy?" he said weakly.
	Why was this Autobot, this stinking Autobot, calling him buddy?  "Quiet, ya varmint!" Rapid 
Run yelled.  "I'll slag you from here to next Tuesday!"  He walked over to Midnight Express, 
picking up his weapon on the way over.  In a matter of seconds he was over Midnight Express, 
ready to destroy him.  "Say good-bye, Autobutt!"
	"Good bye," a voice came from the right.  He quickly looked to see Rail Spike, injured, 
but functioning, his weapon trained on Rapid Run.  Rail Spike took a small breath, and fired 
his weapon.  The force of the seismic ray caused Rapid Run to short out and fly backwards a 
good twenty yards.  "Forgive me, my friend," Rail Spike whispered, falling to his knees in 
pain.
	"No!  Grah!!" Sky Byte yelled in anger.  How foolish of them to simply stand idly by.  They 
should have kept watch on the other Autobot.  This plan clearly had its flaws.
	"Destroy them all," Sky Byte commanded.  The others looked at him in surprise.
	"Rapid Run too?" Scourge said.
	"Yes, we are aborting this mission," Sky Byte said coldly.  "Objections?" he said, addressing 
all, but looking directly at Scourge.
	"No," Scourge said, anger in his voice.  "Sir."
	"Remove the device, Dark Scream," Sky Byte ordered.
	Dark Scream walked over to Rapid Run's still body.  He pressed a button on the device 
which caused the needles to retract.  He pulled the device off Rapid Run's head, then quickly 
ran back to the group of his allies.
	"Now," Sky Byte said, raising his weapon at Rapid Run.  "It ends."
	"Nooo!" Rail Spike yelled.  He fired a small blast at Sky Byte, causing no damage, though 
Sky Byte lost his balance and stumbled a little.
	At this time Rapid Run suddenly woke up with a loud scream.  He looked around at the 
group of Predacons, then at Rail Spike and Midnight Express.  He remembered everything.  What 
had he done?
	Rail Spike stood, still injured, but very prepared to fight for his own life and the lives 
of his fellow Autobots.  "It's not over yet, Predacon," he said, his eyes flaring up.  Suddenly 
he felt a surge overcome his body.  He was re-energized somehow.
	At the same time both Midnight Express and Rapid Run felt the same surge.  They both ran over 
to their comrade, weapons drawn.  Then, seemingly all at once, something amazing happened.  All 
three suddenly felt as if they were one.  They were all aware of each others thoughts and actions.  
It was if their very sparks had combined.  Then, at the same time, each one underwent a 
transformation sequence.  However, instead of going into vehicle mode, they transformed into 
different parts of what appeared to be a larger transformer.  The three parts then joined 
each other, forming a new Transformer who was taller than all others present.
	"Howdy, folks.  I'm Rail Racer," the new figure said, his voice a combination of the three 
trains.  "I believe you were about attempt to harm me, so I figured I'd return the favor," he 
said coolly.  "Let's go."  He aimed his weapon at the four of them who were all very shocked.
	"What in the name of Unicron just happened?!" Sky Byte yelled, much fear in his voice.
	"Your worst nightmare, pal," Rail Racer said, grinning.  With that he smashed his hand into 
Sky Byte, tearing off his arm and doing considerable damage to the area around it.  Sky Byte 
fell backwards in pain, clutching where his arm used to be with his other arm.
	Dark Scream looked at the massive damage this newcomer had caused to Sky Byte.  All with a 
single blow.  The sheer power.  It would not be wise to stick around.  He looked over at Scourge 
and Bruticus who apparently had the same thought.  They quickly grabbed Sky Byte, now in stasis 
lock, put him on top of Scourge's trailer, and left the scene as quickly as possible.
	Rail Racer did not pursue.  He knew he wouldn't be around for much longer.  This fusion 
was an unstable one, he could tell.  He would not hold together much longer.  He dropped to one 
knee, let out a grunt, and fell into three pieces.
	The three pieces transformed back into their dazed counterparts.  They all looked at each 
other, each with a look of complete surprise on their faces.  Rapid Run spoke first.
	"What in tarnation was that?!" he said.
	"We-" Rail Spike stopped as he searched for the right word.  "Fused?"
	"That's what it felt like," Midnight Express said, looking at his shoulder.  There was a 
slight hint of a burn mark there.
	Rail Spike looked up at sky.  "I think we need to get back to base," he finally said.
	"I'm for that," Rapid Run said.  "All this crazy stuff is makin' my brain hurt."
	"Yeah, this planet has that quality about it," was all Rail Spike said, looking in the 
direction the Preds had gone.  "Without a doubt."
	
THE END