(NOTE: In case you’re wondering, yes, liquid helium II is a real liquid. While I’m not sure if it can freeze on contact, I am certain of its other property, of which you’ll find out about as you read on. ;) Also, again, any scenes in this chapter of the alien saga, as well as any others, that have JUST the aliens talking in them, are translated into English. They are actually speaking in their own language to each other. )

 “It seems Depth Charge and the others had the same idea as we had,” Crossfire stated, firing relentlessly at Cybershark, who was closing in on her.

 “Gah, for once, me and fish-face here agree on something,” replied Rampage, struggling with the transmetal ray. “Forget the pods, and target each other. My kind of idea.”

 “Shut up and fight,” said Depth Charge menacingly, punching Rampage in the face.

 “Oh, and so anxious, too. I like that,” Rampage calmly stated, recovering from the blow and kicking Depth Charge in the stomach. “It will make feasting on your spark all the more worthwhile.”

 The fighting continued for a few more minutes, neither Depth Charge’s crew nor Rampage’s gaining any real advantage. Claw Jaw was the first to hear the low rumbling.

 Claw Jaw, while dodging one of Dinobot Transmetal 2’s laser blasts, suddenly stopped at the soft rumbling sound, allowing the laser to graze his arm.

 Wincing at his stupidity, but still alarmed, Claw Jaw called out, “Hey, anybody hear what I’m hearing?”

 The surrounding battle almost instantly stopped as the rumbling grew louder. Two thick iron walls slowly emerged from the ground, as wide as the maze hallway the two teams were in. They the iron walls continued to rise up from the ground, blocking the only ways out of the surrounding area.

 “They’re trying to cage us in!” Cybershark yelled, running quickly toward one of the rising walls, seeing if he could get over it before it was too late. He wasn’t fast enough, however, as the walls quickly enclosed the two groups of ‘bots in their little arena.

 “Great! Now what’re we gonna do?” said Cybershark dejectedly.

 “Do you have to ask?” Depth Charge said, starting up the battle again by opening fire on Rampage. “The aliens obviously closed us up in here so we could continue to fight! They must want us to keep fighting!”

 “Incorrect,” replied a monotonous voice that seemed to emanate from the air itself. “You are not following the procedure laid out at the beginning of the test. Stop this foolishness now and concentrate on what we want you to concentrate on- the stasis pods.”

 “Make us,” Rampage spat.

 “Um…I really don’t think you should have said that…” said Cybershark nervously.

 “As you wish,” the voice replied. “You are officially disqualified from the test.”

 An intense electric shock immediately shook the six Transformer’s bodies, and they all went into a painful stasis lock.

 Beastbot sighed. “Of course, Depth Charge’s team and Rampage’s team are probably fighting…”

 “….the Maximals and Predacons probably got their hands full…” continued Ramulus.

 “…and of course, we’re stuck with nothing to do,” Beastbot finished. “We can’t possibly get a pod, because we don’t stand a chance against a TEAM of Maximals or Preds.”

 “Hey, what’s that?” Ramulus asked, ignoring his partner and pointing at a big iron cauldron sitting in the middle of the hallway a few hundred yards ahead.

 “A cauldron, duh.”

 “Yeah, I know THAT, but why’s it in the middle of the hallway?”

 Ramulus soon got the answer to that question. As soon as the Maximal had finished his sentence, the giant cauldron slowly tipped over, and a clear, steamy liquid poured out of the container, rushing toward the two transformers.

 “I don’t like the looks of this…” said Beastbot nervously. “Computer, scan liquid substance, coordinates 5, 7, 40 and closing.”

 “Substance matches chemical composition of helium II liquid.”

 “Aw, slag,” Beastbot mumbled, taking off in the opposite direction as the helium II. “Ramulus, run!”

 “Why?” Ramulus questioned, although still obeying Beastbot’s order. “It’s just a bunch of hot water.”

 “No, it’s not,” replied Beastbot. “It’s helium II liquid. If it touches you, you’ll freeze up like an ice cube. It also can-“

 “Hang on, I think I know what to do,” Ramulus interrupted, his optics shifting from the helium II heading toward them to the upcoming dead end. Gaining an extra burst of speed, Ramulus jumped onto the oncoming dead end wall, using the “energon suckers” mounted on his knuckles to hand on to the wall.

 “Beastbot, grab on to my hand!” Ramulus yelled, stretching out a hand toward the fuzor. “The liquid can’t reach us if we’re hanging on to this wall above it!”

 “That won’t work!” yelled Beastbot frantically, the helium II rushing towards the two ‘bots at an alarming rate. “Helium II has the amazing property to flow uphill!”

 Before Beastbot could say anything more, the helium II liquid splashed over his body, freezing the fuzor’s entire body on the spot, and continued to rush toward the wall that Ramulus was clinging to.

 “Oh, slag,” Ramulus mumbled as the liquid hit the wall he was hanging onto and started to flow UP the wall, freezing the Transmetal 2 in a split second.

 Scourge chuckled as he watched the frozen forms of the bounty hunters disappear under the onslaught of the helium II liquid.

 “Well, they completely failed that test, brother,” Scourge mentioned to his younger sibling, Scarem. “Perhaps it won’t be so hard to take out these transformers after all.”

 “Manticron, terrorize!”

 The large manticore’s head folded to become his chest. His lower lion legs swung down to become his robot feet. His scorpion tail swung to behind his head, like Sandstorm’s. His upper lion legs folded up and his feet split to form claw-hands, like the original Dinobot's. His wings folded back behind his back, and did not shrink, but folded like Silverbolt's, when the Maximal was a fuzor. To finish off his transformation, the manticore’s overall size enlarged to make his robot mode only slightly smaller than Rampage’s.

 Manticron’s silver robot face looked very fearsome, and looked somewhat like a fusion of Cheetor’s and Beastbot’s face. His mouth had several large teeth poking out of it, and he had two large “ears” poking out of the top of it, like the original Cheetor’s.

 The large transformer turned to look at the Maximals that had their guns still pointed at Terrorsaur. Manticron’s optics narrowed- his internal systems had obviously identified Blackarachnia, Prowl, Ironhide, and Silverbolt as the enemy.

 The Maximals, stunned for a while at the arrival of the new Pred, finally regained their senses and re-aimed their guns/cannons/missiles at Manticron.

 “We mean you no harm,” said Silverbolt slowly. “However, if you-“

 “Save it,” said Manticron in a harsh, deep voice. Quickly, the Predacon took out two katana swords from his subspace, flinging one like a boomerang toward the Maximals. The swords swung around in a half-circle, slicing off half of Blackarachnia’s right arm as it did so. Blackarachnia screeched in both pain and surprise, falling to the ground. The sword returned to Manticron’s hand, the Predacon grasping it in one easy motion.

 “Blackarachnia!” Silverbolt cried, kneeling down beside the Transmetal 2 spider. It was too late- Blackarachnia had already gone into stasis lock.

 Silverbolt looked up at Manticron, his eyes filled with rage. “You…MONSTER!”

 “Why, thank you,” replied Manticron, half-chuckling. Terrorsaur quickly joined in.

 Silverbolt was so angry, he couldn’t think straight. A command entered his neuroprocessor- one that he hadn’t put there, and before the enraged eagle knew what he was doing, he was yelling a command to the other two Maximals still functional.

 “Prowl, Ironhide, Stage 1 Transformation!!!”

 Prowl and Ironhide looked at him questioningly.

 “Ah, what?” Ironhide said, unsure of what he had just been commanded to do.

 “Stage 1 Transformation!” Silverbolt repeated, converting to a mode that looked somewhat like a cross between an eagle and a missle launcher.

 “What ahre you doin’?” questioned Ironhide.

 “NOW!!” commanded Silverbolt.

 “Ah…OK…computer, stage 1 transformation.”

 Ironhide quickly transformed into something that looked like a large set of gray and red arms and legs.

 “Whoa! Ah didn’t know ah had this!”

 “What are they doing!?” questioned Terrorsaur.

 “Computer, stage 1 transformation!” Prowl stated.

 The lionbot transformed to something that resembled a large head with a mane.

 “I’m not sure, but it ends now,” Manticron stated emotionlessly, again throwing one his swords like a boomerang at the three figures.

 Seeing the incoming sword, Silverbolt quickly shouted out the command, “Prowl, Ironhide, merge to form-“

 “MAGNABOSS!” All three yelled, before they knew what they were saying. The three oddly transformed Maximals suddenly leaped up and combined, a white flash of light emitted from their combined form….

 When the light had died down, Manticron and Terrorsaur looked the new, huge figure standing before them. To their horror, the figure had caught Manticron’s sword, crushing it in its bare hands.

 “WHO DEFIES MAGNABOSS?” the figure demanded in a bellowing tone, that sounded like a deeper version of the voice of Silverbolt, Ironhide, and Prowl combined. The figure was huge, only slightly smaller than Optimal Optimus, and its body was obviously that of Prowl’s, Ironhide’s, and Silverbolt’s combined. Magnaboss’ arms and legs were that of Ironhide’s, large with gray elephant “flesh” covering the upper arms. The lower arms were red and white. The legs were basically the same, except the feet were Ironhide’s large hands. The head was the large head with the mane mentioned earlier, but not Silverbolt’s eagle head rested on top of it as well. The main body was a combination of Prowl’s, Silverbolt’s, and Ironhide’s. Ironhide’s back formed the chest plate, while Silverbolt’s missile launchers formed the sides of the chest. Prowl’s main body formed the internal structure of the body, making it solid and strong.

 “U-uh…um..maybe we should leave, Manticron,” Terrorsaur mumbled nervously, backing slowly towards the larger Predacon.

 “Shut up, wimp,” said Manticron, smacking Terrorsaur with his hand into the wall. The Transmetal slumped down, obviously in a lot of pain. “Manticron doesn’t back away from anyone.”

 “HAVE IT YOUR WAY,” boomed Magnaboss. The giant reached behind his back, taking out a huge sword from subspace. Ironhide’s guns made up the main body of the weapon, Silverbolt’s swords made up the blades, and Prowl’s claw weapon made up the handle.

 “Come here, sweetie, and give Daddy a kiss,” Manticron retorted sarcastically, lunging at Magnaboss with his remaining katana sword.

 Reacting quickly, Magnaboss held up his sword, blocking Manticron’s strike. Manticron sidestepped and lunged again, but Magnaboss blocked it again with ease.

 “NICE TRY- NOW IT’S MY TURN.”

 Magnaboss swung his sword at Manticron, and the fuzor blocked- however, this was exactly what the gestalt wanted. The giant sword swung right at Manticron’s smaller sword, shattering it with the force of Magnaboss’ blow. Manticron stared, bewildered, at his broken sword, amazed at Magnaboss’ strength. This gave Magnaboss just enough time to strike Manticron on the head with the flat end of the gestalt’s sword, the blow sending Manticron into stasis lock.

 Magnaboss then turned to the relatively tiny form of Terrorsaur, glaring at the Transmetal.

 “Well, um… hehe…” stuttered Terrorsaur, raising his hands up in a helpless gesture. “I… uh… g-guess ya got m-me… heheh…. you win…”

 “GO!”

 “Um…. y-yes… Mr. Magnaboss, sir….”

 Terrorsaur quickly converted to beast mode and flapped out of Magnaboss’ sight as quickly as his transmetal wings could carry him.

 Magnaboss, seeing the Predacon gone, seperated into his three parts again, each of the smaller Maximals converted to their respective beast modes.

 “So, Silverbolt, how’d you know to do that?” Prowl asked curiously.

 “What do you mean?”

 “How’d you know that we were all components of a gestalt- and moreover, how’d we know what its name was?”

 “I-I’m not certain. The thought just- came to me, and I said for us to form into Magnaboss before I even knew what I was doing.”

 “That’s weird,” Ironhide joined in, “That’s exactly how ah felt when I yelled out ‘Magnaboss’. Ya think it had something ta do with those aliens?”

 “Perhaps,” said Silverbolt, “But at least we know that we can form into a gestalt, if we are ever in trouble again- which we undoubtedly will be. For right now, however, my first priority is finding a way to repair Blackarachnia.”

 Without warning, the same voice that had spoken to the Maximals and Predacons at the beginning of the “game” seemed to resound from the walls again.

 “Game over.”

 “Octopod, terrorize!”

 Octopod’s four transmetal gold plates making up his bulbous head split and folded back, revealing a turbine that folded back as well. Two of his organic octopus tentacles rotated outward to become his robot arms, while his other two organic tentacles became his feet. His four transmetal gold tentacles folded behind his back, like Tarantulas’. His robot head and chest folded out of his octopus head, connecting to his arms and legs while hiding his turbine and transmetal gold plates.

 “Do I look like NOTHING to you!?”

 Octopod looked more impressive in his robot mode than he did in his mollusk beast mode. His chest resembled that of Tarantulas’, except that it was mostly blue. His face looked a lot like that of Claw Jaw’s with Tarantulas’ mouth, except, again, it was mostly blue. He looked mostly organic in this mode, like most Transmetals, the only clearly robotic parts being on his back. He was awfully small for a male, though, only about Airazor’s size.

 “Hey, there, pardner, take it easy, I didn’t mean nuthin’ by it.”

 “There you go with that ‘nothing’ again! Quit it!”

 “Uh…sure…” Sandstorm said, leaning over to Scavenger.

 “I think this guy’s a few chips short of a circuit, heheh….” The scorpion whispered into Scavenger’s audio receptor.

 “As long as he serves the colony loyally, scorpion, that is all that matters,” replied Scavenger, making no effort to lower his voice.

 “Hey!” Octopod scolded, “Are you all talking behind my back about me? I don’t deserve this! Who are you? I demand to know!!”

 “Calm down, hombre!” Sandstorm said, stepping toward Octopod. “Ah’m Sandstorm, newly recruited Predacon. Yer one too.”

 “I am Scavenger, loyal servant of the Royalty,” Scavenger said. “Welcome to the colony, soldier. The Royalty will be pleased at your arrival.”

 “Colony? Royalty? Did I miss something?” Octopod questioned. “I thought we were transformers, not bees or ants.”

 “His stasis pod malfunctioned,” Sandstorm quickly replied, “Forgot ta give ‘em a life, or somethin’ like that. So, you’re a Transmetal?”

 “What’s that?”

 “Uh…. what you are.”

 “Oh, that explains it,” Octopod replied sarcastically. “If it’s what I am, then I guess I am one… I think…. wait… I’m confused.”

 “Just forget it,” said Sandstorm, shaking his head. “Anyway, Transmetals… er… you… get a bonus vehicle mode, where as reg’lar old ‘bots like me just got a beast and a robot mode. So, let’s see yer vehicle mode!”

 “Er…okay,” Octopod replied. “Octopod, vehicle mode!”

 Octopod reverted back to his beast mode, and then his four transmetal gold plates slid into his lower head to reveal a powerful turbine, much like Scavenger’s had looked like before he became a Transmetal. The octobot leapt sideways up into the air, and in an instant, his four transmetal gold tentacles rose above the rest of his body, stiffened into propellers, and started twirling. His four organic blue tentacles hung from his body as his turbine fired up.

 “Well, whaddaya think?”

 Scavenger and Sandstorm merely stared at Octopod’s extremely odd vehicle mode.

 “What!? Haven’t ya ever seen a flying octopus before!?”

 Before the two dumbfounded Predacons could respond, the same voice that had spoken to the Maximals and Predacons at the beginning of the “game” seemed to resound from the walls again.

 “Game over.”

 “Right, take a right!” a beaten-up Dinobot exclaimed. Sigma Prime and Airazor followed the former Predacon around another featureless corner in the maze. Tigerhawk had tripped a few minutes ago while running away from the regenerating and reproducing drones, and the drones had quickly engulfed the fallen form, pumping lasers into the Transmetal 2 fuzor until he was forced to go into stasis lock.

 The three surviving transformers were at a loss of what to do. None of them had any fire or ice weapons that could slow down the drones, and the lasers, swords, and/or machine guns they had did nothing more than have the drones repair their damage and split into more drones. So, they ran, hoping to run into some other Maximals by some stroke of luck.

 “Wait! My long-range scanners are picking up another Maximal energy signature besides ours! That means help is close by!” Sigma Prime exclaimed. “Everybody, go left!”

 The other two transformers complied, but while turning, Airazor got hit in the head by a laser from the firing drones behind the group. She gave out a short cry as the laser beam hit the outer boundaries of her neuroprocessor. This damage to one of her vital systems sent her instantly into stasis lock, even though she wasn’t severely damaged outside of that shot.

 “Airazor!” Sigma called back with a mixture of anger and fear. “Now we’re down to just two!”

 “Really!? I had not noticed!” Dinobot replied back sarcastically.

 The two transformers quickly turned a few more corners, following the Maximal energy signature, with the drones right on their tail. They were just a few hundred yards from where the Maximal was supposed to be within a few more minutes. They turned another corner, expecting to see a Maximal off in the distance, but instead they saw-

 -A dead end.

 “Are you certain that your processor is functioning!?” Dinobot yelled back, blocking a few laser shots with his rotary shield. “This is a WALL, not a Maximal!!”

 “The Maximal we’re looking for must be just on the other side of that wall,” Sigma Prime replied dejectedly.

 “Well, now we’re run into a corner. Any more brilliant ideas!?”

  Without warning, the same voice that had spoken to the Maximals and Predacons at the beginning of the “game” seemed to resound from the walls again.

 “Game over.”

 “Gryphtron, maximize!”

 Gryphtron’s gryphon head folded down to become his robot chest. His wings retracted until they were about the relative size of Airazor’s before she became a transmetal, and his back lion legs folded back to become his robot legs. His front lion legs swung forward and split into hands that looked somewhat like the original Dinobot’s. His tail disappeared during transformation, most likely into subspace to be used as a robot mode weapon. To finish off the transformation, two missile launchers came out of his chest.

 “Welcome to the Maximals, Gryphtron,” said Optimus Primal, stepping forward and holding out his hand. “I am Optimus Primal, Maximal commander.”

“Greetings, Optimus Primal,” said Gryphtron, shaking Optimus Primal’s hand. Gryphtron was bigger than Optimus Primal, about the size of Rhinox. The fuzor wasn’t quite as bulky though. Gryphtron had a face that looked somewhat like a combination of the fuzor Silverbolt’s and Magnaboss’ faces. Gryphtron had a “mane” around his head, like Magnaboss, but with the same black “mask” that the fuzor Silverbolt had. The “mask” was only on one side of his face, however, and looked like it was ripped like the Phantom of the Opera’s. His eyes were also completely white- an odd optic color for a transformer.

 “Looks like thee had quite a battle,” Gryphtron stated in a deep Shakespearean voice, taking notice of the scorch marks on the sides of the nearby walls of the maze.

 “Ah, great, another Silverbolt,” Rattrap muttered to himself.

 Gryphtron took notice of the transmetal rat behind Optimus.

 “Primal! There is a foul demon behind thee!” said Gryphtron alarmingly.

 Optimus raised an eyebrow at Gryphtron’s Old English vocabulary, turning around to stare at Rattrap.

 “No, that’s just Rattrap,” chuckled Optimus. “He’s a Maximal, too, although he can be a little demon sometimes.”

 “But rats started the Black Plague,” retorted the gryphon. “How can ye trust this foul creature?”

 “How can ye trust this foul creature?” Rattrap mimicked, annoyed. “Look buddy, I’m just as much as Maximal as you are.”

 “I…am dreadfully sorry,” Gryphtron said, obviously taking Rattrap’s word. “I just… despise vermin.”

 “’Ey, shut yer piehole!” Rattrap shouted back.

 “Looks like you two are going to get along just fine,” Optimus said, sighing.

 Without warning, the same voice that had spoken to the Maximals and Predacons at the beginning of the “game” seemed to resound from the walls again.

 “Game over.”

 While the Maximals and Predacons were battling in the death maze, Taran was alone in his cell. Despite the fact that there was nothing to do or look at, his mind was quite busy.

 So if I use C duct 3 to escape, then take a right…

 …No, that would put me at the restrooms.

 Where to, then, from C duct 3?

 My objective, the main reactor, is just on the floor below it…

 …But you can’t get there from C duct 3! You’d have to…

 …Destroy the floor of C duct 3…

 …But that would alert the other Vexorans!

 …Only if it was energy originating from a Vexoran source, though.

 …Yes! That’s right! Besides the small sector where the Maximals and Predacons are located, the sensors on the ship are not wired to detect any blasts from an energon source!

 …So, it’s clear that you need the Beast Warriors to escape. But how will you get them out of their cell?

 …How indeed…

 The hunter owl awoke from its sleep, ready to again search for prey.

 It noticed something odd outside its nest, though.

 A large metal pod had crashed about a hundred feet away, the smell of burning metal filling the owl’s nostrils, making it sick to its stomach.

 The owl was just about ready to fly away to a better-smelling location when the metal contraption started to talk in a strange language unknown to the owl.

 “L-lifeform un-unconscious. N-n-needs immediate m-medical attention,” the pod said.

 The owl turned its head curiously, watching the mechanical structure.

 “M-medical personnel can-cannot be contacted. O-only other o-o-option is t-to convert o-occupant to n-n-native creature to enable its healing abilities on t-this pla-planet. S-scanning…”

 A small compartment opened up on the side of the pod, and a small device that looked like a miniature version of a satellite dish came out. A light orange beam was being emitted from it- within seconds, the beam had watched over the curious owl.

 “L-lifeform scanned. C-converting……… f-finished. Err-error; anti-con-conversion abilities not f-functioning. O-occupant will be unable to convert back to o-original self. Need par-partial form tech as we-well. Par-partial form tech not functioning. Scanning for other t-tech.”

 Again, the miniature satellite dish started to scan again, only this time at a much longer range. The beam scanned over a rocky field nearby- a rocky field that looked like it had been used somewhat recently. A bunch of charred and broken mechanical parts were strewn all over the place, one of them a computer chip- a computer chip that had the label, “Transmetal 2” on it. The scan swept over the chip.

 “Al-alternate form tech a-acquired. Re-reconverting…. f-finished.”

 The escape pod rustled, and a huge, black feathered wing stretched out of the pod…

To be continued…
 

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