The Energon Pub

Nightmare
By Sam Ford


Chapter I

The snow billowed around Spectrawave?s feet. The wind seemed to cut right through his circuits, even as his body compensated by releasing more anti-freeze into his fuel lines. Verticon stood next to him, unmoving, not showing any reaction to the bitter cold. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a bitter scowl on her face, watching everything.
The two medics stood in a snow covered clearing, surrounded by an entourage of mech-walkers. The gray winter sky blocking out all direct sunlight, making everything dull and lifeless. Even the trees appeared dead, as if their lives had been blown away in the bitter wind.
Spectrawave returned his attention to the armored snow transport approaching rapidly. The mech walkers stopped walking around and turned their full attention to the two Decepticons they had surrounded. As the armored craft slowed, four guards jumped out, weapons ready.
Spectrawave remembered when he hadn?t had to worry about human weapons harming him. Now it was a different story then when the Transformers had first brought their war to Earth, so many long years ago. The humans had adapted and learned. While their bodies may have seemed frail, they revealed spirits that would counter any being in the known universe. They had used the new technology they?d gleaned from the Cybertronians? own war. The humans had built stronger cities, a better one-world government, and deadlier weapons. They?d shown the universe that Earth was their planet, and that they would no longer be walked on. The mech-walkers and portable rail guns, now trained on the two Transformers, was proof enough of that.
The guards rushed up to the two Decepticons, weapons ready. Verticon sneered and almost smacked one of them as he ventured too close. Spectrawave stopped her, saving both their lives. A fifth figure emerged from the hovercraft, his fur coat flapping in the cold wind. He slowly walked towards the Decepticons.

?Long time no see, Spectrawave,? He stated as he stood in front of the larger robot.

?It?ll be a lot longer from now on apparently, thanks to your Prime Minister,? Spectrawave replied with almost a sad smile on his face.

The man did give a sad smile. ?I know,? he said. ?That?s why I came to say goodbye personally,?

?How did it come to this, Fairborn?? Spectrawave asked. ?I?ve known you since you were a baby. I knew you father and your father?s father since they were mere children. I watched as your grew in power and prestige in your world. You know we have no place else to go. Can?t you do something??

?You know I can?t? The EDC commander answered. ?Nebulous has already locked down its spaceports. Earth is following suit. You Cybertronians have caused too much damage in the universe. From now on, no planet has any contact with another one. It?s totally out of my control,?

Spectrawave sighed. ?I know, Hank. At least you came to say goodbye. Thank you, my friend,?

Spectrawave leaned down and offered his massive hand. The guards all snapped their weapons up in surprise. Hank Fairborn, EDC commander, calmly walked forward, ignoring Spectrawave?s hand, and gave his giant friend a hug. Spectrawave was shocked for a moment, and then smiled, gently returning the hug. Hank had always been an unusual human, and had never been afraid of anything, let alone Decepticons. Especially those that had practically raised him.
Hank pulled away and looked at Verticon. She had dropped her arms to her sides, and her mouth hanging slightly ajar in shock. Hank smiled and rushed to her, grabbing his human sized friend in a bear hug. Verticon had always shirked from personal contact of any kind, so she immediately stiffened. Any other time, she might have hurt the man, but the many weapons trained on her changed her mind.
And just as quickly as he had hugged the two of them, it was over. Hank returned to the role of commander, walking silently away into the bitter wind.

?By the way,? He said as he looked back over his shoulder. ?I brought you a friend,?

Just as he finished speaking, another hover transport showed up. This one had a large object in the transport bed. A mech-walker noisily marched over to the truck and picked the object up. Walking back towards the two Decepticons, it dumped it at their feet.
Inkenburg hit with a thud, the snow softening his impact yet creating a nice crater. Verticon quickly rushed over to him, assessing the situation. He was offline, but not injured. He?d simply been shut down.

?We caught him over Paris, coating the city in ink. He claimed it needed to be as black as his soul. I know he was once a friend of yours, so you can take him off planet with you. Any other bots we find hiding on our planet, we?re melting down into slag,? Hank stepped up into the transport truck and looked back.

The guards quickly followed, rushing up to the transport and jumping in. With a whine, the repulsor pads hummed to life, lifting the hovercraft into the air. As he hung out the pen door, Hank saluted Spectrawave once. Got in and shut the door as the hovercraft took off towards the gray horizon. The mech-walkers stepped back about thirty paces, fading into the tree line, where their guns were still easily trained on the Decepticons.

?I?m waking him up,? Verticon said. She threw a switch in one of Inkenburg?s internal panels. His internal systems slowly warmed up in the bitter cold, and his optics regained the ember of life in them.

?Soooo? cooooold?? Inkenburg murmured.

?Hang on. It?ll be okay,? Verticon looked at Spectrawave worriedly as she reassured the bot. ?Where do they expect us to go?? Verticon demanded quietly. ?They tell us to get off planet then just dump us here??

?No,? Spectrawave said, looking around. ?There?s something here??

Just as he finished speaking, there came a low rumble from deep underground. The trees started swaying, causing the snow gathered on them to fly off and splatter on the robots. The ground pitched wildly, knocking Spectrawave off his feet. The ground rose up in front of them, splitting into two halves and retracting. As the commotion settled down, Spectrawave crawled to the edge of the new whole and peered in.

?This must be an old missile silo from one of the human wars,? He stated

?Then what?s it doing way out here, and what does it have to do with us?? Verticon asked, cradling the immobile Inkenburg?s head.

?I think we?re about to find out,? Spectrawave answered, scurrying away from the hole. ?Something?s coming,?

There was the sound of heavy equipment being moved. The old missile girders chugged along on their rails, lifting their payload into the gray sky. The weathered top of a ship appeared, followed by the rest of it that was in worse condition. With a hiss of the pistons, the ship sat still in the snow, poised for a launch into space.

?It?s an old Autobot shuttle,? Spectrawave said, eyeing the faded red insignia.

?First gen by the looks of it,? Verticon stated, wary. ?The humans probably pieced it together from the start of our war and have been hanging onto it ever since,?

?Let?s see if we can get it powered up,? Spectrawave said, lifting Inkenburg over his shoulder.

?What? Don?t tell me we?re actually going to fly out of here on that?? Verticon demanded.

?Yeah,? Spectrawave looked back at the mech-walkers hanging back in the woods, their weapons at ready. ?We are,?

***

?Everything seems ready<? Spectrawave said. The design of the ship combined with the relatively strong gravity of Earth ensured that Spectrawave was pinned in his seat, essentially laying down and looking up at the sky.

?As long as we don?t blow up on take off,? Verticon muttered as she climbed up in the seat next to him.

?Are you sure you don?t want to ride in my chest?? Spectrawave asked, eyeing her human proportions.

?Yes,? Verticon said, straining to throw a set of switches.

?Still don?t liker recharging in there, huh?? Spectrawave asked. He missed the closeness he?d shared with his Cassettacons partners when they recharged inside him.

?Bad memories,? Verticon stated and left it at that. She?d recharged in tape mode once since they?d parted ways with Dialatius. Though Verticon would deny it to the bitter end, Dialatius had been her best friend. One of her only two friends.

?How?s Inkenburg?? Spectrawave asked, preparing for take off.

?I strapped him in next to the charger. He should be warming up and be fully online soon,?

?I see he has a few new ?tattoos?,? Spectrawave observed.

?I got a few words out of him, but even if he?d been fully online, I doubt I would have gotten many more. He?s gone into a dark place in his spark since the war ended,?

?The end has been hard on him,? Spectrawave said

?It?s been hard on all of us,? Verticon whispered.

Spectrawave didn?t hear her as the engines roared to life. Neither one had been a big fan of flying, but to just jump into a shuttle and take off into the sky was an awesome thing. Verticon released the docking clamps while Spectrawave poured power into the thrusters. The ancient engines screamed to the point of over loading, refusing to take off. The shuttle sat there, engines firing toxic chemicals out, trying to purchase enough lift to crawl into the sky. Slowly it began to hover above the pad, paining momentum as it headed skyward.
Spectrawave and Verticon both let out a cheer that neither one had known they were holding in. They both had expected the shuttle to just give out and explode. They were both overjoyed to still be alive.
Spectrawave looked out the view screen at the sky flying past them. The mech-walkers had been replaced with SF-07 Phantoms and V2 Screamers. The EDC was obviously taking no chances of any kind. The ships were escorting the shuttle into orbit, following it move for move. Verticon noted how far away they were. They obviously had expected the shuttle to blow up as well.
They plowed through the gray clouds and the light blue sky slowly turned to black. The stars begin appearing one by one. The fighters pealed off as the shuttle achieved orbit. Spectrawave pulled back on the thrusters as the shuttle slowly started to spin, achieving orbit.

?Are we there yet?? A tired voice asked from the back of the shuttle.

?Inkenburg,? Spectrawave said, entrapping himself. ?Come look. Come say goodbye,?

Inkenburg floated towards the front of the shuttle. The Zero-G atmosphere was an unusual environment for Transformers. The shuttle was either too old for artifical-grav generators, or Spectrawave didn?t feel like risking an explosion by draining the power.
The three Decepticons looked down at the little blue planet. For millions of years, it had been referred to only as the Sol system, with the third planet being Sol III. Only after Optimus Prime and Megatron awakened in the late part of the twentieth century, and encountered humans, did Transformers ever recognize it by its new name of Earth. Now, nearly two hundred years after the fact, the humans had taken back their planet. The aliens there had all been deported. And the three Decepticons realized that they had another name for the planet. They called it home.

?Decepticon shuttle, what are you doing?? A voice came over the radio.

?Who is this?? Spectrawave fumbled with the mic.

?This is the Earth Defense Command cruiser Defender, under command of EDC Captain Raxa. We ask again, what are you doing??

Verticon let out a hiss as she looked at the approaching ship. It was mammoth, especially compared to their tiny shuttle. It was heading their way simply to bully them into hurrying up and leaving. Verticon had met Raxa on more then one occasion. The woman was a half-breed. A product of a Nebulon father and a Human mother. The fact that she?d even been allowed to enter the EDC was a testament to how far earth culture had evolved. The fact that she?d been promoted to starship captain was a testament to the woman?s competence.
Spectrawave shot a look at Verticon and tightened his grip on the mic. He was sure that Raxa already knew Verticon was onboard, but he didn?t need her worsening their situation. Needless to say the two females did not like each other at all. They were too much alike, much to the disgust of the other.

?Defender, we were just saying goodbye to our home,? Spectrawave said

?She?s not your home any more, Decepticon. Vacate your orbit or we will not hesitate to fire upon you,?

Instead of replying, Spectrawave threw the mic across the tiny cockpit. It was hard enough to be kicked off planet, but he felt that being insulted was going too far. Instead of replying, he instead eased the thrusters to their mid range mark. He aimed the shuttle at the approaching ship.

?Um, Spectrawave?? Inkenburg asked.

?Relax. He?s not suicidal,? Verticon reassured him.

As the two ships grew closer and closer, both the smaller Decepticons grew worried. While Spectrawave wasn?t out to get them killed by any means, he could still provoke the EDC into firing upon them. There was no communications between the two ships. The only warning they ever received was a target lock alarm blaring in the shuttle. Verticon quickly killed it, and then strapped herself in. Inkenburg did the same. The distance shortened to less then two hundred meters. The occupants of the shuttle could see the larger ship?s guns bringing around to bear.

?Um, Spectrawave?? Verticon asked, laying her small hand on his forearm.

Just as the space for maneuvering ran out, Spectrawave threw the engines into full. The shuttle buzzed past the bridge of the larger ship. Just for a nano-cycle, the occupants of both ships could see each other. Verticon looked at Raxa in her command chair, as the woman looked back into her optics. Then it was over. The shuttle flew past at a high rate of speed, headed out system, engines pushing the red line.

***

Chapter II

?Are we there yet?? Inkenburg complained. ?We?ve been on this lousy ship for eight lunar cycles!?

Spectrawave groaned and buried his face in his hands. ?No. Let me explain this one more time. We?d be back on Cybertron right now, except for two reasons,? He turned to face Inkenburg, ticking them off on his fingers. ?One, we?re three Decepticons. Cybertron is now totally Autobot controlled. None of us are welcome. Two, the Space Bridge got blown up on both ends. So basically its fly in real space? or don?t,?

Inkenburg sighed. It had been a long eight months, and the confined space and the journey itself was starting to wear on him. He was becoming deeply depressed, even for Inkenburg. Verticon wasn?t faring much better. It had been too long since she had inflicted any pain on any one. Spectrawave had already caught her torturing herself once. He was afraid she?d start doing it regularly. The length of the voyage was having severe effects on the mental health of both his traveling companions.

?Why don?t we just head to Charr?? Verticon asked, emerging from the back of the ship and the little privacy there was to be had.

Spectrawave frowned as he saw her wipe mech fluid away from her mouth. ?Because that?d be worse then the Autobots. There?s no Energon to be had. Swindle and the Combaticons have the planet locked down under their control. Most importantly, the three of us aren?t exactly the holo-poster Decepticons. They?d just as soon kill us as look at us,?

?So where are we going?? Inkenburg asked.

?I know an old asteroid mining colony. We?re gona head there and see what?s left,?

?Great,? Verticon complained. ?Because there?s nothing I love more then wandering around on space rocks,?

***

With great ease and quite a lot of stress, they managed to dock the shuttle. Admitently, it was difficult to find a docking clamp for such an outdated model. The only one available was at the far end of the collection of inhabited asteroids. None of the outcasts much liked the idea of a space walk, especially in an asteroid field and spaceport. The astronomical fares on transportation however changed their minds.

?I can?t believe I?m doing this!? Inkenburg screamed.

?Just straighten up and fly right,? Spectrawave ordered. He laughed at his own joke.

?What?? Inkenburg demanded, dodging a smaller floating rock.

<You know, you really shouldn?t confuse him. Artist types are already screwed up in the head enough.> Verticon commented internally from inside Spectrawave?s chest.

?Nothing,? Spectrawave replied, ignoring his partner. ?Just get us there,?

Inkenburg flew along in jet mode, avoiding the rocks and inbound ships. Spectrawave lay prone, grabbing onto Inkenburg?s tail fins. Verticon had swallowed her pride and transformed into cassette mode to take shelter in Spectrawave?s chest. The motley crew flew, or attempted something similar, along as quickly as possible. They could see the main asteroid ahead; it?s blinking lights guiding travelers inside. It?s neon signs advertised many different features, alluring to the less moral being of the universe. Inkenburg and Spectrawave?s optics skimmed over various pleasure advertisements, and zeroed in on the same collection of lights at the same time. The universal sign that any sentient being would recognize.

?Bar!? All three Decepticons shouted at the same time.

Inkenburg felt mildly embarrassed at being so mainstream that even his traveling companions agreed with him. Out of embarrassment and out of thirst he increased power to his thrusters, propelling them faster towards their destination.
As they entered the airlock, Spectrawave let go and stood up. Inkenburg transformed as the doors shut behind them. With the hissing of air, the light on the inner door changed from red to green. As they stepped out into the crowd, Verticon practically jumped out of Spectrawave?s chest.

?That bad, huh?? He asked quietly.

?Yeah?? Verticon shuttered.

Exiting the airlock, the group took a right and entered under an archway. The room in which they entered had been cut directly from the rock itself. There were no windows in the rock. Holographic space -scapes and flashing lights replaced them, designed to entertain the patrons.
The three Decepticons entered the bar and looked around. It was by no means busy, nor upscale. It was however the most popular relaxation spot in the colony, which wasn?t saying much. It was laid out in a slandered saloon design, with a bar along one wall and a stage along the other.
Verticon quickly scanned the room to assess the threat levels. The stage was currently occupied with a band composed of various species. The lead singer was a human female, who Verticon was forced to admit, was a good singer. She was singing renditions of 250-year-old Earth songs, specifically in the ?Country & Western? genera. The rest of the band members obviously didn?t know how to play their instruments, or the music was out of pitch with their hearing range. The fact that the female managed to sound good was a credit to her talent.
The rest of the pub was sparsely occupied, its members obviously wishing to be left alone. Verticon vaguely wondered if business was currently busy. If so, she hated to see it when it was slow.
Sitting down at the bar, all three Decepticons quickly scanned the holo-menu. They provided a limited selection to the mechanically inclined customers. Most likely because Cybertron had locked down it?s borders.

?Would you look at these prices!? Spectrawave exclaimed.

?My credit pouch is as empty as my soul?? Inkenburg sighed.

?Oh great! There he goes again,? Verticon screamed. ?Spectrawave, every time his processor starts to go angst, cut off a body part. Preferably something he?ll miss,?

?That?s more your department,? Spectrawave mumbled.

?Would you like to change seats?!? Verticon demanded.

?No! We?re good where we are!? Inkenburg exclaimed, holding up his hand in defense.

?Looks like all we can afford is the oil,? Spectrawave observed, turning back to the menu.

?It?s probably not even clean,? Inkenburg murmured.

Spectrawave ordered a round of the astronomically priced oil for each of them. Inkenburg?s dreary predictions had been correct, the oil was indeed very unclean. It had a foul taste and stripped ones circuits faster then any energon lager could. Spectrawave shuddered as he finished his down. Inkenburg merely looked at his full mug and finished it in one chug, slamming the mug down on the bar. Verticon politely drank hers, not reacting in any way to the foul taste.
The oil took its effect. Not a numbing or a high like energon, but a soothing effect, disregarding the taste. The band finished screeching along while the lead singer hit a pitch that was difficult for must humans to hit. Few of the tavern goers applauded. Most just minded their own business. Spectrawave was one of the few that foolishly clapped while Verticon and Inkenburg quickly shot him looks.
The singer bowed graciously then lightly hopped off the stage and headed across to the bar. As she got closer, Verticon could get a better look at her. She wore a knee length dress that might have once been a formal gown. It currently was too stained and torn to be considered a formal anything. The woman herself was quite striking as far as humans went. Tall and lanky, she had high cheekbones and long blond hair that flowed behind her. Her long fingers were smooth, yet obviously strong. Her fingertips were calloused, most likely from playing the guitar. Over all, she looked friendly enough, yet able to handle herself in a fight. You had to be, especially in this part of the galaxy.

?Hi there,? The young woman said, hopping along to greet Spectrawave. ?I saw you clapping,?

?You were very good. I enjoyed listening,? Spectrawave replied, facing the female. Verticon and Inkenburg snorted and turned back to the bar, shooting each other looks behind Spectrawave?s back.

?I?m glad you like it,? The woman said, smiling. ?Kriss Runstar,? She supplied, offering her hand.

Spectrawave shook her dainty hand. ?I?m Spectrawave. These are my traveling companions. This is my partner, Verticon, and the one with angst is Inkenburg,?

?Won?t you join me?? Kriss asked, gesturing to a table.

?Thank you but no,? Spectrawave declined.

?We?re broke,? Inkenburg supplied, not turning around.

Kriss stared at him a moment before the meaning of his words hit her. ?Oh! Don?t worry about it. Drinks are on me,?

?Yay!? Verticon and Inkenburg said sarcastically at the same time, hopping up and walking over to the table. Spectrawave and Kriss followed, taking their seats. While ordering drinks, the three mechanoids decided on a substantial upgrade from oil to energon, much to Kirss? dismay as she scanned the price.

?Y?all are Transformers, correct?? Kriss asked.

?Decepticons to be exact,? Spectrawave replied, grinning as the drinks arrived. The three transformers greedily gulped down the refreshing pink liquids. The familiar buzz associated with energon lager returned as their circuits overcharged, burning out while doing little to recharge their internal power supplies. Spectrawave set his mug down while he wiped his mouth. ?I?m sorry. What were we talking about??

Kriss snapped out of her awe at watching giant robots chugging down liquid energy. ?Oh, nothing much,? She said, shaking her head to clear it. ?We just don?t get many of yer kind in these parts,?

?We?ll that?s to be expected,? Spectrawave said, eyeing his empty mug. ?Cybertron?s locked down its borders,?

?No, that?s not it,? Kriss said. ?We?ve never gotten many, pardon the language, mechs around here. Sure could use some help of the giant robot kind down in the mines,?

?No Cybertronians? Or no robots of any kind?? Verticon asked.

?Not many robots, no Cybertrons at all,? Kriss said, taking a sip of her water.

??Cybertronians?,? Spectrawave murmured.

?Sorry. ?Cybertronians?. There, ya see what I mean??

?So do you know why that is?? Verticon asked.

?What?? Kriss asked in shock. ?You?ve never heard of the Robot Eater?!?

The three Decepticons all looked at each other in turn. They then looked at Kriss as if she were crazy. Inkenburg started backing away in his chair.

?She?s lost it,? He said, mock-drawing his weapon. ?Let me load up my tazer net and I?ll take care of her,?

?I think he?s right,? Verticon said, looking at her similarly sized companion. ?You?ve got a few loose wires. I can fix them if you want,? Verticon offered with her trademark feral grin, pulling out her energon scalpel.

Kriss started backing away, looking very scared. ?Okay?? She said. ?I?m just gona back on out now??

?No,? Spectrawave said, catching her by the arm with his fingers. ?Stay and tell us more. You?re only trying to help. Thank you for that,?

Kriss looked the giant Decepticon up and down, then decided that she could trust him. ?It?s like this,? She said, addressing Spectrawave and ignoring the other two. ?Every once in a blue moon we get a mech that comes through here looking for work. Usually they?re, ya know, your guys types, but sometimes they?re different robot types. We even have a mech-walker through here once. Anyways, they send these mechs down to the mines to work. It pays pretty good, cause of all that brute force and such.
But it never lasts long. They tend to disappear. Just ?POOF? up and vanish. It happens to your kind first always. The, um, Cybertronians. They disappear within the first two days. The n the sub robots like diagnostic drones and combat drones. The other programmable electric types disappear too, like augmented beings and freaky crap like that. And it always happens within a slandered week,?

Spectrawave thought for a moment, taking in her words. He noticed that Verticon and Inkenburg had fallen silent as well.

?How long has this been going on?? Spectrawave asked.

?Over twenty years. I?ve lived here all my life and I can remember my ma telling me stories about it as a kid to scare me,? Kriss said

?And how long have the mines been open??

Kriss thought a moment. ?I?d guess about fifty years or so. I know my ma and pa came here looking for jobs when they opened. So it?s been about a generation I guess,?

?You mean a human generation,? Verticon corrected.

?Right,? Kriss answered, questioning the odd comment in her head.

Spectrawave realized that, once again, he was the center of attention at the table. ?Kriss, could you give us a few cycles alone??

?Sure,? Kriss smiled as she got up. ?It?s about time for my next set to start. You can catch me after the show if you have any more questions,? Kriss looked back as she walked towards the stage. ?Nice meeting y?all!?

?So??? Inkenburg asked, trying to drown out the noise as the band started into another poor imitation of music.

?We need credits if we?re gona make it,? Spectrawave stated.

?Right,? Verticon confirmed.

?I?d say the best way to get it is to kill for it,?

?Right,? Verticon agreed, an evil smile in her optics.

?Kill who?? Inkenburg asked, still not understanding.

?Decepticons,? Spectrawave said, leaning back to kick his feet up on the table. ?I think we just became monster hunters,?

***

Chapter III

The three Decepticons stood in the main area of the base mining asteroid. The space rock was the size of a small country, and naturally cavernous. The only reason it had become a mining rock instead of a hideout for thieves was because of the unnaturally high concentration of rare ores. Even then Spectrawave remained unconvinced that the mining company was the only occupants of the mine.

?Okay,? Kriss addressed them as she headed their way. ?The boss agreed to pay y?all five thousand credits if you bring back the? whatever. Dead or alive, it doesn?t matter, but you have to bring it back,?

Kriss had changed from her previous gown into a form fitting set of coveralls, which accented her feminine features. She carried a side arm on her him to discourage any admirers that became too bold.
As she stopped in front of her newfound friends, she looked them over. They had upgraded their weaponry significantly. Inkenburg?s oversized claw now pinched nervously, eager to dismember limbs. His rocket launcher was safely secured onto his left forearm, his usual compliment of custom art utensils replaced with standard low-impact, high-yield concussion missiles. They were the kind of explosive weaponry designed not to cause a cave in. He could also fire off tazer nets when the time came.
Spectrawave had satisfied himself with two high-powered rifles strapped across his back, and a bandolier of power packs across his chest. They hadn?t planed on Verticon jumping in, as she rarely did it anymore anyhow. His interchangeable right hand was also able to switch between his hand and a number of scanning and cutting tools.
Verticon looked completely normal. Kriss looked closer to see her weapons. Verticon had duel pistols strapped to her hips as well as a laser sword. On her forearms were small force field generators, designed to repel solid objects and energy particles.

?Snazzy equipment!? Kriss grinned. ?Where?d you get it??

?Stole it,? Verticon said, nonchalantly.

?It called to us, asking to be pillaged from its ghastly predicament,? Inkenburg answered. Neither one made eye contact with the human.

?It was sitting in a freighter,? Spectrawave explained, trying to soothe the shocked look on Kriss? face.

?Look, I know y?all are intergalactic bad guys and everything,? Kriss said. ?But out here, we barely make ends meat as it is. You can?t just steal from us and think that it will all be okay. We may not get many mechs through here, but that doesn?t mean we don?t know how to take them apart!?

Spectrawave held out his arm, stopping Verticon from stepping forward as she started to reply to the threat. A look from Spectrawave cut her off. ?Don?t worry about it,? Spectrawave answered. ?We left what little credits we had and a number to reach us at. We?ll pay them back just as soon as we deal with your robo-crusher,?

?Robot Eater,? Kriss muttered. She took a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching their heated discussion. They were; there wasn?t much else in the way of entertainment. ?Okay,? Kriss finally said. ?Get down there and get the job done. Then I want y?all out of here. And remember,? Kriss said as she walked away. ?There?ll be a body, even if you don?t bring one back up with you,?

***

The lift chute descended in near total darkness. There was the glow of the power packs in the weapons, and the illumination from their optics. Otherwise, the world was completely dark. That did not, however, mean that they were blind.

?I?ll take night vision,? Spectrawave instructed, his optics changing hues. ?Verticon, you take infrared and plasma reading. Inkenburg, radar. All frequencies,?

They descended most of the rest of the way in silence, till Verticon broke it as she checked her equipment. ?Inkenburg, would you stop that infernal pinging??

?It?s my radar, half pint,?

Verticon sneered. She spun around, planting her already down pistol in the middle of Inkenburg?s chest. The male was only slightly taller then her, but it was enough to make the situation comical if it wasn?t so deadly.

?Listen to me, angst-boy,? Verticon instructed. ?I?ve had about all I can take out of you. I voted for leaving you on Sol, but no. I voted shooting you out the airlock, but no. Spectrawave seems to either enjoy your company or just likes ticking me off. Either way, I?ve had it. Your little mood swings. Your emo attitude. Your sighing fits. Your morbid drawings. All of it, I?m fed up with it. You claim allegiance to the Decepticons, but you?ve never strained a circuit to help us. You?re a coward and a pussy, and after this, I?m through with you. Once we?re topside again, I?m leaving you hear and you can get as depressed as you slitchin well please!?

Inkenburg and Spectrawave were both totally thrown back by the verbal outburst. Finishing, Verticon holstered her weapon and turned around, ignoring Inkenburg. The two males looked at each other, neither one sure of what to say or do. They all three held that position as the chute came to a halt.

?Well, come on!? Verticon ordered, stepping out.

?Okay. Activate personal locators. If we get separated, it?ll make it easier to find each other. Who knows what scanners this rocks blocks,? Spectrawave stepped forward, drawing his weapon.

The unit progressed silently and quickly. The floor was well worn over many decades of activity. It was unlikely that an attacker would be so close to the entrance and not be discovered in fifty years. They wanted the smaller, newer, more remote tunnels at the end of the shafts. They reached their first hitch when they came to a fork in the road.

?We need to split up,? Verticon insisted.

?No. We compliment each other better as a team,? Spectrawave said.

?I?m all for splitting up,? Inkenburg said. ?But I think it should be further back in the tunnels, closer to our destination. That also means we?re closer together,?

They argued their points for about half an hour, till Verticon gave in. She agreed to wait for a newer tunnel further along. After deciding on the right hand fork, the group moved along again.
It was some time before they reached another fork. The numbers engraved on the floor and ceiling indicated that this was a newer part of the mines. There was a three-fork split; they all agreed to take a fork and proceed on their own. With silent nods, the three friends split, not knowing it would be the last time they ever saw each other unscathed.

***

Inkenburg walked along in silence, contemplating Verticon?s words. It was true that he was very moody and depressed; he?d always been that way. No, he remembered, he?d had an actual life once. He was happy once, but Megatron changed that.
He?d been studding art in Iacon when the war broke out. While a Decepticon, he had no desire to rule Cybertron or to follow Megatron?s tyrannical regime. In a time of civil unrest however, not many of his peers were willing to believe that. He was allowed to continue studying art, but under close supervision from Autobot forces. The segregation and prejudice he suffered from his peers quickly changed his worldview.
He?d chosen to escape Cybertron by the only means at his disposal. He signed on with Megatron and traveled to earth. However, his escape plan did not go as he had planned. The Ark crashed and he was rendered unconscious for four million years. When he awoke in a new, earth based vehicle mode, he went AWOL.
Running from the newly reunited war, he journeyed to Europe. There he discovered Earth culture, and he began to educate himself on the forms of earth art. Inkenburg remembered that he especially loved pre-world war one art, and the hopeless doomed spirit that it captured. He became obsessed with the art of war, and capturing it with dark colors and morbid themes.
This more then anything else had led him to become ?emo? as Verticon had put it. It was the only thing that made him happy inside. But even before they?d left earth, Inkenburg felt he was missing something. He couldn?t figure it out, however--
Inkenburg had become so wrapped up in his thoughts that he?d run into a wall. He shook his head, clearing his optic circuits.

?Okay, Inkenburg,? He muttered to himself. ?Stay In the here and now. You never know what?s around the next?. Corner,?

Inkenburg rounded the bend in the rock and stumbled upon a mass gravesite of robot shells. Some were relatively complete, some were just pieces. All of them were deactivated.

?Spectrawave! Verticon! Lock onto my position, you?ve got to see this!? He shouted into his comm unit.

?It?ll --ake a few cy--es to get to you,? Spectrawave came back, his communication breaking up from the ore in the mine. ?What --s it??

?You know how I didn?t believe this monster existed? I do now; I just found his dumpster,?

***

Verticon was too far away and traveling at too great a speed to hear Inkenburg?s communication. She was deep into the mines by this point. Since the three of them had split up, Verticon had been alternating her internal systems. Her optics were currently two different colors as one was set to scan in night vision and the other was on plasma scan. The plasma scan would theoretically pick up any hind of energy readings, even through solid rock. So far she hadn?t seen anything.
Verticon marked every branch she took, locking it into her memory. She wanted to find the creature, but she also wanted to be able to find her way out. On her internal map, she noted that she had traveled fairly far away from where the others were supposed to be.
Verticon stopped to think a moment. That?s when she noticed the marks in the rock. There were long gouges along the tunnel, rotating from the wall, down to the floor and up the other wall. Some of them looked similar, but all were distinct, while some were wildly different.
She walked along cautiously, studying the tunnel. Up ahead on her right were carbon-scoring marks from a blaster rifle. Further up there was an impact crater, which was not caused by a weapon. It looked like something had been slammed into the wall at a high rate of speed.
As she rounded the bend, she drew one of her pistols. Stepping around the corner, she aimed at? nothing. The tunnel continued on for fifty more meters and then just ended. There were a good many more odd marks along the tunnel. Some ranged from groves the size of her fingers to the size of her entire body. The more shallow cuts were commonly two sets of four parallel lines while the deeper ones were two gouges.
Verticon stooped closer to look at the marks. They didn?t appear to have been made by any mining tool. They could have been water cutouts, however water was the rarest substance in space, and it wouldn?t have created so many rivets. Acid, or some other rock-eating bacteria might have caused them. Verticon stuck her fingers into a set of the more shallow tracks, and bolted upright.
She suddenly understood. The tracks were caused by mechs, attempting to stop from being carried off. The shallow trails were caused by beings dragging their fingers into the rock, while they planting their heels caused the deeper ones. There were obvious signs of struggles at various points in time.

?Spectrawave! Inkenburg! I?ve got him! This has got to be his base!? Verticon slapped her comm unit.

Suddenly, a metal tendril shot out from beyond the rock wall ahead of her. She used her quick reflexes to shoot it out of the air as it headed towards her. It retracted back, heading through the wall ahead. Curiosity overriding caution, Verticon stepped forward, to get a look at the wall.
She pressed her hands up against it, and realized that it was nothing more then a hologram combined with a weak force field. The pushed herself through and stepped into the unknown beyond.
As soon as her head was through, she could see where she was. It was a laboratory of sorts. The obvious medical equipment indicated some sort of medical facility, except for the tidiness. The place was a mess. Mechfluid stained the floors and walls. The light was inadequate for any type of medical operation. Verticon looked up, and saw odd stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
She finished stepping through the force field/hologram, and stood stalk still, looking around. Switching her optics into zoom mode, she looked up at the ceiling again. The stalactites looked odd because there were so many, and they seemed to be hanging by chains.
Verticon gasped at the realization of what was happening. They were body parts of the mechs that the monster had killed. Not the entire bodies, but just pieces, specific ones. They were being displayed as humans and other cultures displayed testaments to their greatness. A trophy room.

?You basted,? Verticon whispered.

?Yes?? The response came from her right. Verticon spun just in time to see her world descend into utter darkness.

***

?It doesn?t look like any of them are complete,? Spectrawave said.

?So glad you?re the one that went parts diving,? Inkenburg sneered, trying to hold down his energon.

Spectrawave was buried chest high in the pile of robot parts. He was covered in oil and mech fluid, the smell of old fuel burning in his sensors. He held up a half torso and tossed it aside.

?So far I haven?t seen anything that will help us figure this out,? Spectrawave said, wading his way out of the carnage. ?What is all this?? He asked, holding up a severed arm.

Inkenburg looked from him to the junk pile and back. ?Leftovers?? He guessed.

?Could be. There?s enough vital fluids in there to rule out the ?vampire? theory,? Spectrawave started brushing the gunk off himself

?Yeah, I know. You?re covered in half of it,? Inkenburg said, once again trying not to purge his energy reserves.

?We also know that he, it, whatever, isn?t eating the actual parts. There are no bite marks of any kind at all on any of those pieces. Besides, why kill mechs, which is hard to do, when this rock is covered in the same material?? Spectrawave paused, grinning.

?Go ahead and spit it out now,? Inkenburg sighed at the undoubtedly bad joke that was about to come.

?Also, I suspect that Verticon would say that all the good tasting pieces are still there,? Spectrawave finished a hasty job of cleaning himself.

?I don?t know who scares me more; Her for thinking that or you for knowing what she would say,?

Just then there came a mechanical shriek, echoing through all the tunnels. Inkenburg brought his gun up while Spectrawave activated all his scanners. His visor flashed through several display screens at rapid pulses.

?I can?t get a lock on it. It?s echoing from all around us,?

?What about Verticon?? Inkenburg looked at him worriedly.

Spectrawave shook his head, his visor retracting to its space. ?She?s not showing up on any of my scopes. This rock is causing problems, but not that many,?

?Do you have a lock on her last known location??

Spectrawave nodded. Inkenburg transformed into jet mode. The screaming whine of his engines was unbearably loud in the enclosed location.

?Get on!?

***

Chapter IV

Verticon powered her optics up enough to not be noticeable. She was laying prone on what she could only assume to be the operating table she saw earlier. Looking up, she saw the hanging heads of some of the ?trophies?, along with other body parts very close to her face.
Listening, she detected what might have been humming, although it sounded like electronic beeping. It sounded far off, like its owner was minding his own business. She decided to make a break for it while she could.
Her pistols and laser sword had been taken from her; however, her forearm shield generators were still in her possession. Her captor no doubt thought they were part of her physical makeup.
She began twisting her arms, trying to bang them against the table in an attempt to activate the shield and break her energy binders. The humming stopped and Verticon worked faster.

?That will do you no good,? Said the voice of her captor.

?Yeah, why not?? Verticon asked, still struggling.

?Because I removed the power cored from the generators,?

?Watch this,? Verticon commented, managing to activate the shield. Nothing happened.

?You see??

Verticon sank back onto the table, exhausted from the effort. ?What do you want with me??

?The same thing I want from all my guests. Life,?

The stranger stepped out into the pale light of the operation area. He was a black robot with blue and red highlights, about the same height as Spectrawave. His body was cylindrical in shape, with a shoulder guard over his right arm. His arm itself slopped down into a point that was obviously used for interchangeable heads. Currently, it was occupied by what looked like a cutting tool. His face held no emotion in it, yet he was grinning. His left optic had been replaced with a telescopic scanner, making him look as if he was wearing a monocle.

?Who the slitch are you?? Verticon demanded. ?Wait, let me guess. Your name is ?Professor Evil?. No-no, better yet: ?The Blue Dildo?,?

?Oh, pardon me. I forgot how you Decepticons enjoy ceremony,? He said and his voice changed from scratchy to dramatic and deep. ?I am Bashmaster, artist extraordinaire,? He said, bowing.

?Artist?? Verticon asked skeptically, looking him over.

?Well, yes. Admitently, I do many things. I record history, perform operations and design structures. However as an artist, I?m more of a sculptor. Of the living and the dead actually,? His voice changed once again. ?Would you like to see my work??

?Oh, this should be original,? Verticon muttered.

?Why yes, it will be,? Bashmaster said, the insult not connecting.

He pushed a button on the wall and it slid back, revealing a turntable. On it were several ?sculptures?, each one a mound of slag with barely recognizable features. The current piece had arms sticking out of the top, hands outstretched. The base was decorated with hundreds of optic sensors.

?I call this one, ?punished arms outstretched?,? Bashmaster said with much flare, as if Verticon cared.

Verticon stared in shock at the grotesque sculpture. A lot of work had obviously been put into it, especially when Bashmaster had to GET the pieces first. Suddenly she understood. Bashmaster wasn?t a psychopath, or an evil world leader. He was crazy. Flat. Out. Crazy.

?You?re crazy. You know that, right?? She asked.

?Is it crazy to love one?s work?? He said, rotating the sculptures to the next one. ?This next one is interesting because the centerpiece was very difficult to get. I actually acquired it just before the Second Great War--?

?Wait a cycle!? Verticon exclaimed. ?You can?t be that old,?

?And why not?? Bashmaster acted like he was hurt; as crazy as he was, he might actually have been.

?Because the Second Great War was over twenty-five million years ago. No spark can last that long. Even Shockwave is dead,? Verticon stated.

?Ah! Therein lays the catch,? He stepped forward, his voice once again changing.

?You?re either crazy? lying? or you really are as old as you say. Which would account for you being insane,? Verticon pieced the puzzle together.

?Go on,? Bashmaster said darkly.

?But that leave the problem of your spark. It should have extinguished by now. Unless??? Verticon trailed off, allowing Bashmaster to fill in the answer that she didn?t know.

?Unless I had no spark to begin with!? Bashmaster thrustted a pointed finger into the air. ?Eureka!?

?But how is that possible?? Verticon asked.

She was stalling for time, allowing Spectrawave and Inkenburg to figure out that something was wrong and to come find her. She didn?t really feel like taking on a madman all be herself. Even if she wasn?t restrained. Besides, she was honestly curious about what he had to say, at least until he started to cut her apart.

?I was an experimental drone created by the Quintessons. My purpose was to see if I could handle all the aspects of a Transformer without having a spark. After I was created, the Cybertronians overthrew their Quintesson masters. I managed to escape detection while drones like me were gathered up and destroyed,? Bashmaster?s voice changed again.
?I worked as a medical unit, where I has access to the dictatrix of different beings. I stole these and incorporated them into myself, expanding my knowledge and skills. As I took on different jobs, I would absorb the personalities of different Transformers into myself.
?Sometimes I would come across the dictatrix in my jobs. Other times I would have to kill. Soon enough some one figured out what I was doing and hunted me down. I fled Cybertron, going from world to world, taking in data whenever possible,?

?So, you actually have the personalities and memories of all the mechs you killed? They?re stored in your head?? Verticon asked, beginning to understand.

?That is correct,? Bashmaster?s voice changed again. ?You might say I?m a collector of lives. Isn?t it wonderful?? He asked in what Verticon assumed was a femme?s voice.

?What?s with all the body parts?? Verticon asked.

?Some are trophies. Some I save for spare parts. I sometimes need to update myself. I go to great lengths to get the parts that I need,? Bashmaster?s voice quivered, a sign of multiple personalities fighting for control. ?I also enjoy improving other bots, such as yourself,?

?Helpless little girls,? Verticon stated, meaning any other femme other then herself.

?Yes and no,? Bashmaster?s voice changed back to his educational tone. ?The female form does hold a certain appeal, simply because I don?t get the chance to poke around inside that many. But I myself find no male-pleasure in it. I was created a genderless drone. I remain that way. Only my current processor dictates voice and frame of mind,?

?You?re sick. You cut up bots and desecrate their bodies, then take their memories and their lives as your own!? Verticon shouted, angry and fed up.

?I would not say such things if I were you,? Bashmaster said darkly, stepping forward. Is interchangeable hand retracted and returned with a buzz saw. ?I need one last piece for my newest project. I?m going to call it ?Eternal Death?. Would you like to guess what that piece is??

?Not really,? Verticon said, struggling at her restraints again as Bashmaster?s shadow fell over her.

There were few times in Verticon?s life that she was truly scared. The first time she was raped, the first time she stared down the glowing end of Megatron?s fusion cannon, the first time her spacecraft exploded around her. All those few instances were moments when she had no control over the situation, and was reminded just how weak and puny she really was. As Bashmaster started cutting into her, laughing maniacally, she noted her current situation as another time for her being truly scared. She had no control at all, and all she could do was scream. So she did.

***

?I?m telling you, I?m getting nothing on radar at all,? Inkenburg said. They had arrived at Verticon?s last known location, only to find it empty. They?d spread out down different tunnels looking for her.

?Okay, let me use my sound reading again,? Spectrawave said, extending his right hand which was a listening device.

?I hope she?s okay,? Inkenburg said.

?Is that concern I hear?? Spectrawave teased.

?Well, she said a lot of things that knocked some sense into me. She was right. I haven?t acted much like a Decepticon ever. The entire war I spent avoiding confrontation. And now that it?s over, I?ve sealed myself off from others. I can?t do that,? Inkenburg said thoughtfully.

?So what are you going to do about it?? Spectrawave asked, still scanning.

?Well, since I only ever claimed allegiance to the Decepticons in name and race only, I?m sure none of them will want to see me. I have a few Autobot friends, but I don?t really feel like living on Cybertron under subjugation. Besides, I doubt there?s much Lieger could do to help,? They both laughed at the crack at their mutual friend. ?So I guess what I?m asking is can I stay with you and Verticon while I find my place??

?Fine by me,? Spectrawave said. ?But you?ll have to run it by Verticon. You may change you mind after this is through beca--? Spectrawave stopped in mid sentence.

?What is it?? Inkenburg whispered, trying not to interfere with the equipment.

Spectrawave looked at his friend with a fallen face. ?Screaming,?

***

Verticon screamed till her vocal processors gave out. Bashmaster hadn?t bothered to use the armor latches to access internal systems, as most beings would. He simply powered on his saw and split her open from her neck to her midriff. Using a hydraulic clamp, he rammed it into Verticon?s chest and powered it up. Her chest and torso pealed back at unnatural angles.
Bashmaster tinkered around inside her torso till he found what he was looking for. With blatant disregard for her internal systems, he manhandled around inside her and forced his war up to her shoulder. He began disengaging her right arm from her motor systems, humming as he went. With the snapping of metal that Verticon felt more then heard, he broke off the connections. Setting his grip in place on her left arm, Bashmaster pulled hard. With the shrieking of metal, Verticon?s arm popped out of socket and came completely out.
Verticon had an extremely high tolerance to pain. Some of it was natural Decepticon endurance, and some she had built up over the years. She rarely went into stasis lock, as she saw it as a weakling?s way out. But as her tormentor ripped her open and removed pieces from her, Verticon gave serious consideration to going into stasis lock. She was sure, however, that she would still feel everything that went on. So instead she shut down her systems before Bashmaster could burn them out.
As Bashmaster walked away with his newly acquired arm, Verticon began to tremble. She?s never trembled before in her life, and was shocked to find herself caught up in the involuntary motor reflex. Trembling, and with the cold wind blowing through her insides which were now outside, Verticon tried not to cry.
Humming again, Bashmaster walked back towards her. He moved around to behind her head where she wouldn?t see. As she heard the buzz saw power up, her fear intensified. She felt every spin of the blade as it carefully cut through her cranium. The noise was more unbearable then the pain. Verticon shut down all her systems, just short of powering down completely.
The saw stopped and Verticon once again heard Bashmaster humming some ancient war hymn. She felt as he inserted his pry bar, which he had exchanged from his blade, into the new incision on her head. There was a popping sound as her cranial circuits were suddenly exposed to the air.
Bashmaster looked down at the mass of circuits and blinking lights. He quickly and efficiently removed a paned that was covered by wires. Her central cerebral matrix glistened below. Gently removing it from Verticon?s head, he placed it in his optic scanner and began downloading all the information. All other systems shutting down, he stood perfectly still while the information transferred.
Verticon powered up her optics. Without her central cerebral matrix, all her memories were lost and her programming was missing. She powered back on in default mode. Quickly assessing the situation, she searched her circuits. Her diagnostic programming was offline, as were most of her others. She could see her chest split open and exposed to the elements. That couldn?t be healthy. Accessing her backup memory drive, she assessed the last few cycles. Understanding, she looked up at her captor. He stood, powered down. If Verticon could turn off her energy binders, she could escape.
Far too soon for Verticon, Bashmaster powered back up. He removed Verticon?s central matrix from its data port and threw it down at her. It bounced once then landed inside her chest. Giving Verticon a grim smile, he selected an arm from the rack above and removed it.

?This should be interesting,? He said in Verticon?s voice.

***

Chapter V

Spectrawave and Inkenburg wan through the tunnels, trying to find any clue of where Verticon might be. They were running so fast that they failed to see the drag marks gouged into the stone, until Inkenburg tripped and fell flat on his face.

?What the--?? Inkenburg stammered, picking himself up.

?What are these?? Spectrawave asked, taking a closer look.

?Beats me. Come on, we?re running out of time,?

?Hold on, this is important,? Spectrawave insisted, examining the marks. ?If think is the only clue we have, then we should take it,?

?Fine,? Inkenburg said. ?Let?s just go,?

?Right,? Spectrawave agreed, standing up. ?This way,?

***

?You know,? Verticon?s voice echoed. ?You really shouldn?t feel bad. At least now you have some one that understand you,? Bashmaster leaned inside Verticon?s chest again, reattaching a connector rod to her arm. ?You really shouldn?t think so low of yourself. You?re kinda pretty. Well? you were,? Verticon?s voice teased.

?You? bastard?? Verticon struggled to get through her broken vocal processor.

?Now that?s not nice,? Verticon?s voice teased again. Somehow she sounded much younger and cuter coming out of a monstrosity that shouldn?t exist.

Bashmaster tightened the connector rod and then nodded. He stepped back and looked.

?All done,? He grinned, his voice changing. ?Take a look. Oh, I forgot, you don?t have enough power,?

Verticon tried to raise her left arm, but it flopped uselessly back to the table beside her. Her internal power reserves were almost depleted and her backup memory had reached its re-record point.

?You should be dead in a few cycles,? Bashmaster complimented. ?But I?d like you to know that I?ve enjoyed our time together. I find your memories and personality quite amusing,?

Verticon coughed and attempted to raise her arm again.

***

?It?s a dead end,? Inkenburg said as they stood in the same passageway that Verticon had stood in only cycles before.

?I?m getting some strange reading from that wall up ahead,? Spectrawave announced as he stepped forward.

He retracted his sensor array and replaced it with his right hand again. Looking at Inkenburg, they both nodded and drew their weapons. Approaching the wall, they could hear voices from within.

?Five creds says this is just a hologram,? Inkenburg challenged.

?You?re on,? Spectrawave grinned.

They both backed up to get better speed. Taking a running start, they both plowed headlong into the side of the tunnel. The wind knocked out of them, they both fell to the floor.

?Okay,? Inkenburg gasped. ?That other wall there,?

Much more cautiously this time, they approached the other wall. Spectrawave placed his hand on it and felt the energy radiating off it. He nodded to Inkenburg and they both stepped through.
They entered the dark laboratory and stared around in shock. The carnage that they had seen previously had all taken place in these confines. Spectrawave noticed the hanging body parts and started to point them out when Inkenburg beat him to the punch.

?Move!? He shouted, throwing Spectrawave out of the way. Metal tendrils wrapped around Inkenburg, holding him in place and rendering him immobile.

?Hey!? Spectrawave shouted, activating his laser sword arm. The tendrils turned to the direction of the sound just in time to be cut to pieces. More shot out towards him, but Spectrawave quickly cut them down.

?We?ve got to find Verticon and get out of here,? Spectrawave said.

?That won?t be so easy,? Verticon?s voice said. They both turned to see Bashmaster standing there.

?Who the frell are you?? Inkenburg demanded.

?I?m Verticon,? Bashmaster replied, his high voice sounding hurt.

?Like hell you are. Spectrawave! Find Verticon! I?ll hold this guy off,? Inkenburg charged.

He extended his claw arm, attacking the larger robot. He crashed into Bashmaster and sent him flying backwards. Bashmaster landed on one of his sculptures, crushing it.

?My artwork!? Bashmaster shrieked. He stood up and powered on his saw. ?I?ll teach you to come between an artist and his work!? Bashmaster said in a deep voice.

?Artist, eh?? Inkenburg laughed. ?Fine then. Artist verses artist, lets rumble,?

***

Spectrawave ignored the sounds of battle going on behind him. He was intent of finding Verticon. With so few places in the cave, it wasn?t hard.

?Verticon! What did he do to you?!? Spectrawave demanded, his rage building. Giving her a quick look over, he assessed the situation. ?Okay, your power levels are dropping way too fast and your central cerebral matrix is missing. Do you know where it is?? Spectrawave asked.

Verticon could barely shake her head. Spectrawave understood that she didn?t remember. He thought a moment. He accessed his scanner arm and reversed polarities, essentially turning it into a magnet. Small objects from around the lab started flying towards him. He caught them all, looking for Verticon?s piece. There was a clanking from inside her chest and her central matrix flew out and collected with his sensor array.
Spectrawave powered off the frequency as he stepped around to behind Verticon?s head. Taking her central cerebral matrix, he gently put it back in place. Looking around quickly, he checked to see that nothing else had been damaged. Spectrawave?s internal computer went off, alerting him.

?Warning: Unit Verticon Approaching Permanent Shutdown In 3 Cycles,? The female voice stated with machine like coldness.

?This is gona be close?? Spectrawave muttered.

***

Inkenburg slammed into a table full of parts. Bashmaster wasn?t as frail as he first looked. Bringing his claw arm up, he blocked an attack from his opponent?s weapon. Bashmaster brought his saw down on Inkenburg?s upheld arm, slicing through it. Inkenburg screamed as one of his pincers clattered to the floor.

?You?ll pay for that scum,? Inkenburg threatened, cradling his severed limb. ?You?ll pay for everything??

?That?s what they tell me,? Bashmaster responded, his voice changing again. ?But I tend to disagree. You see, I know every fighting style ever created,? He dodged an attack from Inkenburg. ?I even know your fighting style, Inkenburg,? Verticon?s voice teased.

?Yeah, you only know what Verticon?s seen me do. And if you look at her memories, she never liked me much, so she never watched me fight dirty!? Inkenburg yelled as he fired a concussion missile at point blank range.

The thrust from his missile launching pushed him back out of the kill zone of the explosion. However the blast itself still sent him flying, crashing into a wall. He looked up just in time to see the ceiling come down on top of him.

***

He placed Verticon?s skullcap back on her exposed head. Interchanging tools once again, he spot-welded it into place. It was a temporary job, but it would hold. Spectrawave then moved around to Verticon?s chest. Looking at her new arm, inside and out, he shook his head.

?We?ll have to deal with this later. Right now I?ve got to patch you up and get some energy into you,?

Spectrawave removed the hydraulic lift from Verticon?s torso. The two halves closed together a little from stress, but did not move all the way. Bashmaster had bent the metal up at an unnatural angle, and it was going to stay there. Spectrawave grabbed the two sides and heaved them together, using his strength and weight to bend them back.

?Warning: Permanent Shutdown Imminent,? Spectrawave?s internal computer chimed again.

?Sorry kiddo,? Spectrawave breathed as he flash welded her chest back together.

Smashing the energy binders, Spectrawave quickly but gently took Verticon in his arms. He accessed her remote transformation, which he shared with Verticon and at one time Dialatius. She transformed into cassette mode, metal grinding and scraping together. Her new arm flopped to the side, making transformation imperfect, along with whatever else Bashmaster had screwed up when he manhandled his way around inside Verticon.
Opening his chest, he placed her inside. He felt the reassuring connection of his partner inside him, but the fear that she was dangerously close to death. He opened up their energy transfer connection, and started pouring energy into her. It would quickly take its toll on him, but it would keep Verticon alive.
Spectrawave heard an explosion, and turned in time to see a fireball enveloping Bashmaster and exploding several objects around him. Spying Inkenburg buried under the cave in, Spectrawave rushed over to help his friend. He dug him out quickly, and Inkenburg appeared to be okay. He was missing a pincer on his claw arm, and had several dents on his chassis caused by being buried.

?You okay?? Spectrawave asked.

?I?m fine,? Inkenburg assured him, staring at the fire.

?I?ve got Verticon. Let?s get her out of here,? Spectrawave said, turning to the exit.

?You go,? Inkenburg stepped forward with murder in his optics. ?I have to end this monstrosity?s life,?

?Yeah,? Spectrawave said, looking back. ?But we can always get him later,?

?No. Now,? Inkenburg approached the fire.

He stooped to pick up his severed pincer from the ground. It was hot from the heat of the explosion, but relatively unharmed. As he approached the fire, he could see Bashmaster inside it. Stepping in, he raised his makeshift stake above his head, ready to stab in into Bashmaster?s unmoving form.
Bashmaster stood upright with a binary scream. His chest had been totally destroyed, allowing light to shine through from the back. His armor was missing in several places including his face, exposing his endo-skeleton and giving his the look of death. Inkenburg doubled over, covering his audio receptors with his hands. Bashmaster stared at Inkenburg, not understanding.

?Base programming two. Defend life. Repel attackers. Do not override programming one,? A drones voice came out of Bashmaster. He stared at his left utility arm as it was severed from its elbow with a small explosion.

?Inkenburg! Run!? Spectrawave said, aiming his rifle. Before he could fire again, the auto defense tendrils attacked him. They held him immobile for Bashmaster to deal with.

With a flashing of his scanner optic, Bashmaster switched mental tracks again. ?You think you can stop me?!? He yelled at Inkenburg, picking him up above his head with one hand. ?I?m not even alive! I feed off others. In this way I will always be around!?

?No,? Inkenburg stated, thrusting his pincer arm into Bashmaster?s optic. Bashmaster screamed and dropped Inkenburg to the ground, kneeling as he cradled his shattered optic.

?I?m going to make sure you never kill another living soul,? Inkenburg stated, picking up his severed pincer again from where he had dropped it.

?You!? Inkenburg said, bringing his makeshift club down on Bashmaster?s head.

?Will!? He smashed it down again, crumpling Bashmaster?s skull plate.

?Leave!? Bashmaster tried to raise his arm in self-defense, but Inkenburg crushed it with his club, rendering it useless.

?My friends!? Inkenburg slammed into Bashmaster again, who gave out a shutter.

Bashmaster looked up, his one optic flashing away, silently pleading for life. ?Inkenburg?? Verticon?s quiet voice begged.

?ALONE!!!? Inkenburg brought down his club one last time.

It crushed Bashmaster?s head like an aluminum can. He dropped to the ground, all systems offline. Spectrawave was released as the remote tendril?s controller died. Inkenburg breathed heavily a few times, his energy drained. Flicking the mech fluid off his pincer, he walked back to Spectrawave.

?Is he??? Spectrawave asked, his gun trained on Bashmaster?s body.

?Dead,? Inkenburg stated assuredly. ?Let?s get out of here,?

***

Amidst the flames and carnage, Bashmaster?s ruined body lay there. A small green diode flickered on and off on Bashmaster?s scanner optic. A computer in the far corner of his ruined laboratory powered on, connected remotely to Bashmaster. As it began the information download, a secret panel opened up on the wall. Inside was a rack of forms. As the rack circled around, it stopped with one to the front and released it. Dropping to the floor, it stopped for a moment while the information transfer completed.
The form walked into the light and looked around. It looked like Bashmaster, but a totally different version. He now possessed hellfire missile launchers in both shoulder pads. His left arm was a familiar looking femmebot?s arm, now painted blue. His right arm now possessed new attachments including a laser whip and flamethrower. He was slightly shorter with more blue then before, but his head looked exactly the same. He twisted, stretching his new systems.

?Did they really think that was my only body? Are they so foolish that they think I?m that easy to kill?? Bashmaster laughed. Looking around, he thought a moment. ?This is a loss. They will be here soon to clean up and destroy my beautiful artwork. That?s Fine, because I know that Cybertron shut down. And there, no one can escape me,? Bashmaster grinned with evil intent.

***

Epilogue

Verticon and Inkenburg sat in the station?s medical facilities, admiring their new battle scars. As soon as they had returned to the surface and alerted the mine?s management, they?d sent down a cleanup crew. That had given Spectrawave time to complete repairs on his friends.

?This is great!? Inkenburg said, admiring his claw arm. ?You can?t even tell that it was ever broken. The welds are so clean,?

?Give it a few cycles,? Spectrawave said, rubbing his neck after a long day of repairs. ?The scars should heal up just fine so you won?t even notice them. Well? Some scars,?

Both Spectrawave and Inkenburg looked over at Verticon. She was quietly looking herself in a reverse-holo. Forced to remove his previous fixed and re-weld everything, Verticon possessed some nasty scars. She was thankful that the one around her head followed the natural lines, so it was mostly unnoticeable. The weld joint down her center would always be visible, no matter how much time or paint she gave it. And then there were other things.
Lifting her left arm, she gave it a good look. It was bland, gunmetal gray, in stark contract to the rest of her porcelain and crimson body. Probably coming off a combat drone, it was round in its proportions. Mounted on a multi-directional ball socket, her upper arm ended on another joint at her elbow. She could work just as good behind her back as in front. The only drawback was her hand. It possessed two bulky fingers and a thumb, making microsurgery impossible.
Verticon spun her wrist all the way around then clenched her and into a fist. She punched the wall, leaving a dent and deactivating the hologram.

?You know what this means right?? She demanded, facing Spectrawave and Inkenburg.

?Yes,? Spectrawave answered quietly.

?It means I can?t be a medic any more. It means that even if we found my old arm, there?s too much internal scaring on the connector rod. It means I?m useless!? Verticon cried.

?It can?t be that bad, Ver,? Inkenburg tried to help.

?How would you know? You weren?t even in the war!? She stuck one of her new fingers out at him. ?I was a medic. It was the only thing that kept me going. Even after the war, I was still useful. Now look at me! LOOK AT ME!? Verticon screamed in anger. ?Why?d you have to kill him, Inkenburg? Why?d you have to save me? Why couldn?t you have left me to die??

Verticon buried her face in her hands and cried. Spectrawave grabbed her in a hug and she bawled into his chest. There was a chime at the door and it opened. Kriss Runstar stepped in and looked around at the situation.

?Is this a bad time?? she asked, concerned.

?No,? Spectrawave answered, still holding Verticon.

?What?s up?? Inkenburg asked, stepping forward. He was taking charge, giving Spectrawave a chance to calm Verticon down.

?Well, I just wanted to let y?all know that the clean up team just got back,? Kriss said. ?Even though y?all technically didn?t bring the body back with y?all, management decided to go ahead and pay y?all the full five thousand,? She said, holding out a stack of credits.

?How wonderful,? Inkenburg said in a deadpan tone as he took the money.

?Also, we drug a ton of equipment out of those caverns. Y?all are welcome to take some of it if ya want.

?Thanks,? Inkenburg said. ?By the way, what happened to all the body parts?? He asked, thinking of Verticon?s arm.

?That?s my other news. I?m going into the spare parts business!?

?EEW!? Inkenburg and Spectrawave exclaimed at the same time.

Kriss laughed. ?Yeah. But seriously, I didn?t find your friend?s arm. I already looked. Sorry. Listen, y?all are more then welcome to stay. We can always use the extra help and it might be fun to have y?all around. Just a thought,?

?Thanks Kriss,? Inkenburg said as she left. He turned back to Spectrawave and Verticon, who had stopped heaving. ?So now what do we do?? He asked.

?I guess we could stay here--? Spectrawave suggested.

?No,? Verticon cut him off. ?We?re leaving. I have to get out of this nightmare,?

?I thought I?d stay and help Kriss,? Inkenburg thought slowly.

?You two do whatever you like. But I?m leaving and I?m never coming back,? Verticon stated as she left the room.

?I have to go with Verticon,? Spectrawave stated. ?We?re all the other one has left. She?s gona need more now more then ever,?

?I understand,? Inkenburg said sadly. ?I guess this is where we part ways,?

?I guess so,? Spectrawave said, holding out his left hand. Inkenburg grasped it. ?You owe me five credits, by the way,?

?What? Why?? Inkenburg demanded.

?Because that wall wasn?t a hologram. It was solid rock,?

?I meant the other wall!? Inkenburg exclaimed.

?Too bad. The one we bet on wasn?t a hologram. You lose. Pay up,? Spectrawave smiled, holding out his hand.

Inkenburg stared at his friend a moment then began dividing out the credits. ?Here are your five credits and your split of the five thousand,?

?This is more then my split,? Spectrawave said, trying to hand some of it back.

?I know. But you and Verticon are going to need it. I have work here, I?ll be fine,? Inkenburg insisted.

?You?re a good friend, Inkenburg. Ya know, you turned out to be a true Decepticon in the end,?

?Thanks. That means a lot to me,? Inkenburg said.

?Well,? Spectrawave grinned. ?Knowing how borderline I am, I don?t know how much it means coming from me,?

They both laughed.

***

?Well, here we go again,? Spectrawave said as he kicked the shuttle?s thrusters into high.

?Yeah,? Verticon said quietly, clenching her new fist. ?Again,?

End