dances a dance of utterly ridiculous insane joy. Go dance. WHOOHOO! I IS DONE WIT A CHAPTER! Mmm-yep, 'tis an UPDATE! w00t! dance dance dance faints

five minutes later…

I shouldn't be dancing that much. It'll use up all my sugar high… Reviews!

Haley Macrae: Hi, and thankee much for the inspiration. You've added yet another bunny to the clan of NtMF. I've named him Danny.

Pretty in Scarlet: Thank you! And thanks for being patient. Eheh… think I took enough time on that update? whistles innocently I can't help it if every time I start to write chapter nine I lose it at school… Well, maybe I can…

Seeker Nami: Petro-rabbits? Are they like plotbunnies? None for me, thanks!… Wait, I remember your petro-rabbits. Worse than bunnies. DEFINITELY none for me! Yeah, it is sad when people laugh at different people. Who's gotten that before? raises hand For being a Transfan, for being a smart female, for not having a tan (okay, I'm pale), for not being sexually active (icky hormone-saturated boys), et cetera and so forth. Poor Cy. He needs all the hugs he can get. huggles the poor psycho

Soryu: Thank you much. People like my Cy/Snowcat. Yay!

Pivot: Pivvy! I'll review Overwhelmed as soon as I have time. Which'll probably be right after I post this, hopefully… Cy didn't have a rotor before Earth? consults Armada screenshots By the Pit! Starscream looks like a GO-BOT! Er… cough Back on topic. Maybe Cy took off his rotor during transportation from Cybertron to Earth? You don't just get reconfigured and suddenly know how to fly, after all. He knew how to fly before, and knowing how different helicopters are from jets, he couldn't have been ground-bound or a seeker on Cybertron. He HAD to have had a rotor! It just makes more sense. Switching topics again: golden honey? snerk That IS what it looks like…

Seiberwing: Yes. Psychology is fun. Very, very fun… And of COURSE Ironhide's gonna go insane! He's locked in a room with Snowcat! Or Cyclonus. Whatever. As to whether or not Demolisher's gonna get back all right; I sure hope so. He's cool! However, I find I have very little control over my plotbunnies. I had a bunny where G1 Starscream died (again), and I didn't want him to! But try telling the bunnies that…

The first part of this is Snowcat/Cy's past, but oddly, past that, he's not in this chapter. I had to cut this chapter in half (due to the fact that I lost the papers with half of chapter nine… they're in my room somewhere), so he'll be in the next chapter.

Oh, and we see the glorious return of an ex-character! Well, maybe not so glorious. Poor guy.

Final note: thanks again to Pivot for beta-ing!

Disclaimer: C'mon. Seriously. What do you think? Exactly.

…

Two moons orbited Cybertron. One, dubbed Tempest ages ago, was avoided by Autobots and Decepticons alike. It was rumored to be cursed, and the only beings that dared explore it were a few Minicons desperate to escape the war, but eventually they all came back. Despite the fact that it was the larger of the two moons, no one dare claim it, and neither Optimus Prime nor Megatron pushed the matter. Tempest was, quite simply, off-limits.

The other moon, Cicatrix, was fair game, and control of it switched frequently. Currently, the Decepticons were in charge, operating from Moonbase RQM, in a crater that the Decepticons liked to call a valley. It sounded better that way.

Six towering ridges of shoved-up rock bordered the crater ("mountains"), guarding it from any ground forces. The only way anyone could get in was by flying, and the near-circular shape of the crater kept unwanted ships from sneaking up on the Moonbase. It was a nearly invincible stronghold, perfect for storing dangerous weapons and plans for more. And if a foolish Autobot team did try to infiltrate the valley, they'd just be good target practice.

But, occasionally, there was a foolish Autobot team, and when that happened, the Decepticons were usually too surprised to react fast enough. Which was why there was a small team of Autobots with a stolen Decepticon weapon, easily fighting off sixty-odd Decepticons. And that's when the rest of the Decepticon reinforcements arrived.

A Decepticon dropship landed on a small ledge on the crater's rim (on a southern "mountain"). The sound of explosions and laserfire thundered up the six "mountains" surrounding the crater. Leaning against the wall of the dropship, Cyclonus felt the vibrations of a particularly loud explosion. He fought back a whimper. It was his first battle, and if the dropship came equipped with chairs, he'd have sat down long ago. As it was, he was bracing himself against the garage door-like walls, anxiously waiting for his orders.

"Welcome to Moonbase RQM, men," their captain, the sniper Reshot, said from the front of the dropship. The Decepticons stopped their conversations to look at him. "As you can tell, things aren't going too good" another vibration rocked the ship, "which is why we've been called in. Now, a lot of you have probably never been off Cybertron, right? How many of you have never fought off-planet?"

Cyclonus raised his hand, along with about sixty percent of the group. 'I'm probably the only one who's never fought anywhere, though,' Cyclonus thought.

Reshot's shoulders slumped. "Okay... I didn't think it would be this many. This is gonna be tricky. I guess I should explain the situation." Reshot stepped next to a pillar and pushed a button on the side. A holographic bird's-eye view of the six quasi-peaks that surrounded the crater appeared, with an orange cluster on the east side of the crater. Using the end of his sniper rifle, Reshot pointed to the cluster of buildings. "This is Moonbase RQM. It's fairly small, with only thirty or so Decepticons guarding it at one time, but it's well defended." Reshot paused, then added, "We have eighty Minicons on guard here."

The soldiers murmured appreciatively. Eighty Minicons! At one base! It was hard enough to find eight within a hundred miles of each other, much less eighty at one little base.

"There is a reason, of course, for this security," Reshot said, and the murmuring died down. "About a month and a half ago, a new Minicon gestalt team was uncovered here. For the time being, it's been named the RQM Blaster. The three Minicons that make it were kept here," Reshot pointed at the building at the very center of the base, "until three days ago, when an Autobot team of about ten infiltrated the base, stole the RQM Blaster, and shot their way back to 15 Autobots hidden here." Reshot pointed to the left of the mountain on top of the hologram. "The Minicons stationed here distracted them long enough for more of our guys to get here. We're part of the second wave of reinforcements."

Reshot pushed a button, and the hologram image shimmered and disappeared. "So, these are your objectives; kill as many Autobots as possible, and recover the RQM Blaster by any means necessary. Now get outta here." Reshot pushed another button on the beam, and the walls rolled up. "And be careful around the Autobot with the Blaster!"

A few Decepticons started warily leaving the dropship, craning their necks as if they could see the RQM Blaster from the ledge they were on. Cyclonus was about to leave the ship himself when a voice asked the question they were all thinking. "Hey, what exactly does this RQM Blaster do?"

Reshot glared at the curious Decepticon, then reluctantly spoke to the whole group. "Well, you see, it"

His words were cut off as an explosion literally rocked the crater side. It jerked back, then forward, and sank down half a foot into the crater before it stabilized again. All the Decepticons were thrown from their feet except Cyclonus, who had freaked out and instinctively started his rotor.

Reshot slowly pushed himself to his knees. "That," he said slowly, trying to sound calm and failing miserably, "was the RQM Blaster."

Cyclonus, hovering just outside the dropship, stared down at the battlefield with horrified fascination. 'There's a gun down there that could chop six inches off a craterside? The base of it? How?' Cyclonus searched the battlefield far below for a flash of light that might betray the Blaster's location. 'What will it be like to be on the same battlefield as something like that? What would it be like to steal it back for the Decepticons?'

For the first time in his short life, Cyclonus was actually, honestly eager to do something. He wanted to see that Blaster. Cyclonus glanced at his fellow soldiers. None of them looked like they wanted to get up any time soon. Not that he wanted any of them to come. 'They aren't my friends,' Cyclonus thought, remembering what they had said about his rotor. Without waiting for the others, Cyclonus transformed and joined the battle.

…

((on Earth...))

Demolisher stood, hidden, about twenty feet above the entrance to Ocean City. The ornamentation on the outer walls wasn't very elaborate, but it was enough so that Demolisher could find a ledge on the wall where he couldn't be seen, but he could see the entrance.

There had to be some kind of security guarding the city. Demolisher just didn't know what. But if he could find out what it was maybe he could use it to get into the nanobot files in the datadisk library. Reverse engineering, or something. 'Slaggit, I don't know what I'm doing!' Demolisher thought. 'But this is the only idea I have right now.'

Bored, Demolisher looked down the road. Nothing, nothing... wait! A car!

'Finally!' Demolisher thought. 'I didn't think anyone would come today!' Demolisher had already been out there since dawn. About seven hours ago.

Demolisher watched the black vehicle draw closer, waited for it to slow down... and it never did. It just went straight through the entrance.

Demolisher stared in disbelief. "There's no security?" He quickly climbed down the wall and stared at the entrance. "None!" Demolisher ran inside and out again. Nothing.

"This is so stupid!" Demolisher yelled, firing a couple of experimental shots through the entrance. Nothing again. "What're the Autobots supposed to do if someone attacksHEY!"

A small LED bulb over the entrance turned red, and a metal wall slid down over the entrance. Demolisher stared at it a moment. 'Hey, this is the security I was looking for...' Demolisher started pounding on the door.

"SLAGGIN' AUTOBOTS! LET ME IN, FREAGGIT! IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR ME TO GO BACK TO THE DECEPTICONS!" Demolisher paused. "Uh not that I would!" he lied.

The door didn't open. Demolisher leaned against the door, thoroughly annoyed. "It's not like I wanted to be in there anyway," he muttered. 'But if Prime uses those stupid nanobots on me because I'm out here, I'm gonna kick his skidplate from here to Cybertron.'

Reluctantly settling in for the long wait ahead, Demolisher sat on the ground, leaning his head against the door and puling his knees up to his chest. Apparently, people only came by every seven hours.

It was, by a human's standards, a "nice" day outside, to Demolisher's chagrin. The sky was the same ugly shade as an Autobot's optics, the sun was the same shape and color as the top of a radioactive mushroom, and two sea gulls were wheeling lazily above the road. Demolisher watched them circle a few times.

'Wait a second…' Demolisher sat up, watching the birds more closely. Something seemed wrong about the gulls. They were just a little too big, their circles a little too perfect. Demolisher stood up, still keeping an optic on them. After a couple of minutes, they hadn't flapped their wings once to stay up. 'They could be Terrorcons… but what would two be doing out here?'

After considering his options (follow the birdies or wait for an Autobot to let him in), Demolisher transformed and headed towards the ersatz gulls. If there were Terrorcons, then Decepticons had to be nearby. And if Decepticons were around, maybe they'd have a plan to rescue him.

Demolisher stopped under the "gulls," transformed, and looked straight up. They were definitely Terrorcons. But what were they doing out here?

"Don't move." Demolisher felt a light pressure on the back of his head. A blade of some kind. "Do not contact the Autobots, do not attack the Terrorcons or me, and do not try to escape. I have orders to kill you if you do."

"Why would I do any of that? I'm on your side," Demolisher said. "So Starscream, does Megatron have a plan to get me out of here yet?"

"Well…" The pressure from the blade lightened a bit when Starscream saw Demolisher wasn't about to radio the Autobots. "No, not yet. We wanted to see why you're here, first. You are being kept here against your will, right?"

"Well duh!" Demolisher pointed to his back. "See that? That's the biggest slaggin' Decepticon logo anyone in this army's ever worn, and I'm not about to take it off!"

"All right then." The pressure disappeared entirely. Demolisher turned to face Starscream.

"So, if you're not here by choice, what are you doing with the Autobots?"

"They put these nanobot things in me. If I do anything wrong, they can kill me from the inside out," Demolisher winced at the memory of the first time the nanobots were used against him. "And they're really painful."

Starscream nodded. "So, where are they? Inside you?"

"Yeah. When they're not activated, they're just floating in my mech-fluid."

Starscream shuddered. "That's disgusting."

"I know," Demolisher said. "They're in there all the time, just sitting there until I mess up badly enough and they get to kill me." He kicked the ground angrily. "They're just FLOATING there! And what if they malfunction, huh? I could die today, and the slaggin' Autobots would just watch because they'd think I'd done something wrong and deserved it! What if the nanobots go psycho and take over my body! What THEN?" Demolisher whirled around and shook his fists at Ocean City. "I'll get you for this, Prime!"

Starscream raised his sword and made a quick cut on Demolisher's wrist. "Hey!" Demolisher grabbed his arm. "What was that for?"

"Your yelling was annoying," Starscream said, then looked up and gestured to one of the Terrorcons. It started flying towards them. "And besides, I needed a sample of your mech-fluid."

The Terrorcon landed, looked between the two Decepticons, and immediately attacked Demolisher's arm. Demolisher yelped and tried to knock it off.

"Calm down," Starscream said crossly. "It's just trying to get the mech-fluid you're leaking."

"I don't want it to get my mech-fluid!" Demolisher finally knocked the Terrorcon off. It floated a few feet away. A pink pearl-like crystal formed on its back, where the Energon stars usually formed. Demolisher backed away from the Terrorcon, then hesitantly asked, "Is that my…?"

"Yes." Starscream picked up the orb. "I'm taking this back to Unicron. We'll use it to find a way to get rid of the nanobots."

"Oh," Demolisher said weakly, then blurted out, "So, are you really a ghost?"

Starscream gave Demolisher a strange look. "What?"

"Uh, well, y'know, you used to be dead and now you're not, you can go invisible and stuff, you're not freaked out about holding someone else's mech-fluid…" Demolisher finally noticed the look Starscream was giving him. "Never mind," he mumbled.

Starscream gave Demolisher a final looked, then continued as if nothing had happened. "As soon as we come up with a way to get you out, we'll let you know. Keep watching for the Terrorcons." With that, Starscream shimmered out of view and the Terrorcon took off.

'He's a ghost,' Demolisher decided, and was about to leave, when he realized that maybe a ghost could get past the Energon towers, but a Terrorcon couldn't.

"Wait! Starscream!" Demolisher said. "How do you get past the Energon towers?"

For a long moment, Demolisher thought Starscream was gone. Just as he was about to give up and leave, a phantom voice spoke. "We go through an ozone hole. The Energon waves travel on the ozone layer, and since there's a gap there the Energon can't protect that spot." Starscream's voice lowered. "If you dare tell the Autobots about that hole…"

"I think they already know about the hole," Demolisher said, remembering something he'd seen on the human news channel, "but I won't tell them we can get in through it. I'd die first."

"Good. Because if you tell, you will," Starscream said. A second later, Demolisher decided he was finally alone and started the walk back to Ocean City.

Demolisher froze. He thought he'd felt something. Nothing physical, but… 'The nanobots!' Demolisher braced himself for the first dizzying wave of torture, and then realized it was only the com-link Prime had given him buzzing.

Feeling stupid, Demolisher flipped a mental switch to turn it on. "I'm coming, just open the slagging door! You idiots locked me out!"

There was a long, staticky pause. 'I bet not many Autobots answer the com-link like that,' Demolisher thought smugly.

"Um, what door?"

"The stupid entrance to the stupid city. I'm stuck outside."

"Oh, sorry," the Autobot said sheepishly. "We'll fix that. Anyway, after you get in, Optimus wants you to do something…"

"No! Really? Is that why you contacted me! I never would have guessed!" Demolisher exclaimed, transforming and heading back towards Ocean City.

The Autobot cleared his throat irritably, an Autobot habit that Demolisher didn't see the point of. "May I go on?"

"Oh, do pardon me and my abysmal Decepticon manners! Please, do continue!" Demolisher said cheerily. Once again, hanging out with Cyclonus had proved to be useful.

Demolisher could practically hear the Autobot trying to come up with a good reason to leave him locked outside. He finally sighed, another pointless Autobot habit. "Optimus said you should show the new guy around. While the Mercury Expedition is gone, and especially since Ironhide is with him," Demolisher stifled a chuckle, "we're short on help. So, we called in a couple of guys from Cybertron. The first got here today."

Demolisher had a flash of insight. "Is his alt-mode a black car?"

"Er, yes, it is. Have you met him?"

"No."

By the time Demolisher got back to Ocean City, the entrance was open again. He transformed and walked through the entrance as slowly as he could. 'Take that!' he thought smugly, right before the door slammed closed an inch behind his back.

Demolisher jumped forward with a small squeak, then whirled around to face the door. After two seconds of careful deliberation, Demolisher decided that the door was no longer his problem, as long as he was inside the city. Instead, he scanned the courtyard for the black Autobot. Black wasn't a very popular color in the Autobot ranks, but Demolisher still wasn't able to see him. "So, why do I have to show this guy around?"

"Because you're an Autobot now and should be willing to help out," the Autobot said coldly. 'He's probably wondering why I won't leave him alone,' Demolisher thought. 'Tough luck, bud, this is the most fun I've had in three weeks and I'm not about to stop.'

"Ha ha. Seriously."

The Autobot sighed wearily. "He's an ex-Decepticon, like you, and Optimus though it'd be best if someone like him showed him around."

"Oh. Great," Demolisher grumbled. He thought he'd just have to deal with some stupid Autobot. But no! He was stuck with a turncoat! 'Well, at least that explains his paint job.'

He decided to just go back to his quarters and act like he'd looked and never found the guy. Demolisher headed towards his barracks. "So, what's his name?" he asked as he keyed in the password to the barracks, idly wondering if it had been anyone he knew.

"His name is Wheeljack."

"It's what?" The barrack doors slid open and revealed a surprised black and gold 'Con, his hand about to type in the code to let himself outside. Demolisher gaped at him, instinctively switching his com-link off.

They stared at each other a long moment, trying to figure out what to say.

"... Nanobots, I take it?"

Wheeljack smiled sadly.

((On Unicron...))

Megatron was sitting in the core of Unicron, optics off, wired into his throne. He was watching Snowcat and Ironhide. Snowcat hadn't said anything for two days. He'd just sat on the ground and started making little marks with a rock.

Megatron frowned. 'The next time the Autobot's recharging,' he thought, 'Snowcat had better explain what he thinks he's doing.'

"Megatron! I talked to Demolisher! You were right, he's not with the Autobots by choice."

Megatron turned on his optics and glared at Starscream. "I already knew that. Now, did you really need to bother me to tell me that?"

"Um..." Starscream shrank back, his outlines shivering shimmering slightly. He wanted to disappear but was afraid to. "N-no sir, Megatron. Not really."

"I didn't think so," Megatron snarled, turning his optics back off.

"But I found out why he's with the Autobots."

Megatron turned his optics back on. Starscream shuddered, his form wavering as he leaned against the wall. He looked ready for a quick escape.

'Coward. What happened to the old Starscream? He may have been insubordinate but at least he wasn't afraid to fight!' Megatron thought bitterly. 'But, then again, I don't need another Shockblast...'

Pushing his thoughts aside, Megatron stood up, disconnecting the wires that attached him to Unicron. "So, what is Demolisher doing over there?"

Starscream became solid once more, confident that he wasn't about to have his head shot off. "He said the Autobots put nanobots in his mech-fluid, sir. If he does anything the Autobots don't want him to do, they'll activate and torture him. I think." Starscream shrugged. "Demolisher didn't exactly say what they did, but he implied that's what they'd do."

"He didn't say?" Megatron frowned. "You'd think that he wouldn't leave out information like that if he wanted to get away from the Autobots."

"That is suspicious, sir," Starscream said agreeably.

'Shut up.' "Is that all you learned from Demolisher?"

Starscream nodded. "And I got a sample of his mech-fluid, so we could find a way to neutralize the nanobots." He pulled out the crystallized orb and held it out. "He was reluctant to let me take it."

"Was he?" Megatron took the orb carefully. 'Demolisher has always been a loyal Decepticon. I wouldn't think he'd be the kind to switch factions...'

Megatron sat back down on his throne. With a single thought, he located the glass shards that had been one of Unicron's optics, shattered long before Alpha-Q had stolen his head. Megatron began carefully reconstructing the optic.

"Um... sir?" Starscream asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

"Making this so I can see the nanobots," Megatron muttered distractedly.

"Oh, I see," Starscream lied. He watched Megatron labor for a few minutes. After trying to figure out what Megatron was doing by watching, Starscream gave in to curiosity. "How does"

"Unicron's optics can magnify things billions of times," Megatron cut in, "which is how he was capable of seeing us. When he killed you ten years ago, it wasn't by chance. He could see you perfectly, down to the Decepticon insignia on your wings."

"Oh, right. I get it," Starscream lied again, wondering how Megatron knew about Unicron's optics and, not for the first time, what his previous life had been like. Apparently, he had at least been a Decepticon.

'Well, of course I was!' Starscream told himself. 'As if I'd ever even consider being an Autobot.' Satisfied that he'd been as loyal a Decepticon as they came, Starscream decided to just stand and wait until Megatron finished putting the optic back together.

"That should do it..." Megatron murmured, surveying a piece of glass about five feet tall and three feet wide. It was barely a spec of Unicron's optic, but it was more than large enough to serve their purposes. Megatron held out the orb for a wire from the roof to pick up and hold suspended behind the optic shard.

'Oh, so that's what Megatron's using the optic for,' Starscream thought. Though, of course, he'd NEVER actually doubted his leader. He simply hadn't understood him.

Starscream moved to Megatron's side so he could get a better view of the mech-fluid orb, and immediately wished he hadn't. Despite the fact that it was crystallized, the pinkish mech-fluid still seemed to be alive. Magnified by the glass of the green optic, the mech-fluid looked almost like a living, sentient liquid, frozen in its writhing just behind the glass. Starscream shivered and moved unconsciously closer to his leader.

'No wonder Demolisher didn't want to get near that orb,' Starscream thought. 'I don't want to, and it's not even my…'

Starscream jumped as the optic shattered. Megatron stood over the shards, trembling with rage. "No nanobots," he growled. "Demolisher... that dirty TRAITOR!"

Starscream backed away, his form wavering. This, he decided, would be a very good time to check up on Snowcat.

'This isn't going to be good for Demolisher…' Starscream thought, vanishing from view.

…..

Yay, it's FINISHED! I updated! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!

Oh, and please review.

Rin'nro Zeek'reet, ter'aon. B'wa!

Edit as of April 12, 2007 - two years after previous update:

I've had two reviews in recent times asking where I am; after all, the last post was March 2005. Both were anonymous reviews, and while I love both signed and anonymous reviews, I cannot reply to the anons if you don't leave an email address. Please, if you're going to ask me a question in a review, give me a way to contact you.

So. As to why this thing hasn't been updated, it's for a few reasons: 1) I think the first few chapters of this are rather crappily written. If I wanted to continue, I'd be rather embarrassed as a writer if I didn't go back and fix those up first. Which I don't have time to do. 2) I just lost inspiration. Yep, after spending ages working on this thing, it just died on me. Sorry. 3) I was getting my own plotline confused. By chapter nine, I honestly had no clue whether Snowcat was sane and slowly going mad, or mad and slowly going sane, or both/none of the above. If I had continued this, it'd most likely have turned into a slagheap of confused drama that didn't know what it was doing.

If I ever do continue this, it'll be with huge edits. And it won't be for a long time. Feel free to ask me to update and/or offer suggestions if you really want to (though I can't promise anything...) but I'm just adding this to answer the questions of the anon reviewers who didn't leave email addresses. Thankee.