Disclaimer: Beast Wars is property of Hasbro, Mainframe, etc.

Web of Intrigues

"Royalty! I have discovered a strange contraption!" cried Inferno as he flew towards Megatron's chair. From the looks of it, Inferno shot first and decided to bring it to Megatron for questions later.

"And what exactly have you found, Inferno?" asked Megatron irritably as Inferno had woken him up from an afternoon nap.

"I'm not sure, Royalty!" said Inferno, "but it appeared hostile!"

Megatron sighed.

"Very well," he said. "We may as well examine it."

He took the device from Inferno's hands. It looked insectoid in appearance with two protruding needles. Megatron and Inferno decided to take it to the lab and set it down on the scanner.

"Computer!" commanded Megatron. "Scan and decrypt this device's purpose! Report back to me within two mega-cycles! Inferno! Wake me up when the procedure is finished!"

"At once, my Que--urk!" cried Inferno as Megatron's fist smashed into him, knocking him back.

"I'm feeling generous today," said Megatron pleasantly. "That was merely for disrupting my beauty sleep!"

Megatron walked off as Inferno pulled himself together and stood guard by the computer.

Blackarachnia stood over the small insectoid drone she had just destroyed.

"What is this?" she wondered. All things considered, she had a pretty good idea who made it.

Silverbolt and Rattrap took notice of the thing she held in her hand.

"Beloved," asked Silverbolt. "Where are you going in such a hurry with that strange contraption in your hands?"

"This, Silverbolt," she explained, "just tried to scrap me from out of nowhere! I'm taking it down to the lab for a scan."

Rattrap and Silverbolt decided to follow her to the lab. Rhinox was there as well.

"Blackarachnia," he said, "is something the matter?"

"This little gizmo right here tried to wing me!" she told him. "I'll need a scan on it to see what it is. It could be one of Megatron's toys."

Rhinox took the drone and set it down on the scanner.

"Scanning should be over within two mega-cycles," he told Blackarachnia.

"As I suspected," said Megatron. "This bug has Tarantulas' prints all over it!"

"What was the purpose of his creation, Royalty?" inquired Inferno.

"Why, to put me offline permanently, of course," explained Megatron. "This drone's simple programming is to seek me out and destroy me utterly!"

"What?" cried Inferno. "How dare that treacherous arachnid!"

"Oh, he has done more than just dare," said Megatron. "This 'cyber-insect' contains an enhanced form of cyber-venom that is so rare that it is not even cultivated on Cybertron! It contains the properties of Nithium, designed to poison a Transformer's spark until it is destroyed outright in two or three days! The venom will seep through a Cybertronian's mech fluid until it reaches the spark chamber!"

"That deceitful spider will PAY for this!" an outraged Inferno shouted.

"You are correct, Inferno," said Megatron grimly. "This assassination attempt will not go unnoticed, nooo..."

"What is your command, Royalty?" asked Inferno as he saluted Megatron.

"Gather all our troops for the purpose of seeking out that under-handed spider!" commanded Megatron. "I will radio Dinobot and have him return from patrol."

"In other words," explained Rhinox. "This little gizmo was designed to hunt you down and to inject you with the advanced form of Cyber-venom known as Nithium."

"I can think of someone who'd wanna do that," growled Blackarachnia. Both she and Silverbolt were quite aware of the assassin's identity.

"This outrage will not go unpunished!" he declared, "Tarantulas will pay for his audacity!"

"Hold on!" cautioned Rhinox. "We have to take this up with Optimus first."

Later that day, Optimus gathered with Rattrap, Rhinox, Silverbolt, and Blackarachnia for the impromptu meeting.

"So..." asked Optimus, "Tarantulas created this device for the sole purpose of killing you?"

"Absolutely," said Blackarachnia, "and I can think of plenty of reasons why!"

"Big Bot!" a voice rang out. "Look what I found!"

Cheetor ran forward breathlessly. He held in his hand ANOTHER cyber-insect that was exactly the same as the one that tried to kill Blackarachnia.

"I found this flying around and I had to take it down," Cheetor explained. "I took it down to the lab but no one was there! I put this thing in the scanner but it seemed like our computer already checked out something similar to this! In the second scan, I found out that this bug's purpose is to hunt and exterminate Blackarachnia with some kind of new cyber-venom!"

Their fears were confirmed. Optimus had a look of concern on his face.

"This is not good, Maximals," said Optimus Primal finally. "Tarantulas already tried twice to assassinate Blackarachnia and who knows how many more times he'll try. All we know now is that these devices are absolutely lethal and must be dealt with accordingly! Silverbolt, Rattrap! You're with me! Cheetor and Rhinox, stay here and look after Blackarachnia. We don't know if Tarantulas will send any more of these things!"

"So, bossbot," asked Quickstrike. "Where do ya suppose that eight-legged ground-crawler is?"

"Silence, fool!" bellowed Megatron. "I believe I have a plan for luring him out!"

Inferno and Quickstrike looked at each other while Megatron landed on the ground, followed by the two. The Predacon commander held up his com-link.

"Megatron to Dinobot and Tarantulas!" he commanded. "Meet me at Sector Zeta at coordinates 65.78! It is time we conducted another survey at the Maximals' gates!"

Quickstrike leaped off Inferno's back. "When do ya think he'll show up?"

"In due time, Quickstrike," explained Megatron. "If he does not appear, it will only further indict him!"

In a few cycles, the fearsome Transmetal II raptor joined them. Tarantulas, however, still did not show up as expected several cycles afterwards.

Megatron had a dark look on his face.

"That spider has just signed his death warrant," he said with an ominous tone.

"Master," said Dinobot. "Optimus and his forces are in the parameter!" He gestured towards the sky and sure enough Optimus, with Rattrap on his back, was accompanied by Silverbolt as they scouted the area.

"Ignore them!" ordered Megatron. "This could be what Tarantulas wants, for us to concentrate on battle! Keep searching for that spider!"

Optimus and the two Maximals, however, had already sighted the Predacons in the area. They quickly landed in front of the Predacon search party.

"Megatron!" bellowed Optimus. "I don't know what you're up to, but it's time you started talking!"

He aimed his shoulder cannons at Megatron's chest plate.

"That is none of your concern, Primal!" growled Megatron. "I suggest you leave here at once while I'm still capable of mercy!"

"Not until you explain why Tarantulas tried to kill Blackarachnia with Nithium!" snarled Silverbolt.

"To be honest with you," Megatron glared at Silverbolt. "I have no idea! He tried to do the same with me! And to be blunt with you fools, I care not!"

"What?" Optimus asked, surprised. "He tried to kill you too-- AAH!"

Megatron took advantage of Optimus' momentary distraction to blast him square in the chest.

"You had your chance to leave!" yelled Megatron angrily as Inferno, Dinobot and Quickstrike opened fire as well.

Rattrap, Silverbolt, and Optimus quickly returned fire.

During the course of the battle, Silverbolt noticed a flash of green and purple around some nearby rocks.

"Optimus, sir!" cried Silverbolt. "I see Tarantulas!"

"After him, Silverbolt!" declared Optimus. "We'll provide you cover!"

Silverbolt flew after the sight as Optimus fired two missiles that took out Quickstrike and knocked Megatron against a boulder.

Silverbolt soon reached the the cliff where he thought he saw Tarantulas. He was suddenly blasted from behind with a regular dose of cyber-venom. Tarantulas stepped out from behind him.

"Poor fuzor," he laughed. "This time, there's no widow to save you! Teehehehehehe!"

Silverbolt managed to get back on his feet, despite being considerably weakened from the blast.

"You'll pay for trying to assassinate my lady, spider!" he growled.

"I think not," said Tarantulas as Depth Charge appeared from behind him in flight mode.

Silverbolt sighed in relief at the sight of Depth Charge. Depth Charge, to the fuzor's surprise, shot an energy disc from out of his mouth. It shot forward and whizzed past Tarantulas, striking Silverbolt head-on, knocking him down.

"Better luck next time, Lancelot!" cackled Tarantulas as he leaped on Depth Charge. Depth Charge quickly flew them off with Tarantulas cackling wildly on toll.

"Depth Charge?" wondered a bewildered Silverbolt before he passed out.

Hours later, Silverbolt awoke from the CR chamber. He quickly stepped out and saw Blackarachnia in front of him.

"My love," he cried. "You are unscathed?"

"Of course, Silverbolt," she said. "Tarantulas hasn't tried anything... yet."

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Silverbolt," said Optimus. "You took quite some damage. Rattrap and I managed to drive Megatron's troops off after a while, but not before Dinobot sliced through some of my armor."

"Optimus, sir," said Silverbolt. "When I confronted Tarantulas, I confronted a sight that I had previously thought was not possible."

"What is it?" asked a concerned Optimus.

"Depth Charge... he... aided Tarantulas and helped do this to me," Silverbolt finally admitted.

"What?" Optimus reared back in alarm. "Depth Charge? I can't imagine him doing something like this!"

"I cannot lie about this," Silverbolt said. "He... attacked me and then flew off with Tarantulas."

"I simply can't fathom how he could do this!" fumed Optimus. "Why would he help Tarantulas? He couldn't have turned over to the Predacons!"

The other Maximals gathered around, concerned with the current situation they were facing. Though Depth Charge was not exactly easy to get along with, they still considered the large blue Maximal a part of the team.

"There's one thing we can do right now," Optimus finally said softly. "We need to radio him to come here and explain what happened with us. If that doesn't work..."

The other Maximals stayed silent as Optimus radioed Depth Charge.

"Optimus to Depth Charge!" he said into the com-link. "You are to report back to base immediately for questioning!"

There was no reply.

"I fear the worst now, team," said Optimus in a dark tone. "I don't know if he's with the Predacons right now but from the looks of it, he's certainly in league with Tarantulas..."

In the dark, sullen lair of Tarantulas, one particular 'bot stood with a dark expressionless look on his face. Depth Charge looked on as Tarantulas continued on with some of his work.

"Teehehehehe," laughed Tarantulas. "Well done, Depth Charge... I must thank you in some way for saving me from that meddling dog."

"You know what I want," said Depth Charge plainly.

"Oh, and you will get it," replied Tarantulas, "but not quite yet, my friend! Not until I am certain that both Maximals and Predacons on this planet are no longer a threat to my work!"

Depth Charge's optics narrowed in disgust. It was plain to tell that he did not like being around Tarantulas one bit.

"I'll be in the vicinity," he told the spider. "Radio me if you need me."

"Oh, I will," said Tarantulas slyly. "Your help is greatly appreciated... hehehe!"

Without a word, Depth Charge left. Tarantulas peered into the shadows.

"You may emerge now," he told a dark figure that stood in the darkness. From out of the blackness, came a huge, hulking brute of a Transformer.

"I must say," commented Rampage. "Your cloaking device worked marvelously..."

"That it did," chuckled Tarantulas nervously, "even if his scanners were tuned in to your spark, he didn't even know you were in the same location he was in!"

"Tell me, spider," rumbled Rampage. "What do you hope to gain through the grouper's help? And what does he hope to accomplish through completing your tasks?"

"That, my immortal friend, is easy to explain. I wish to ensure that both Megatron and Optimus are no longer a threat to the work I am currently conducting. As for what Depth Charge hopes to gain, I won't reveal that for now but let's just say I'm putting him through wild goose chases with promises that I have no intention of fulfilling!"

Rampage moved in menacingly but slowly. Tarantulas noted this and backed up fretfully.

Tarantulas suddenly felt the wall on his back as Rampage came closer and closer until he was breathing down on Tarantulas' face.

"So... you want some privacy with your work, hmm?" said Rampage softly and menacingly. "If it's autonomy you wish, I will grant it... so long as you fulfill the promise you made to me!"

"Ehh, very well," whimpered Tarantulas timidly.

"Oh, and should you attempt to betray me for any reason," continued Protoform X. "You will personally experience what eternity feels like!"

"Point taken," swallowed Tarantulas.

"Good," said Rampage and disappeared into the shadows. Tarantulas finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

Depth Charge snuck into the Maximal base that night. He was looking for several vials of energon radium which were contained in the lab, on orders from Tarantulas.

"Found 'em!" he thought as he quickly stored the vials away, "The other Maximals have to be asleep at this mega-cycle!"

He quickly snuck towards the main door in stealth mode. Suddenly, the lights went on and there stood Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, and Rhinox.

"Out for a midnight snack?" said Optimus accusingly.

"Slag off, Primal!" growled Depth Charge. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"The Pit it doesn't!" yelled Optimus. "You attacked one of your own teammates and left him injured in battle to help the enemy! I don't want to consider you a traitor, Depth Charge... but please..."

"Then don't," said Depth Charge brusquely and headed for the door.

Silverbolt stepped in front of him.

"You are not leaving until you tell us why you are conspiring with Tarantulas to assassinate Blackarachnia!" he growled.

Without saying a word, Depth Charge backhanded Silverbolt aside.

"Maximals, restrain him," yelled Optimus. They closed in on the big blue Maximal.

"It didn't have to come down to this," said Depth Charge almost sorrowfully.

Rhinox was the first to attack. He assailed Depth Charge but Depth Charge step-sided him and slammed his elbow down callously on the back of Rhinox's neck. Rhinox went down.

Blackarachnia leaped into the air and kicked him in the back of the head. Depthcharge turned around to face her as she kicked him across the face with a wheel kick.

He grabbed her leg as she attempted a third kick and threw her into a large pile of metal crates. Coldly, Depth Charge looked up and fired an energy disc at a hanging crate that was held by a long chain. The disc sliced through the chain cleanly and the crate dropped on Blackarachnia, crushing her under several tons of steel.

Cheetor leaped at Depth Charge and managed to pin him down in beast mode.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Cheetor who was clearly concerned.

"Sorry, kid" said Depth Charge as he took out a small dart and stabbed it into Cheetor's arm. Cheetor tried to pin Depth Charge down but soon shorted out and went offline from the cyber-venom contained in that dart.

Silverbolt, in the meantime, had gotten up and fired several feather missiles at Depth Charge, howling in fury. Depth Charge blocked them with his much more robust metallic wings and fired a missile at Silverbolt, striking him in the chest and knocking him into a wall.

Depth Charge opened the gate and stepped out.

"Depth Charge!" yelled the voice of Optimus. "First it was Silverbolt, and now this! You leave me no choice!"

Optimus lunged at Depth Charge and tackled him down. Depth Charge struggled but Optimus was much stronger than he was. Finally, out of desperation, he fired an energy disc into Optimus' chest that knocked the larger Maximal off.

Depth Charge got up and glared at the Maximal leader. Optimus got up as well and aimed his shoulder cannons at Depthcharge.

"This ends now," said Optimus. Before he could fire, however, he was blasted in the back and knocked down. Depth Charge looked up and saw that it was a triple blast from Megatron, Dinobot, and Rampage. Inferno, Waspinator and Quickstrike were there as well.

"Ah Depth Charge," said Megatron in a pleasant voice. "It's so good to see where your true loyalties lie."

He and his Predacons leaped off the cliff and walked forward towards Depth Charge and the fallen Optimus.

"I would just like to know what it is in your programming that made you attack your leader and your teammates?" asked Megatron, "and frankly, I am very much impressed by your sheer ruthlessness in taking out each and every one of these Maximals."

"Me? Become a Predacon?" laughed Depth Charge. "In your dreams, Megatron!"

Depth Charge whipped out his missile launcher and blasted Megatron aside. Megatron fell to the ground and clutched his side in pain.

"Predacons!" he roared. "Destroy him!"

Rattrap sniffed around the air for any signs of what he was looking for. Optimus had sent him on a mission to discover the true agenda of Tarantulas.

And it was... here! If he had smelled the scent right, Tarantulas should be in this cave! Rattrap quickly transformed into beast mode and crawled into the cavern. It wasn't often that he walked around as a rat anymore since he had his wheels but in cases that required stealth, it came in handy.

Hearing a maniacal chuckle down one part of the cavern, Rattrap crept down to the location of that sound. Peering from the darkness, Rattrap saw Tarantulas.

"Bwahahahaha!" the spider laughed. "Everything is going according to my plans! That pathetic flounder actually thinks I am going to reveal to him how to permanently destroy Rampage! Normally, I wouldn't be doing something like this but in perilous times like these, I need all the help I can get, especially from a powderkeg like Depth Charge! As for Rampage, does the crab really think I'm going to resurrect that freak?" He switched to a screen. As expected, Depth Charge and the Predacons were battling.

"Soon, both of them will become my willing servants with some... persuasion. And to think that both sides are falling for my Nithium decoy!" he continued.

Tarantulas then yawned.

"Well," he said. "Time for a nap! All work and no rest makes for a drone's programming!"

Tarantulas walked off to another room. As soon as Rattrap heard snoring, he transformed to robot mode and walked forward into the laboratory.

"So this is really Tarantulas' game, huh?" he thought to himself. He gasped as he saw a familiar sight that he had seen about a year ago. It was the body of Transmutate, intact, but without a spark.

"Now the picture is gettin' clearer!" thought Rattrap.

He switched on Tarantulas' computer and using several hacking codes Tigatron had taught him once, he got a glimpse of all of Tarantulas' entries.

"Now it's all makin' sense!" muttered Rattrap. He was quite an adept spy and had gained much experience over the years through stealth.

After he had gathered all the information he needed, Rattrap quickly spirited out of Tarantulas' lair.

"I love it when 'da villains give soliloquies," thought Rattrap amusedly.

In the meantime, Depth Charge's battle against the Predacons was getting fiercer and fiercer. He had already blasted the two bugs out of the air. He had taken a large blast to the midsection from Quickstrike, however. The crazed fuzor leaped into the air, intent on sinking his fangs onto Depth Charge. The large blue manta ray quickly took out his spear and thrust it at the fuzor, impaling him through the chest and pinning him to the ground
as he landed on his back. Now there was just one opponant left, Dinobot! Depth Charge held his wounded side but still stood his ground.

"You fight bravely," said Dinobot to Depth Charge. "However, Megatron believes you are connected to Tarantulas and requires me to interrogate you!"

"Not this time, lizard!" snarled Depth Charge. "I've learned a few new tricks since we last met!"

Dinobot lunged at Depth Charge and knocked him down. Depth Charge quickly kicked Dinobot off and blasted at him with a missile. Dinobot avoided it swiftly, transformed into beast mode, and smashed Depth Charge across the face with his tail.

Rampage, the whole time, watched his old enemy fight with grim purpose.

"What could it possibly be that's making him fight so hard to defend that spider?" he mused. Quietly, he slipped off when he was sure that nobody was sure to notice him.

Dinobot transformed back into robot mode and slashed at Depth Charge with his claws. Depth Charge avoided one slash and spun around with a side kick to Dinobot's solar plexus, knocking the raptor to the ground. Dinobot glared at Depth Charge in surprise and pain.

Angered, Dinobot charged Depth Charge again. Depth Charge aimed his gun at Dinobot and fired a missile. Dinobot moved to one side, knowing that he could avoid it easily. However, the missile split into four clusters without warning, containing a powerful electric net that engulfed Dinobot. Dinobot fell to the ground, pinned by the net, screaming in agony as several thousand volts of electricity coursed through his body, causing his circuits to fry and his systems to overload.

"I've been saving it for your birthday," remarked Depth Charge sarcastically and flew off.

Megatron, meanwhile, had gotten up and surveyed the scene angrily. "Blast Depth Charge!" he yelled, "but at least I know he's working with that arachnid."

A giant hand grabbed him by his cutlass and lifted him up.

"Right now, Megatron," growled Optimus, "I think you have much BIGGER problems to worry about!"

Optimus punched Megatron with all his might, uppercutting the Predacon leader into the air, several kilometers away from the Maximal base.

Optimus fell to his knees in pain as the Predacon attack had taken a lot out of him.

"I hope Rattrap has done his part," said Optimus.

Depth Charge flew back towards Tarantulas' lair quickly. On the way, however, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Fish face!" Rattrap waved to the flying manta.

Depth Charge landed and transformed to robot mode. "What do you want, rat?" snarled Depth Charge, "and make it quick 'cause I'm gonna hate having to do to you what I just did earlier to the others."

"Well, flounder boy," explained Rattrap, "Here's the scoop, Tarantulas has been playin' you like a cyber-harp the entire time you've been helping him out!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Depth Charge as he pointed his gun at Rattrap.

"You want evidence?" yelled Rattrap angrily. "Here it is!"

He played the voice recording he had made in the cave:

"Everything is going according to my plans! That pathetic flounder actually thinks I am going to reveal to him how to permanently destroy Rampage! Normally, I wouldn't be doing something like this but in perilous times like this, I need all the help I can get, especially from a powderkeg like Depth Charge! As for Rampage, does that crab really think I'm going to resurrect that freak!"

Depth Charge's expression tightened as he heard the recording.

"Not only that," continued Rattrap, "but I scanned all his files and there WERE NO blueprints to Rampage's anatomy or his spark. He doesn't wanna tell you how to destroy Protoform X! He's been playin' ya for a fool da whole time. Not only that, but he's doin' the same to Rampage!"

"X?" cried Depth Charge. "Tarantulas is using him too?"

"Yep," said Rattrap. He explained the whole situation to Depthcharge and told him about Transmutate.

"Finally," Rattrap concluded, "The whole situation with Nithium was just a red herring! The real innovation Tarantulas has is his new spider dart that contains a tiny mind control device which can attach itself to yer spark and send out signals to the brain patterns! He wants to use it on you AND Rampage, creating two mindless soldiers to do his biddin'!"

"I see..." said Depth Charge finally and dropped his gun.

"Look, DC," said Rattrap, "I may not be 'dis sensitive most of the time but I can imagine how hard it is for ya to deal with the fact that everyone you ever cared for was taken away from you by some psycho. But with your obsession with X, you've become cold, distant, and willing to kill in cold blood just like him! You makin' deals with ANOTHER murderin' psycho is a prime example! Is 'dis what the victims on Omicron would want?"

Depth Charge lowered his head in shame for several cycles. Finally, he lifted his head up high with a grim, yet determined look on his face.

"I'm going to fix this!" declared an angry Depth Charge. "Now you're talking, fishface!" Rattrap said, "Let's go kick some Pred butt!"

"No, Rattrap," asserted Depth Charge, "This is my responsibility!"

He transformed and flew off.

"Good luck to ya," called Rattrap from below.

Tarantulas looked around the cavern. Everything was going according to plan! Soon, the Beast Wars would be over and he, with the added power of both Depth Charge and Rampage, would destroy both warring factions, resurrect the Nemesis, and fly it back to Cybertron, conquering it for the Tripredacus Council.

"I see someone's been a busy little spider," said a voice. Depth Charge stepped out of the shadows.

"Ah, I see you've done as I requested," giggled Tarantulas. "The vials are exactly what I specified?"

Without warning, Depth Charge grabbed Tarantulas by the neck and lifted him up.

"I was a fool to trust you, you crazed arachnid!" growled Depth Charge as he squeezed harder.

"Rampage!" gasped Tarantulas. "Restrain him!"

Rampage appeared from behind without warning and seized Depth Charge in a tight bear hug.

"Hold him still now," laughed Tarantulas as he put a spider-dart into his gun.

"You really think Tarantulas will keep his promise of resurrecting Transmutate, X?" sneered Depth Charge.

"Baah!" cried Rampage. "What do you know about her?"

"Not much," clarified Depth Charge. "However, I know that even if Tarantulas does know how to travel through Trans-warp space towards the Matrix to retrieve Transmutate's spark, he wouldn't do it 'cause of the risks involved in such a journey such as the potential loss of spark for the traveler, especially for some handicapped 'bot he doesn't care about! Not only that, he's not willing to allow you to take the journey either since he'll need your immortal spark intact to use his drones on!"

Rampage was at a loss of words.

"Don't listen to him Rampage," yelled Tarantulas. "Of course I plan on bringing back the only one to ever consider you a friend. Not only that, but I am your friend as well! I will let nothing come between you and Transmutate!"

Depth Charge kicked the gun out of Tarantulas' hands.

"Don't believe me, X?" he said. "Listen to this."

Depth Charge played the recording Rattrap had given him.

"Everything is going according to my plans! That pathetic flounder actually thinks I am going to reveal to him how to permanently destroy Rampage! Normally, I wouldn't be doing something like this but in perilous times like this, I need all the help I can get, especially from a powderkeg like Depth Charge! As for Rampage, does that crab really think I'm going to resurrect that freak!"

After hearing Tarantulas' callousness for himself, Rampage roared in frustration and pain.

"Not only that," Depth Charge went on, "but that spider dart he plans on injecting me with is actually a mind control device that he plans on using on me first. First, he'll test it on me and after he's made me his mindless servant, he'll use me to restrain you and do the same!"

Depth Charge was immediately thrown against the wall. Rampage turned his attention towards the cowering Tarantulas.

"R-Rampage," he stuttered. "I promise to you that I will personally take the trans-warp journey to retrieve Transmutate's spark... You have my word..."

Rampage, however, was not buying it. He smashed his fists into the consoles, causing sparks to fly everywhere and igniting a fire on the floor where a beaker had spilled. The blaze raced towards the spark-less body of Transmutate and caught the wires of the machine that held its body. The flames danced around the wires until the machine exploded, taking Transmutate's body with it.

Witnessing this event drove Rampage over the edge. Screaming with pure madness, Rampage stomped towards Tarantulas and lifted the screaming mad scientist up. He hurledTarantulas into a table full of vats, acids, cyber-venom, and even a large vat of Nithium.

Tarantulas screamed loudly as he smashed into the glass while the chemicals pouring all over him, eating away at his metal.

Depth Charge got up and faced Rampage. The monster was now destroying everything in the lab, crushing machinery and blasting away wildly everywhere with no purpose or rationale.

"Stop, you idiot!" yelled Depth Charge, "You'll ignite the energon in this cave!"

Rampage, however, was no longer at a stage to be reasoned with.

"Quiet!" he yelled. "I've lost everything now! The only one to ever consider me a friend was taken from me thanks to that fuzor! And now my only chance at bringing her back has been dashed by YOU!"

"You've lost everything?" screamed Depth Charge angrily. "You don't know what it's like to lose anything, you freak of nature! Have you ever once thought about the thousands of sentients you've killed? Every waking hour of the day for me is like hearing their tortured cries as you ripped their sparks out of their bodies and devoured them! Don't you dare tell me that you know anything about loss!"

"I know more about pain than you do!" Rampage yelled back. "Do you even know what a living hell my life was the moment I came into being? About the experiments and torture done on me by your Maximals? Almost my entire life has been nothing but anguish!"

"So that somehow gives you the right to murder innocents?" roared Depth Charge.

"Then let's finish this now, hunter!" roared Rampage with much ferocity. He lifted a giant boulder and threw it in Depth Charge's direction. Depth Charge rolled aside and fired a missile at Rampage. Rampage swung with both hands and knocked the missile up high, destroying a large part of the top of the cavern, causing several rocks and stalactites to come crashing down on Rampage. A few stalactites impaled him and several large rocks smashed down on him. A rather large stone that had been dislocated by the missile finally fell and smashed the ground that Rampage was standing on.

Rampage bellowed in fury as the ground under him gave way. He then fell down into a large abyss, screaming in agony and in wrath.

Depth Charge walked towards the edge of the abyss and looked down. He could still hear the screams of Protoform X echoing…

Slowly, he walked away from the pit.

"And to think that there was a 'bot Protoform X even cared about," he said slowly. "If it really is true that this Transmutate was someone you cared about, then maybe you aren't completely a monster."

Depth Charge walked a few more steps and paused.

"But it still doesn't excuse you for the millions of lives you destroyed," he hissed softly and bitterly.

"No, it doesn't" cackled a voice behind him.

Depth Charge spun around and saw Tarantulas. The various chemicals and cyber-venoms had eaten away most of his armor. He was now a horrid, deformed sight of corroded metal and melted processors. A large portion of his head had been destroyed. The joints on his left arm were dissolved to the point where they snapped and the arm fell off. His chest plate had been destroyed and now, his spark was exposed. The Nithium chemicals had already located his spark and were eating away at it ravenously. Tarantulas' knees could no longer support him as he fell to the floor still laughing.

Using his remaining right arm, Tarantulas took out a small device. Depth Charge immediately recognized it as the apparatus that would set off the energon in this cave.

"A curse on both your houses!" rasped Tarantulas, as the chemicals had half-way melted away most of his vocal processors, "Neither Maximal nor Predacon will win this war and I'll personally make sure of that! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He pressed the button on the remote control. Depth Charge's eyes widened in fear as he immediately transformed to flight mode and blasted away at full speed. The energon deposits in the cave were ignited and soon, Tarantulas' lair went up in a gigantic explosion that spanned several miles.

"Do you think he'll show up?" asked Optimus.

"I dunno," replied Rattrap, "but from what I've told him, I think he'll come back to us."

"There he is!" cried Cheetor. A hobbling blue figure could be seen in the distance. Depth Charge limped slowly towards the Maximal base.

"Depth Charge!" cried Optimus as he realized Depthcharge probably suffered a large explosion of some sort. The Maximals ran forward to see if he was alright and gathered around him.

In a small, but symbolic gesture, Depth Charge threw his weapon to the ground.

"I surrender myself," he finally moaned and passed out on the spot.

"Get him inside," ordered Optimus. "Pronto!"

As much as I hated to admit it, Rattrap was right about me. I allowed my hatred of one murderer to blind me to justice and reason. In the process of exacting my vengeance, I allied myself with another monster who was just as despicable as Rampage and if not, even more so. It hurts me knowing that I betrayed my teammates for a pipe dream.

Several weeks ago, Tarantulas approached me with an offer. He would give me the blueprints to Rampage's current anatomy and data on his spark. In return, I would serve him temporarily and prevent both sides from interfering in his work. All in all, I really should have known better.

I once heard a saying. I don't remember who exactly said it but he was right. It was something about a fanatic being somebody who redoubled his efforts while losing sight of his original goal.

Also, what scared me even more is that I was really the one who fell down that abyss, not Rampage. My hatred and the darkness in my spark nearly changed me into the monster I so wished to destroy.

The past few days, I've been held captive in a cell large enough to contain me. So far, I think the Maximals are still discussing my fate. Well, whatever they decide, I'll accept. I can't go on like this in life not being held accountable for my actions.

Primal approached my cell. I looked up towards him.

"So what's my fate, Primal?" I asked bluntly.

"We've held long hours of discussion on this," began Primal, "but we finally decided to settle it on a vote."

I rolled my eyes. The wonders of democracy...

"I decided to abstain from voting in this case," said Primal, "but we've finally come to a decision."

Oh joy. That fuzor and his wench probably voted against me. I'm not too sure about the others though.

"Cheetor broke the tie," continued Primal. "You're free to rejoin us."

"What!" I yelled in disbelief. "After everything I've done, you're allowing me to rejoin the Maximals?"

Optimus smiled slightly.

"Trust me, Depth Charge," he said. "If you truly were a traitor, you would have abandoned us and left us to the mercy of the Predacons. Instead, you fought them off."

A pang of guilt raced throughout my body.

"But," I sputtered. "That was just me trying to protect Tarantulas from both sides!"

"Even so," said Optimus. "You realized what you were doing eventually and took full responsibility for your actions! That, in itself, shows that there's still some of the old Depth Charge left in you."

He hit a raw spot. I had spent so many years hunting Rampage that I had forgotten what I was like before the massacre on Omicron happened.

"If there's anything I've learned in this war, it's that EVERYONE makes mistakes, whether they're big or small," said the enormous gorilla, "You made one and eventually realized the error of your ways. You even took it upon yourself to right the wrongs that were created and in the end, accepted full responsibility for everything. We may not be the best of friends, Depth Charge, but you're still a Maximal in the end. And in the end, we still need you."

He opened my cell and allowed me to come out.

"Depth Charge," he finally said to me without making eye contact. "I have something for you."

He handed me several scans of paper tied up in a bundle.

"These are the blueprints to Rampage's spark that the Maximal Elders gave to us before we began on our trip and it reveals to you how exactly to extinguish his spark," he told me, "but at a cost. Use the information contained in these papers at your own risk. I hope you will make the right choice in the end."

He turned his back to me and walked off. I stood there, dumb-folded. All this time, I could have just asked Optimus Primal for it!

Several months have passed. So far, neither Tarantulas nor Rampage have resurfaced. Could it be possible that they were both destroyed?

With Tarantulas, I can see it happening somewhat. After all, the Nithium was already eating at his spark. With the way he caused that whole cave to go boom, he may have sped up the process if nobody was there to dig him out.

As for Rampage, I'm not so sure. His spark is supposed to be immortal. Still, my scanners haven't detected him at all in these past months. Could it be possible that he died as well? The only thing my scanners caught lately was Dinobot on patrol and we know how his spark is like.

Even so, a greater sense of peace has swept through me recently. I surveyed the area around me and looked up into the moonlit sky. This planet really was beautiful. It's a shame it had taken me this long to realize it.

Suddenly, my scanners went wild!

Could it be possible that X is back now or is it just Dinobot prowling around in the area? Either ways, I'll never know unless I check it out for myself. Besides, even if X is dead, Dinobot still contains the other part of his spark. And we all know that loose ends need to be tied up.

I transformed into flight mode and blasted off into the night sky, more dedicated than ever to my cause. The hunt has begun anew and I live again.

The End.