Title: Spotting Predacons

Author: Kyra Neko-Rei

Rating: PG

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Beast Wars, characters therefrom, T-rexes, cheetahs, gorillas, or even any rats.

Summary: If it's at all possible for your orders to be misinterpreted, you can rest assured they will be. A recon mission goes slightly awry. Megatron is Not Amused. Optimus is trying hard to agree with him.

/And tell me if any Predacons are spotted-especially Megatron./ The commlink fell silent after Optimus' words, and Rattrap looked around and then shared a glance with his feline companion. "Nope," he said aloud to Cheetor. "The only thing spotted around here is one cat."

Cheetor snickered. "Yeah, not that kind of-ohhhh, Primus."

"What?" Rattrap leaned forward eagerly.

Cheetor grinned. "What if it were that kind of spotted? Do we have any paint?"

Rattrap tended to make a habit of knowing where these sorts of things were. "Port storage bay, Epsilon deck. There are some minor explosives in there as well, and those little bottles of dioridizine phosphate, they'll make the paint granulate into little balls. Tell Optimus I forgot a hydrospanner and sent you back for it."

Cheetor was off.

Finding their prey was easy-Megatron, in beast mode, was examining an energon deposit at the base of a cliff. Checking for other Predacon signatures, the two Maximals crept closer, transforming in silence.

Rattrap hurled his explosive pack, Cheetor a second later. "Hey Pred-head, heads up!" Rattrap called.

Megatron looked up-just in time to catch bursts of paint from both sides as the paint-bombs exploded on contact with ground and cliff face. Yellow paint-liquid-and black paint-granular-struck his T-rex hide from two directions, coating him with a yellow base coat and black spots.

Megatron roared. Rattrap and Cheetor splorfled, Rattrap nearly falling over as the Predacon leader whirled to look at himself. "What is this? You mock me, Maximals? This will be the last mistake you ever make, yessss."

He took a menacing step towards them.

Cheetor made an image capture and they both transformed, Rattrap hopping up on Cheetor's back as Cheetor took off across the plains, almost tauntingly slow, for him, as an enraged Tyrannosaurus Rex bounded along behind them.

Optimus Primal was sitting at the Axalon's main computer terminal, contemplating Predacon movements while Rhinox and Dinobot discussed shield generator design behind him, when the comm call came in. He could hear Rattrap and Cheetor giggling hysterically and, in the background, a furious roar that had to come from Megatron.

"Cheetor reporting i-in! Hehehee. One Predacon spotted!" There was an odd emphasis on the word 'spotted,' and Optimus found himself facepalming, though he didn't know why.

Then the image capture came through, and he stared at the image of Megatron coated in cheetah-like spots.

He felt an absurd urge to call the Predacon leader and apologize on behalf of his troops.

He suppressed it.

"Spotted," he muttered and headed for the lift.

Megatron ran at full speed after the two troublesome Maximals, half his processor already spinning out plans for what to do with them once he'd caught them. Step on one while he beat the other, perhaps, to start out with, and then . . . but he was getting ahead of himself.

He saw them come to a halt up ahead and was pelting toward them when he realized why they had stopped. Optimus Primal, flying on his jets, was hovering above them.

Megatron slowed to a stop and the two leaders looked at each other for a long moment.

Optimus Primal snickered.

The cat said, "Dang, Pred, you make one slow cheetah."

"Come closer, pussycat," Megatron purred, "and I'll show you what I do do well." Rows of sharp teeth clicked together at the end of the sentence, and he had the pleasure of seeing the younger mech flinch.

"You're facing the wrong way and your tail isn't far enough between your legs," the cat responded, and Megatron bit back a growl.

"Come show me, then," he told the young Maximal, and the cat sprang forward only to be stopped by Optimus descending to block him.

"Cheetor, no!"

Megatron growled at Optimus. The Maximal leader ignored him, turning to face his subordinates. "Okay. You've spotted your Predacon," he said, failing to cover up a snicker.

"That we did," said the rat proudly. Megatron used their banter to cover up the sound of his transformation, and aimed his cannon at Optimus. Unluckily, the cat was still facing him.

"Big Bot, look out!"

Primal moved and the shot missed. Megatron growled and re-aimed, and Optimus stared at him and burst out laughing.

Wary curiosity warred with a prime shot, and Megatron snarled, "What is it now, Primal?"

The cat and rat, come to think of it, were snickering too.

"Mech," the cat gasped, barely able to form words around the giggles, "look up the human term, 'chaps.'"