CONFESSIONS OF DARKNESS

By Snowblaze

Snowy's notes: Snowblaze and BW form of Prowl are my copyrighted characters. Slasher Red is the creation of Slasher Red. No one may use my characters without premission. All other TF and BW characters are the sole copyrights of Mainframe, Marvel, Hasbro etc. This and all my other fics are for entertainment only, so please don't sue me.

Get geared up, here's PART TWO coming at ya! This part of the fic begins about a mega cycle after Prowl is back on line.

_______________________________________________________________________

PART TWO:

Grid Trion. Not much to behold to the eyes of the witness, for it held little life. It was a desolate desert region, the hot winds dancing accross the sandy soil. An orange brown tone was all around, the feeling of aloneness humming in the air. The deathly quiet of this barren land was soon distrubed, a hissing steaming sound was coming from one lonely dune within the sandy desert. Large clouds of steam were flying off a small vessel lodged partially within the sand dune, its metallic exterior gleaming in the blazing sun.

Covered in sand up to the near top of the hull, this small ship was a carrier of new life. The lone vessel was the only contrasting colour amongst a sea of golden brown. Strange symbols were flashing on a tiny console screen, barely showing from the sand covering it. Plumes of steam were racing into the scorching air, quickly disappearing as if they never existed. "Data flow unrecoverable. Core damage extensive. Pausing protoform creation." The montone voice of the computer rang out, no one listening. As if the sound was never heard. This status pod was well aware of though. Soon the pod's hatch would open and the helpless protoform inside would have its destiny confirmed for it.

"Rhinox, who's still in functioning order?" Optimus Primal questioned as he placed one of his hands on the CR chamber window, observing the damaged Airazor. The scientist was seated at one of the working stations, trying to keep scanning through some of the computer's recent information on Rattrap's mech fluid. He flinched slightly at the sound of his leader's voice, energon was slowly seaping out of the armour cast he had placed over his leg. "There's only a few of us, but I'm certain we have enough to retrieve that pod. Tigatron, Slasher Red, Prowl, myself and you are the only ones in working order." Optimus turned from his spot to face Rhinox, his optics a stern red. "We have to leave at least two of us here at the base or it's a free walk in for Megatron. I don't know if he'll go to retrieve the pod himself or if he's back at his base, but we can't run any risks. Rhinox, I'm ordering you and Slasher Red to stay here. Contact Prowl and Tigatron, we're going after our comrade." Nodding to the demands, Rhinox comm linked the two other Maximals to accompany Optimus to grid Trion. Worry clentching his systems.

Birds scattered as a barrage of noise came through the jungle underbrush, the plants swaying to pounding of an enormous reptile. Megatron breathed heavy as he continued to trudge forward, the plants swiping against his huge face as he moved through the thick tanglement of this humid jungle. His determination to obtain this prize which he was informed excellerated his systems to move beyond his own comprehension. Following intently behind him a red fire ant marched on, confident to protect his "queen". Both these evil beings were in beast mode, the energon too intense for either of them to transform. Above the jungle canopy, hovering just above the party below, a wasp and a winged snow leopard flew on in the air. Waspinator wasn't enjoying this, he knew the results most of time he actually went out into the field, and at the end of that he was slaggeed beyond belief. This thought dominated his logic circuits as he buzzed on, paying no attention to the femme beside him. He could care less.

Snowblaze gave her wings a good flap to uplift her some more on the weak air currents. Her front paws were stretched out in front of her as she flew on forward. The femme moved her head down to find the position of her leader. Megatron was pacing on at quite an impressive speed. She also noted the fire ant, she really hated him. Hopefully he'd get slagged good today, she anticipated a confrontation with the Maximals. They would never let something so precious as a status pod leave their grasp. Lifting her head up to gaze at the horizon, she could see the ending of the wet rainforest to the beginnings of a desolate desert. Grid Trion. Below her now the trees stood proud and she could only see the tops of them as a quiet blanket of green, being up over 200 ft in the air gave her quite a vantage point. The hot air in her wings rustled her feathers and Snowblaze sighed, not understanding why she was having a nagging doubt enter her mind. Why did serving Megatron seem wrong? Her logic circuits were trying to tell her something but she couldn't make out what was the truth. Only the black haze which she saw gave her answers, the only thing she could truly trust at the moment.

Her commlink beeped. "Snowblaze, are we near grid Trion?" Megatron's raspy voice came clear into the sky. She shook her head and used her spare paw to press her commlink. "Yes Megatron, it's about 20 clicks ahead. I can just make out the out line of the status pod." "Yes, Excellent work. Come to the ground with Waspinator we need cover. Over." Snowblaze acknowledged the orders as her commlink fuzzed out. She swerved in the air to the left to get the other Predacon's attention. "Hey! Waspy, Megatron wants us to land. We need to follow on the ground." The large wasp almost colided with the snow leopard as he made out her words. "Oooh...Wazzzzpinator hate ground walking!!!!" "No time for whinning now, let's go." She grabbed his one foot as she stooped down to enter the thick brush of the trees, the wasp yelling out as they bombed down to the earth with him trailing behind her in her grasp. The branches scrapped accross his face as they went down, Snowblaze didn't get hurt at all, she manuevered quite easily. "Wazzzpinator knew it! Alwayzz get zzzlagged!" He shouted out as another branch cuffed him one in the mouth. The muddy ground soon was in view and the female snow leopard slowed down, feeling her paws make contact. Waspinator followed her with a thud as he crashed to the ground. She had let him go and now glanced over her shoulder as she drew in her wings close her body. Waspinator was teetering and staggering on his feet, a slight moan coming from him. Snowblaze smirked before turning to catch up with Megatron, a staggering Waspinator slowy following her.

"Hurry! We have to get there faster!" Optimus yelled out as he turned on his prime jets and took to the air. Prowl and Tigatron were standing on the man lift and were watching as their leader took off. With a stretch of his wings Prowl ran forward off the man lift, he twisted his gears and he reverted to beast mode. Running ahead in the day sun the black leopard stood out in the landscape, the wind rose up in his wings and soon he too was in the air with Optimus. While Prowl was running ahead, Tigatron had reverted to his white siberian tiger mode to run out ahead, he took in a deep intake of the air and ran forward, paws flying at an impossible speed. The two in the air were moving above Tigatron, the grid was still about 30 clicks away. Prowl looked down at his comrade desperately trying to keep up with the flyers. Flyers were able to move much more faster than the land runners. Prowl knew this was going to slow them down and he didn't feel like leaving his friend behind while he and Optimus sped forward. Optimus had to glance over his shoulder as he saw his officer swoop down to lower himself toward the racing tiger.

Prowl narrowed his eyes as he tried to configure exactly how to pull off what his mind was telling him. He wanted to help Tigatron and hoped this idea he had would do it for not only him but for the team. They needed to pick up speed, this was the only thing Prowl could think of to bring the entire party up to speed. Prowl was known for his speed in the air, he was the fastest of the male flyers, he reached top speeds of near 210m/h, Airazor was a bit faster than him because she was more aerodynamically built for fast speeds. The black snow leopard felt his fuel pump beat a bit faster as he dived down toward the running tiger, he had to hook his own paws around Tigatron's torso. "Tigatron, the cloud cat express is coming in! I'm gonna help you out." Prowl yelled out to the exhausted tiger, hearing his friend gasp for air as he continued to run. He had been running for about 30 minutes straight at his top speed, sure to Primus he was tired. Tigatron slowed down only to feel the large black winged leopard to latch his grip on to him. Prowl lifted Tigatron up into the air, and the tiger felt his legs leave the earth from which had been running. How in the world was Prowl managing this? Tigatron weighed considerably a lot while in beast mode and Prowl's beast mode was just a bit smaller than Tigatron. Simply put, Prowl had massive strength, supreme power which Tigatron had to give him credit for. The speed problem was soon fixed, as the white male tiger looked down to see his legs dangle in mid air about 350ft above the ground. He wasn't afraid, but impressed at the imense beauty of the world from these heights. He let his eyes take in the stunning scenes as the team raced on. Optimus had to shake his head in disbelief as he saw Prowl fly up to soar beside him. Optimus had a shocked look in his optics as he saw the two cats, one flying with the larger dangling in his paws. "No time to waste Optimus, we have to get that pod....and....hopefully Snowblaze. Excellerate to top speed." Optimus nodded and the team flew faster toward the now upcoming desert region of Trion.

The smile which decorated Megatron's face was classic of this insane Predacon. He was pleased for now he stood on the verge of where the status pod laid. The four Predacons were now standing at the edge of the rainforest just about 2 clicks from the status pod. They were well hidden within the jungle and Megatron had to take this into consideration, for as soon as they left the forest, they'd be open targets. Still Megatron wanted that pod badly, he always felt it was neccessary to tip the balance of power forces, between the Predacons and the Maximals. Using her optical scanners, Snowblaze was able to check the area to see if any of the Maximals were present. The tiny mechanisms in her optics whirred and adjusted to the harsh conditions of the heat, she mentally shut off the infrared, seeing where the pod lay, only one energy signature left.

"The area is clear Megatron. We can move in." Snowblaze switched off her scanners to look up at the large T-rex, his toothy grin widening at her words. "Then let us move. We need that pod. Snowblaze! You and I will go in to get the pod online and a Predacon. Inferno! Waspinator! You two stay here to give us back up if the Maximals arrive. Keep on gaurd and give cover fire when necessary." Snowblaze and Waspinator nodded their heads to Megatron's commands while the fire ant became quite jealous. "Royalty, why do you not choose me? I don't trust this Maximal scum, she could inflict harm to you my queen." Inferno was still in beast mode looking up at Megatron with a sense of sadness on his face. "You are the envious bug aren't you?" Megatron began, walking over to the fire ant, staring down as he towered over him. "Must you remember your place Inferno, you are to obey not to think." He grabbed the red ant by his antena with his little T-rex arms and lifted him up. "And STOP CALLING ME QUEEN!!" His hot breath pouring on the trembling fire ant. Megatron growled slightly before throwing Inferno back to the ground. "Snowblaze, time to move in." The snow leopard obediantly followed the large purple tyrannosaurus, her head down as they went. An error flashed in her logic circuits. <What is with that?> Snowblaze thought, but kept on following here leader.

"This should do it!" Rhinox was pleased with his efforts on trying to fix the Maximal fleet. He had just finished fixing Cheetor, and the yellow cat was also splayed out on the floor as Prowl had been when he was fixed. It hadn't been as hard a task to get Cheetor into the medbay because he wasn't as strong as Prowl was. Prowl had shown quite a challenge, the black cat had more powerful strength then thought of, his claw marks were still in the hallway where Rhinox had to drag him to the medbay. Cheetor was just picked up out of his confines and carried to the medbay, while Rhinox tried to calm him down. The cat kept wriggling, complaining he never got any of the femmes and how his life wasn't what it should be for he was the best of the Maximals. Rhinox had ignored him while the blue plasma covered him and fixed his emotion chips, also his energon was swept clean of the black lightning energon. Now Cheetor was back to his old self, smiling dumbly as he looked at the green scientist. "Hey Big Green! What happened?" Rhinox just shook his head, his optics turning off for a moment. "Cheetor believe me I think this whole explaination can wait for later. You don't want to know right now what you've done. Just help me, we still have to get Dinobot and Snowstalker back in correct working order. Without Dinobot I can't help Polar Claw." The cheetah just let his eyes open wide in confusion, he wagged his tail back and forth quickly trying to understand the situation, but to no avail. He just stood on his four spotted legs looking stupid, then quickly shaking his head he regained his composure. "Um.. I don't know what you just were talking about, but count me in here to help you. Just tell me what you want me to do." Rhinox smiled briefly before getting serious, he then began explaining that they had to get over to Snowstalker and Tigatron's quarters, so they could bring her to the medbay. The large green Maximal then started on his way out with a cheetah soon at his heels.

Sandy and dry the conditions weren't exactly the sort of thing which Snowblaze enjoyed. She kept on walking beside Megatron, she felt the hot sand shift in between her paws as she went. The two were almost at the pod, the gleaming metallic exterior shining to meet their eyes. Megatron couldn't wipe the large grin on his face, this was too easy. All the times in which the Maximals had foiled his plans, now here he was about to gain something so highly valued without any confrontation. It made him chuckle deeply as he kept to think to himself, almost mouthing the words of his self love. Snowblaze kept seeing that error in her logic circuits, it made her frown slightly. <What is wrong with me? Am I a Pred or am I a Maximal?> A tiny surge in her cranial unit caused her to think <~NO! YOU ARE A PREDACON!~> She trusted the command and continued to obediently follow Megatron.

From the air Optimus was able to see the status pod, and just a few feet away from it he discovered a large reptile and a winged cat making their way to the same pod. He sighed inwardly at seeing his former comrade, some part of him hoping Rhinox had been wrong. Now though he knew it was true, she was walking side by side with their most hated enemy. He could only minutely guess at how Prowl was taking in this sight. Indeed the black snow leopard wasn't alright with this view.

Prowl still gripped Tigatron as he continued to fly on in the sky, but he was decreasing their height. The sight which greeted his eyes made him flinch quickly in shock as if he had been shot through the heart. His mouth gapped and he shook his head in disbelief. Mouth trembling he slowly spoke his mate's pet name, "Snow....Snowy." Tigatron felt Prowl grip his torso even tighter, and felt the heaving in Prowl's chest. Never had one simple sight affect Prowl more than this, and he knew it was going to get worse.

Optimus' optics were narrowed now as he watched from the sky, Megatron and Snowblaze now at the site where the status pod had landed. He had to stop them, but he couldn't fire off his shoulder mistles, they'd damage the pod. Only thing which Optimus could do was continue to fly in farther, trying to distract Megatron. Prowl had to push his own feelings to the side, for he had to ensure that the pod became a Maximal. He served lower to the ground to find a place to set the tiger in his paws down, he had lots of strength, but endurance wasn't forever. He surveyed the area for his best options, soon he found the perfect drop off point. Lowering himself on the air currents Prowl adjusted his wings so he hovered just a few feet above a large sand dune. He slowly let his grip on Tigatron release, the tiger prepared himself to be let down.

Tigatron felt himself slip free of Prowl's hold, and his paws hit the sandy ground beneath him. As soon as the tiger was on the ground Prowl gained a bit of altitude before transforming to his battle mode. "Prowl, Maximize." He was soon flying in the air in his black and silver robot mode, quickly coming to fly beside Optimus. On the land, Tigatron was already in robot mode with his quasar laser in hand, gearing up for a battle.

Running his hand over the shining metal of the hull, Megatron only gleamed in evil pleasure. He rarely went out personally to gain a status pod, but today he wanted to ensure he got another member of his fleet. Snowblaze watched from behind him still in her beast mode, while Megatron was in robot mode. She felt something strange about to happen, her body tensed. "Megatron, we better get this protoform up and running before the Maximals arrive. Some how I can feel them coming, they aren't that far away." Her voice was a bit quite near the end of her phrase. Megatron turned to face the femme, a sly grin on his face while his T-rex head opened it's mouth slightly. "Not to worry about them right now, our back up should attend to them before the reach us, by then it will be too late." His grin stayed on his purple face as a bright pink laser light started to glow within his Rex head. "But even if they do show up here they won't get far."

Snowblaze nodded her head, understanding his intentions. "Now, time to get the new Predacon on line. " Megatron went over to the computer console, and started to type in some codes. The computer hummed a bit before shouting out "Core damage too exensive, replacement identy chip needed." These words made the Predacon leader growl, he tried some different codes and still the same answer came up. "Blast! Why won't it accept my programming?" The snow leopard beside him knew he wasn't programing the protoform correctly, but she didn't dare say anything. "Snowblaze! See what you can do to fix this.You should have some knowledge of these things."

"Indeed I do Megatron, I'll get it up and running on the side of the Predacons." She smiled wickedly before stepping back a bit. "Snowblaze, TERRORIZE!" She shouted out the words so quickly that she noticed an enormous ERROR!!!!! flash on her optics. But soon she was working away at the console typing in thousands of lines of codes, to make the Maximal into a Predacon.

Just before Snowblaze was almost done the lines of code, laser blasts could be heard from the direction of the forest. Megatron knew the Maximals had arrived, time to engage the enemy. "Snowblaze stay here and keep working on that protoform. I'll go aid Inferno and Waspinator. With that he reverted to his Rex mode and charged off in the direction of the cross firing feud.

Snowblaze kept thinking quickly as years of code training came to her aid. As she let her fingers enter the code lines, the femme couldn't help but feel stranger than ever as this was entirely wrong. She stopped punching the keys and stood still trying to understand why now she was seeing through that black haze in her mind. The snow leopard pressed on though in believing she was a Pred, still edging the protoform into a life of evil doing. She, nore Megatron had brought an indentity chip so it had to be done manually, which took more than 2 million lines of code. Snowblaze kept going though, not even really remembering how she knew all the lines of code.

Tigatron clutched his quasar cannon tight to his chest as he ducked down behind one of the sand dunes. He was up against Inferno and Waspinator, who were wildly firing off their weapons, not caring that they weren't aiming at any target. They thought their fire had to hit something soon. Optimus was moving in the air above the cross fire, coming to aid Tigatron. While up there in the sky he had to dodge constant laser blasts. Soon the Maximal leader couldn't dodge one pink laser blast, hitting him right on his chest haul. The force of the blast sent Optimus hurling back ward in the open sky, his prime jets still on. Tigatron peered out over the dune to try and give Optimus some cover fire. He had to draw off a few of the Preds to allow someone to get to the pod. Someone though was on his way.

Inferno ceased his fire to run ahead to engage the Maximal, his insane laughter filling the dusty air. Tigatron fired off some of his laser blasts but the fire ant just avading the shots like they were nothing. Charging forward to plough the tiger over onto his back. Tigatron felt the impact on his chest as Inferno rammed into him, his optics shut off quickly but he still gripped his gun in his hand. Inferno had got to his feet to tower above the downed white and green Maximal. "Time for you to burn Maximal." He evilly cackled out loud while reaching for his flame blaster, aiming right at Tigatron's head. The Maximal didn't have much time to act, but the tiger wasn't going to be taken down by this insane freak. He quickly rolled to the side as Inferno pulled the tigger to his flame blaster. The tiger immediately got to his feet and round house kicked the fire ant in the side of his face. He staggered around for awhile before his optics went dark and he slammed to the ground. He wasn't out for the count but it would give Tigatron and Optimus some time. Tigatron wiped his fore head once before turning to the scene going on behind him. Optimus was fighting with Megatron, one of his swords drawn and engaged in combat. Waspinator was hovering in the air firing at Optimus and Tigatron, time to deal with him. One last thing caught the tiger's eye, a silver and black robot landing behind the working femme at the pod.

His systems gripped so hard with an unimaginable pain Prowl had to clentch his fists. He saw his mate working furiously at the pod, her back turned to him as he kept advancing. Almost regreting what he had to do, Prowl reached for his claw laser from subspace, hoping he would never have to use it. He kept walking silently toward her, on alert. Snowblaze jerked herself around quickly upon detecting the Maximal coming in toward her from behind. Her optics flashed a bright blue when she saw who was behind her, but they narrowed when looking at him. The black and silver male in front of her was someone she knew all to well, and as she tried to reach for her weapon, but that error flashed again. Snowblaze stood in place her body tensing as he advanced toward her. Prowl saw her face and decided to stop, not knowing what was going on with her. "Snowblaze?" He questioned. "Don't move Maximal. I'm not the most patient of Predacons." He let his optics flash a bright blue at her words. "So you are a Predacon. Why Snowblaze?" She dragged her optics over his body, trying desperately to figure out who he was by name, she couldn't remember who he was but she felt she did know him, but still she wasn't going to trust him at all. She knew he was a Maximal because the red Maximal insignia was on his right shoulder, showing out proudly. "I don't think it's a matter of asking why I'm a Predacon, but why you don't accept that fact." She brought her weapon into plain view of Prowl's optics, her grip on it was tight.

The bug never knew what was coming when he kept trying to fire at Optimus. Tigatron's quasar cannon blasted forward to hit the wasp in the wings. Waspinator let out a cry of pain as he started to plummet to the ground. He felt mech fluid starting to flow down his back from the large opening, as he continued to fall. Finally he dived right into a small sand dune. His back smoking as he impacted, the sand flying up as the robot dug through the sandy particles. His green mech fluid mixed with the sand to create an eerie sight. He moaned slightly, trying to get back to his feet and was successful. The white tiger was edging in to challenge him. Tigatron cautiously came closer to the wavering bug. He growled low in his throat trying to figure out what to do next to Waspinator. He tried to aim his quasar cannon at him again, but the weapon siesed up, rendering itself useless. Tigatron threw the worthless item to the sandy ground and reverted to beast mode. He braced himself as Waspinator tried to frontal attack him with his dart gun. The tiger didn't act fast enough, he caught one blast straight on in his shoulder, his beast mode's red blood started pouring out of the wound staining his white fur. The tiger roared out louder as a second blast impacted his rear flank, he had been to concerned with his first wound to react to another attack. The stinger dart was lodged into his flank deep and again the blood began to flow from his wound. Tigatron moved ahead toward the wasp, despite his injuries. He pounced on him full force and started to slash into the green and yellow Predacon, rage leading him on.

"Noooo! I don't wanna! Don't make me go dere!" The childish timid voice came from Dinobot, once a mighty warrior. Now he was shivering and shaking behind his mate Slasher Red, trying to avoid entering the medbay. "I said I don't wanna! He's gonna stick me with dose needles, I know it!" Slasher Red rolled her optics as she stood in the door way to the medbay in robot mode, Dinobot had been this way for about three days now and it was slowly driving the femme crazy. She couldn't be more happier to finally have the cure to Dinobot's current situation. After saying his whining words Dinobot proceeded to suck on his raptor claw some more, he had never transformed to robot mode while he was like this. Which was some sort of good news for Slasher Red. She hated even seeing him act like a raptor chick, let alone a baby Cybertronian. Slasher Red shook her head before turning around to grab Dinobot by his wrist. Dinobot gave her a wide eyed look of horror and screamed "NOOOO! YOU ARWN'T TAKING ME IN DERE!" His yelps of not wanting to get repaired made Red's audios ring. She saw him grapple the doorway enterance with both of his clawed raptor hands when she tried to pull him into the room, he just dug his claws into the door's frame work. He gave out another plea not to enter, but Red wasn't there to play games. She reached down to grab on to his tail and she forcefully dragged him off the door way so that he came into the medbay, the childish raptor shrieking to leave. Rhinox just stood behind the medbay's computer console with a raised optic ridge, he found himself giving off a lop sided smile as Slasher Red positioned the wriggling raptor into the blue plasma beam area. Dinobot was the last to be fixed by the plasma shield, Snowstalker had just been repaired and was stable now. Polar Claw had to be fixed still but that couldn't be done now and of coarse there was still Rattrap, something which Rhinox had no clue on fixing.

Over Dinobot's screams Red asked "Rhinox can I be in the plasma beam when he's repaired? Someone has to keep him here until it's done." Rhinox gave his head a nod and Red continued to struggle to hold Dinobot in position. The blue plasma beam did it's wonders again, it wasn't exactly certain to Rhinox what was shattered in Dinobot's systems but in a few cycles the screaming raptor became quiet, his eyes shut. His energon was swept clean of the black lightning energon and within a cycle the raptor shook his head to groan with the deep sound of the true Dinobot's voice. Slasher Red was still holding him as he opened his eyes and gave her a confused look. "What in the name of the Primus happened?" Slasher Red smiled widely at her mate and gave him a small hug, Dinobot looked dazed for a moment before returning her embrace. Rhinox waited until he had maximized to tell him the story, Dinobot' s face decorated with horror at the description of how he acted, growling revenge on Rattrap.

Prowl steadied himself, preparing for the worst his mate was going to deal out to him. Just before either were going to make a move, Prowl was grabbed by Optimus as he rammed into him. A pink laser beam followed, along with an evil series of laughs. Megatron advanced with a huge smile as he continued to look over the battered Optimus, who now was on the ground on his side with Prowl in his grip. Prowl shook free from Optimus' grasp, getting to his feet. His black and silver metal shone in the scorching sun, it caught the attention of the femme as she tried to figure out what to do. The protoform was ready to be a Predacon, all that was needed was the execute button to be pressed. The male stood in a battle position getting his electron feather sword from subspace ready. Prowl's optics looked over at Snowblaze, his heart still wavering in disbelief. She returned his gaze, not the cold vague stare which she had earlier given Rhinox, but one of sadness, as if begging for help. "Snowblaze attack the Maximals!" Megatron shouted out. Her gaze left her mate's and she had to comply to the orders. "Time to test your loyalty femme! Fire on Optimus!" Snowblaze left the status pod's console to stand beside Megatron, she obediently brought her wings around to fire her two torepedoes straight at Optimus. They sped forward Optimus was trying to get to his feet as her ammuntion slammed into his shoulder. The impact was hard, most of the armour was destroyed and some of his circuitry was damaged really badly. Optimus cried out in agony, his hand coming up to cover the wound on his shoulder. Snowblaze saw that error in her mind increase in size and she had to stagger back as her systems tried to get her alliance circuits back on line. Prowl saw her shake as her optics were switched off and she gripped her head. <It's not her fault. It's that damn black lightning!! She's trying to fight it> His thoughts made his face show his pain, he wanted to help her badly. The only way he knew how was to call out to her.

"Snowy! FIGHT IT!!" His clear voice struck a chord in the femme. The black haze in her mind fought so hard to keep control. <~NO! He is your enemy destroy him!~> She twisted in pain, Megatron watched with confusion as she continued. "Snowblaze, attack Prowl, destroy him!" The same commands entered her mind and Snowblaze screamed as her mind tried to figure out what was the truth. She charged forward with the laser straight at Prowl, her mind a whirl with confusion. She felt the black haze try and win over her own logic circuits. She kept running at him, rage in her heart not realizing her actions. Her face was controted in pain and confusion, her optics brinked with tears. As she continued to charge at Prowl ,who was bracing himself for he could never strike his own mate, she saw his blue optics, those two gentle pools of blue. They struck with such a force that the largest ERROR flashed her mind and Snowblaze screamed out loud at the pain in her mental systems. She collapsed to her knees, her head down as she shook quickly. Those gentle blue optics of his sent her spiralling. She felt her true self break through the black haze as her mate's undying love entered her mind. His simple blue optics made images flash past her own mind's eye, ones of them together, her hugging him fiercely, him holding her in his arms, them on the roof hatch under the stars, him swearing he'd always be there for her. 'I'll be there for you.' Those words he had spoken sent her to tears as the memories of her mate made her over ride the black haze. The love they shared was so powerful she was able to drawl all the strength in herself, to push this black lightning out of her body and soul. With all her spark's strength, Snowblaze gave out a mighty fighting scream as the black lightning bolts streaked right out her open optics, straight up into the sky, in an explosion of massive proportions. The beams of electricity blowing apart before they vapourized. With a whimper of agony at her extersion the exhausted femme fell to the ground. Prowl rushed to be by her side, holding her up against his chest as he knelt beside her limp form. The red Maximal insignia soon re-appeared on her collar armour, Snowblaze was back. Prowl could feel his optics almost brink with cleansing fluid.

Looking over at Optimus Prowl remembered the status pod, he was the only one to save it. Too late. During Snowblaze's struggle to free herself from the black lightning Megatron had activated the pod, he now was standing beside the pod, an evil look all over his features. The pod's hatch was open and from behind him stood a griffon vulture, which glared at the lone Maximal in the sand. It was a new Predacon."I may have lost one soldier to you Maximals but I now have a new one. Attack!" The vulture nodded it's gray head Megatron and took to the air. It shrieked out "Bonesteele, TERRORIZE!" The feminine voice from the griffon vulture was sweet to the audios but she also held one of evil cunning. The vulture transformed into a well shaped dark green femme, her optics a blazing red. Just before she would have gone in for the attack, laser fire flew past her, the femme looked around to see a battered Tigatron standing just in front of Megatron.

"Megatron, I suggest we retreat. This is suicide if we stay here." Megatron growled but answered "Perhaps you're right, grab Inferno. Predacon's retreat." A mumbling Waspinator could be heard as Megatron grabbed him and ran off back toward the Darkside. Bonesteele reverted to her vulture mode and looked at Prowl from the air. "Sorry to say we have to end this now, but we'll meet again black cat." With that she lowered her clawed feet to latch on to Inferno who was out cold. They flew off in the horizon, Prowl couldn't help but think something was different about this new Predacon.

Tigatron reverted to his siberian tiger form, the blood was still trickling out of his wounds. "I think we also should return to base. I'll take Optimus, you bring Snowblaze." The tiger went to their fallen leader. The Maximal commander groaned as he tried to go to beast mode, he was successful and gave off a grunt as he turned to gorrilla mode. "Don't worry Optimus we'll get you back to normal as soon as we're back at the Axalon." Tigatron stated. The tiger didn't know what to think of this battle, was it a win or a loss? They got their comrade Snowblaze back, but lost the pod, helping tip the balances of power. This new femme was going to be hard to deal with, she was quite intelligent. Tigatron let his worries wander as he placed Optimus on his back, pain shooting from his back flank. "Do you want me to carry him?" Prowl asked "You can take Snowblaze if it's less painful for you." Tigatron only shook his head "No I can manage, besides I think you want to carry her. Let's move." With that the tiger started back to the Axalon, Optimus draped over his back. Prowl couldn't transform to beast mode, he couldn't carry his mate back then. An energon surge went through his body. "Relay to field dampers, maximum tolerance." His systems complied and the surging stopped.

Snowblaze whimpered in her mate's arms. He looked down at her, seeing her optics coming up to half power. "Prowl....Oh Primus what did I do?" He gave her a sad expression of sympathy. "You didn't do anything, it was the black lightning. You had no control over it. Just as I had no control over my rage when I was hit." He cuddled her closer to his form and the femme gave him a gentle smile. "I can remember jumping Rhinox, but then everything is in bits and pieces, I'm not sure what really happened. Prowl did I hurt anyone?" Her voice trembled as she looked in his optics. "Nothing that can't be fixed. Baby it's okay, don't blame yourself for what happened at all. You're back, that's all that counts." She blinked her dim optics as she felt him stand up, helping her to stand on her weak legs as she faced him, her hands resting on his chest. "Prowl I..." He smiled gently at her "Shhh... I know." He then gently kissed her on her lips, his warmth filling her with strength. They broke apart and Prowl lifted her up off the ground, holding her in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder as he flapped his wings and took to the air, he tightened his grip around her. He silently thanked Primus he had his mate back as he flew on toward the Axalon, He felt her fuel pump beat in her chest and it matched his perfectly, a gentle smile curved his mouth.

Shaking his head, the small Maximal got up, sitting on his knees. Rattrap let his optics power up and the black lightning still within them flickering wildly. He trembled as he felt something twist his holding tanks. The rat just sat there in horror upon realizing what had happened. He saw the area on his arm where Rhinox had taken some of his mech fluid. "I hope to Primus, Rhinox finds a way to help me. Either that or I'll ask for a termination."

THE END......