How About Another One? Kup overindulges again. by Fred's Workshop

“There’s no damn reason to go on,” thinks Kup, “if I can’t keep fighting.” With the Pax Cybertonia signed, peace ensued. And peace is as much an enemy to a warrior as any one he’s sworn to fight. Many of his friends had already left him; gone over to the ‘Maximal Upgrade’ program. “Pah, Maximals”, thought Kup. “You downsize by two thirds, and for what? To get a furry animal body? No thanks.” Those that were close to him tried to get him to come along. But Kup wouldn’t budge. “There’s been peace before,” he’d say, “And it will last as long as the others. Fat lot of good I’d do as Security Chief if I were a damn mountain goat.” So they left him, one by one. Old friends becoming new strangers, as they changed their bodies, and even their identities, sometimes even opting for a full memory wipe. More and more often, Kup had to watch where he was walking, lest he accidently step on one of Cybertrons’ new ‘citizens’. “Damn animals”, he’d gripe, “Always underfoot.” It got to the point where HE was the odd ‘bot out, a giant among micromasters. One day, he literally ran into an old friend. At least, in name. Grimlock was small; small by any standard. A tiny lizard compared to his former self. And he didn’t remember Kup at all. “Hey, watch it, grandpa! I’m tryin’ to go on livin’ here! Get off the street!” Giving no further thought to Kup, he trotted off in the direction of his business. It was then that Kup stopped going out, and the drinking began. He still maintained his title as Security Chief. No one had the heart to strip the grizzled old veteran of his last shred of dignity. But there wasn’t much for him to secure against anymore. There was no one who reported to him, nor who he reported to. A few of the monitoring stations that used to watch out for Decepticon activity were now turned toward research; most, however, were simply left vacant, or converted into living space for smaller beings. All his friends were gone; and most places he could hang out were gone. So Kup stayed in his quarters, and spent his time in a drunken stupor. Low-grade energon flowed thru the tap in his room at all hours, so that’s where he remained. Days became weeks became months became years. Kup didn’t care. All he wanted to do was forget the present. As time went on, the present certainly forgot him. Decades passed. Records were sealed. Time was, there wasn’t a single Cybertonain on-planet who remembered him. Alone in his quarters, with energon in-hand, he had a lone display piped thru his vid screen, allowing him to monitor what was going on outside. There wasn’t much else he needed. Or wanted, for that matter. He watched over the years as the Maximals, knowing nothing about the floating head in space around the planet, converted it into a new moon, a sister to the metal-coated asteroid they pulled into orbit from nearby. “I give these animals credit”, thought Kup, “At least they know how things are supposed to look. (hic)Even got the damn planet to stop spinning loose in space.” Eventually, Kup rigged up a feeder harness for himself, allowing the energon to flow without having to get up to the tap. He parked himself in a chair, facing the screen, and shut down most of his functions, leaving only enough of himself on-line to act as a reactivation node should he be needed again. With the computer set to awaken him, Kup drifted off into that almost-dead state that transformers call stasis. The dust settled on his frame as 300 years passed on Cybertron. And then, Megatron dropped dropped from the sky. Most others payed no heed, even though it was strange to have a Cybertonain come careening in more or less under his own power. They didn’t even second-guess the apparent time warp that rippled out from him on his approach vector. The sensors couldn’t specifically ID this being, but computers did identify him as a transformer. Maximal Security simply noted it, and filed the information away for later use. Tripredacus Council pondered this new arrival, but decided it wasn’t one of theirs when the computer couldn’t identify the being. It was quickly forgotten. In an unused portion of Cybertron, a lone monitoring station beeps. 300 years of cheap energon take its toll on a body. So does no movement or maintainence during the same time period. Kup came back on-line, of course...at least, the parts of him that could. Optics fizzle and flare to life as his brain functions reactivated. *Routine diagnostics running *Main motor units off-line *Secondary motor units off-line *Transform circuits off-line **Unit mobility at 0% *Self-repair circuits activated *Self-repair circuits not responding *Initiating consciousness “Nhhhhhuh.” Kup creaked out as he came back to full awareness. “What the..”(checks diagnostic readout)“Oh, that’s just wonderful. I’m stuck. Where’s FirstAid when you need ‘em? Now what am I supposed to do?” As he ponders his readouts, it suddenly occurs to him that he’s been reactivated. “Great Primus, what’s going on?” Kup checks the vidscreen, (itself thicky caked with dust)and immediately comes to attention. “Unidentified Transformer? Since when? Readings indicate...traces of a dual-spark? Whatever the hell THAT means. Unit registers as a... a DECEPTICON signature?! Crap! Computer, what is the nature of the dual-spark? Who is that Decepticon?” “Unable to comply with request”, responds the computer. “Records of Decepticon identities sealed by order of Maximal Elders.” “Hmph,” responded Kup, “I don’t know who these elders are, but it’s obvious they don’t realise a problem when they see it. Computer, this is the Autobot Kup, Chief of Security, ident code alphatrion. Unseal those records, and tell me who this ‘unidentified’ transformer is.” “Code accepted,” the computer responds, “Unit identified as Decepticon Megatron.” Kup ponders that a moment. “Computer, are your circuits scrambled? Megatron? He’s dead.” “Incorrect,” responds the computer. “Unit Megatron missing, presumed deactivated year 2005. A cross-reference of the personal log of Autobot Commander Rodimus Prime of the same year indicates that he suspected the unit identified as Galvatron was in fact Megatron.” “Really? Odd, the kid never mentioned that one to me. All right computer, you seem to be a pretty smart one. What happened to Teletran-4?” “Unit Teletran-4 predates this system by approximately 3 vorns.” (Kup splutters at that statement) “3...3 VORNS? That’s 250 YEARS, earth-time. What year is this?!” “This is the year 3.6APC(after pax-cybertonia, for you readers keeping track). In your ‘earth time’, the year is 2308.” If Kup were human, he would have passed out from the sudden shock. As it is, his processing buffers experience a momentary recursive feedback loop. As ostracized from society as he felt after only a few decades, he wondered how things would be for him now. Still, he was an Autobot, and he had a duty to perform. First thing was to contact whoever was currently in-charge of planetary defense...

Meanwhile, at Maximal Security Headquarters, Depthcharge was on-duty. He needn’t have been here; after all, it was his last day before his transfer to Starbase Rugby, and he had permission to take the rest of the day off. But that wasn’t in DepthCharge’s nature: he was, above all, a duty-bound Maximal. It just wasn’t his style to shrug off his duty. Besides, he wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary. So imagine his surprise when his monitor beeped, with an incoming priority one alert. “What?! Priority One? I haven’t seen one of those in over 2 vorn. Who could possibly be attacking us?” Depthcharge hesitated; perhaps his friends were playing a practical joke on him. After all, it WAS his last day. They were probably just trying to get him to launch a planet-wide alert. THAT would look good on his record when he transferred to his new posting. “Darn practical jokers. All right, I’ll bite.” He presses the comm button “”This is Commander Depthcharge, Security. What is the nature of the emergency?” “Er, yes, ahem. Well, I don’t know you,” said Kup, “But this is Chief of Security Kup. We’ve got a Decepticon incoming on a northeast vector, quadrant one. Sensors identify it as Megatron, if you can believe it. If I were you, I’d issue a planet-wide alert, and mobilize the troops.” “Really,” replied Depthcharge. “Kup, is it? Well, nice try guy, but if you were going to pull a practical joke on me, you could have at least picked a better name than Kup.” “What are you talking about, lad?” asked Kup. “If your name is Kup, then I’m still Broadside. There hasn’t been a Kup in Security for hundreds of years. Assuming you know what a ‘year’ is.” “I know damn well what a year is, punk,” replied Kup, “and if you check the records, you’ll see I’m still on the active duty list.” “All the records on Autobots and Decepticons are sealed, as you well know.” Depthcharge replied. “I’m not going to unseal a record for your foolishness. This joke has gone on long enough. It’s my last day, you’ve had your fun, so haha, who is this really?” At this point, Kup is considerably frustrated. He makes one last attempt. “Listen kid, if you check your sensors, you’ll see that an unidentified transformer hit an approach vector to Cybertron not too-long ago. The computer didn’t indentify it until I authorized it to do so. It said it was MEGATRON. If you used to be Broadside, then I trust you know what THAT name means.” “What it means,” replied Depthcharge, “is that you hacked into some unauthorized information in our history. I don’t know if this is some sort of a sick joke, or if it is a test of my loyalty to see if I will spill any secrets, but this conversation is finished. If you were really Kup, then you wouldn’t be bothering me with this anyways; you’d just be boozing it in some cheap bar, going on about the good old war-days. I’ve had enough. End Transmission!” Depthcharge practically broke the comm button when he slammed it off. He’d lost his temper; that wouldn’t do. Whoever pulled this on him certainly did his homework; no one around today should have known that he used to be friends with an Autobot named Kup. Unlike many of the others, Broadside didn’t undergo the full memory-wipe when he took the Maximal upgrade and became Depthcharge; he felt that he might lose an important part of himself if he lost his memories. Still, according to regulations, he took an oath of secrecy, and changed his designation. Now, someone was apparently breaking with regulations to play a practical joke on him. He really ought to find out who. After all, it was his duty to investigate all breaches of Security. It might really turn out to be a test, after all. So the first thing he had to do was trace the source of the transmission. “Computer, who sent me the message to issue a Priority One alert?” “Kup, Autobot, Chief of Security,” replied the computer. “that can’t be right,” thought Depthcharge. “Obviously, someone disguised their transmission. That’s another breach of regulations. This is becoming a bad day.” He addressed the computer again. “Scan the message source code, and find out who REALLY sent the message.” “Message scanned.” Replied the computer. “Autobot Kup is the originatior of the message. Identicode confirmed.” “This is getting ridiculous,” thought Depthcharge. “Allright, fine. I’ll play. Computer, is there, or was there, a ship on approach to Cybertron?” “Negative,” replied the computer. “Aha!”, thought Depthcharge. “It WAS a practical joke.” “However,” the computer continued, “There is an unidentified transformer on approach vector in quadrant one.” If Depthcharge had a jaw, it would have dropped to the floor. “Um, computer...you’re registering that right now? Has any other station picked this up?” “Affirmative,” replied the computer. “Officer K-9 logged it into the computer less than a breem ago.” “Well, this is getting interesting. OK, patch me thru to his post.” The computer pauses a moment to make the connection. Then, the image of a dog-like maximal pops up on the screen. “Security, this is K-9.” “K-9, this is Commander Depthcharge. Did you log an unidentified transformer on approach to our planet?” “Sure did, commander,” replied K-9. “The computer didn’t give me an ident, so I filed it for later analysis.” “I see,” replied Depthcharge. “Tell me, officer k-9...do you know of Kup?” A confused look crosses K-9’s face. “Er, ‘cup’, sir? Like in a cup of energon?” “No, I was thinking more along the lines of a picKup truck, an old earthen conveyence. Nevermind, officer. Thank you for the information. End transmission.” K-9’s face disappears from the monitor. Depthcharge is even more confused. There are other options open to him, of course. However, he hesitates to employ them...

Meanwhile, Kup is despondent. All his life, he gave 100% to defending his home planet of Cybertron. Even when the others apparently gave up and went on with their peaceful lives, he felt it was his duty to maintain the vigil. And he had. Sure, he may have tipped a few back in his time, but that was no reason for that punk to make the crack he did. And to not believe him, to not even check...well, Kup wondered what the point of it all was. Out of all the Autobots, only he stayed wise to the Decepticon threat. And he had proved right to do so. Except that so much time had passed, and now there was no one to tell, no one who would listen to him. They were facing the worst Decepticon of all, and there was no way to make them realize it. “No point. No point at all. Hell with them; let ‘em all rot, for all I care. I tried. Maybe when he rips a few heads off, they’ll see I was right...I was right...computer, increase energon flow. Crummy bastards. I can’t get anywhere anyways. No reason I can’t take pleasure in a cold one.” “Acknowledged,” the computer responds. “Increasing energon flow by 15%.” “Make it 40%, computer. I’m not on duty anymore.”

The anger burns within him. The rage, the betrayal, the near-insanity...It overwhelms the Predacon known as Megatron. Always cold and calculating in his own right, it was seldom that he lost his temper. Now, however, things were different. His plans to rewrite history gone awry. His troops scattered. His own essense shackled to the old Autobot shuttle like some common criminal. All these things in themselves were enough of a burden to bear. But the spark. Primus, the spark. “Those foolish Maximals couldn’t get it removed,” observes Megatron, “Instead choosing to return to Cybertron to have it done. Damn them; I almost wish they’s succeeded, yessss...” The insanity was getting worse; the spark of his namesake was beginning to realize what had happened, beginning to exert control...over HIM...”That won’t do, not at all,” commented Megatron. But there wasn’t much he could do about it. The spark was beginning to intergate with his body, beginning to TALK to him. And the things it would say...madness. Sheer madness. He was past the point where he could rip out the original Megatron’s spark himself. To attempt to do so would only result in his own demise. Their sparks had mingled; were in-fact beginning to merge. And it was becoming VERY apparent the Predacon’s spark would not be the dominant one at all... After exiting out of the collapsing transwarp bubble, he set a course for Cybertron. On-board sensors indicated he wasn’t all that far away. A short burst from his booster rockets, and momentum would do the rest. He coasted, and plotted his next move. Or tried to, anyways. His thoughts were no longer his own. The Predacon in him wanted to hide out, lay low until he could fully digest the situation, and take appropriate action. The Decepticon in him wanted to rip out the spark of every accursed animal on the planet. The Decepticon was winning. How it had managed to access the Predacon’s thoughts and begin a takeover of the body was no longer a mystery. It was simply stronger; more ruthless. Megatron hadn’t counted on his Decepticon namesake being stronger, but it was definitely the case. “How humiliating,” thought Megatron, “that I am not the most ruthless Cybertonain after all.” It was his last thought as an individual Predacon. The sparks merged; and the Decepticon Megatron was now in full control. “At laaast,” he said, in an uncharacteristically scractchy voice, “I function again. I don’t know what happened to cause this, but someone will pay. Starting with those rotten decendents of mine. Mwahahahahaha!” Laughing maniacally to himself, he approached Cybertron proper. And prepared for vengance.

Chronoclasm. Galvatron’s long slumber is interrupted by a pinprick of consciousness. The purple dragon’s optics flare to life as he briefly sniffs the stagnant air around him. “What an odd dream,” he thinks to himself, “for a moment, I thought I was Megatron again.” Satisfied that he hasn’t, in fact, reverted to one of his past lives, he resumes his hibernation, dreaming of past conquests and future victories. And trying very hard NOT to dream about soaking in a plasma bath...

Depthcharge drums his fingers on the desk as he ponders his decision. If this were a test, he didn’t know if breaching regulations was the correct answer. But it was fast becoming the RIGHT answer. How else could he consider himself a model Commander if he didn’t explore all his options? Besides, if this turned out to be legitimate...Depthcharge shuddered at the thought. “Well, only one way to find out. Computer, identify the ‘unidentified’ transformer in quadrant one.” “Unable to comply,” responded the computer. “Unit is dual-spark; Predacon and Decepticon in nature. Records of Decepticon identities sealed by order of Maximal Elders.” “Computer...this is Broadside, ident code...wreckers. Unseal the records, and identify that transformer. Cross reference: define, ‘dual-spark’.” His request processed, Depthcharge sits back to await his answer. And to ponder his decision to breach regulations.

PolyHex. The place had changed considerably since Megatron last walked these hallowed halls. For one thing, the halls were smaller. He had to practically stoop to walk thru them. And where were all his trophies, his symbols of the great Decepticon Conquest? Nowhere to be found. He had a sneaking suspicion that the current occupants of his seat of power had done away with them. The thought only fueled his anger. He began to smash holes in the walls as he walked toward his throne room. He knew he was giving his position away, but frankly, he didn’t care. “Let them know,” he shouted to the walls. “Let them know that Megatron has returned!” They knew. Now. “How did we miss this?” asked Seaclamp of his brothers. “None of our computer models suggested that Megatron would walk right back into our hands. We could have saved ourselves an operative. And a stealth ship.” “Let us not look a gift machkick in the mouth.” replied Circadian. “He’s here; let us ‘greet’ him properly. I’ll send out the welcoming committee.” “Something is wrong,” said Ramhorn. “It’s not like him to come in like this. We should be wary.” “You worry too-much, brother.” replied Circadian. “After all, it’s only Megatron. It’s not as though we’re dealing with his predecessor.”

Depthcharge didn’t have to wait long for his answer. “Identity confirmed; unit identified as Decepticon Megatron.” Depthcharge sat bolt upright in his chair, horrified. He thought for a moment that he might have heard wrong, or perhaps that the computer made a mistake. But that was not to be the case. Gathering his resolve, he proceeded to hit the comm button, and issue a Priority One Alert.

Chronolasm. The call came too-late for the Tripredacus Council. Their bodies lay gutted; the sparks already gone to join the Matrix. They didn’t die quickly; they fought hard; one would expect them to, since their lives depended on it. They fought with troops. They foght with interior defense systems. When Megatron walked thru it all as though it were tissue paper, and entered their chambers, they fought him personally, seperately, and finally even in their gestault mode. But it was in vain, for Megatron had proved their better. Either Megatron would have been a worthy adversary, but with the two of them combined, Tripredacus had no chance. Their energon spilled over the chamber floor, pooling at the victor’s feet, energon as rich as that which flowed over Megatron’s hands as he tore them apart. Satisfied that his work here was done, Megatron proceeded nonchalantly thru the chamber, and to the secret shielded terminal in the back. “At least some things haven’t changed,” thought Megatron. “The direct-access port is still here. Computer, display current location of ‘Maximal Elders’. I wish to pay them a visit.” “Maximal Elders currently convened in central chambers of Iacon.” “Perfect. Computer, are there any weapons around the city that I should be aware of?” “Negative,” replied the computer. “Iacon carries a civilian designation; as such, weapons are prohibited.” “Excellent, ye-...mwahahahah!” Satisfied that his next ‘visit’ will be a glorious one, Megatron departs, oblivious to the carnage around him. “Soon enough, I will return this fortress to its former glory, and the Decepticons will rise again!”

Iacon. Home of the Maximal Elders, those citizans of Cybertron who lead the way for the others. A repository of wisdom. Heroes past, present, and future. “And a prime target of attack,” said Prowl. “The Alert has been issued. Regulations clearly specify that we should be proceeding to the bunker.” “Aw, shut yer trap,” said Ironhide. “The last thing we should be doing is turning tail and running from a threat.” “He has a point, Prowl,” said Silverbolt. “We need to lead by example. Besides, I don’t think the bunker would be much protection against a Decepticon of Megatron’s caliber.” “I should have seen this coming,” said Prowl. After all, it was only logical that we’d have to deal with a Decepticon threat again. I simply hadn’t expected...” “No one is blaming you,” replied Ironhide. “How could we have known that there were any Decepticons left?” “Well, SOMEONE knew it would happen,” interjected Depthcharge, his image on the viewscreen in-front of the Elders. “Kup contacted me earlier, and tried to tell me. But I wouldn’t listen. From the reports I’m getting from Polyhex, Megatron’s not taking any prisoners.”

In the skies above Iacon, Megatron flies. Those below him appear as nothing more than insects to his optical sensors. “Hmmm...that might be more accurate than I realize, given all the organics around here. What were our descendants thinking?” Those ‘insects’ who happened to be looking skywards no doubt wondered at the appearance of the fierce-looking red dragon; not long, of course, since there were certainly more pressing concerns on a transformers mind that someone's alt form; this was an era of peace, after all. Research, exploration, and the betterment of ones own self was the order of the day. Or would have been, had the Priority One alert not been issued. Maximal Security took positions around the perimeter of the city, and opened fire. “What?! I thought they HAD no weapons here. No matter; their shots will be as under-powered and useless as those at my Citadel. As the ‘Covenant of Primus’ says, I’ll rain fire from the skies.” And he proceeded to do just that. The Maximals were no better able to defend themselves against Megatron than the Decepticons were. Several blasts of fire from the Dragon’s mouth, and they were reduced to near-cinders. A blast of cold at the roof of the City, and it began to crack. “Mwahahaha! Terrorize!” Transforming to robot mode, he slammed his fist into the iced ceiling, shattering it with one blow. A large chunk of the ceiling fell into the vid screen, shattering it. Flying in to the center of the chamber, he comes face-to-face with the three Maximal Elders. “At last, we meet, Autobot Decendents. Too-bad you won’t be around long enough to bask in my divine presense.” With that simple speech, Megatron opens fire, obliterating the meeting table with one shot. Prowl, Silverbolt, and Ironhide manage to jump away in time, and their thoughts are nearly instant: “We can’t do this seperately. Maximals, unite!” With a thought, they combine into one of the most powerful beings on the planet. “We are Magnaboss. Your reign of terror stops now.” Powerful eyebeams shoot out of the gestault’s head, hitting Megatron squarely in the chest, knocking him over. Megatron is momentarily stunned; but it quickly dissapates, turns to pleasure. A smile on his face, Megatron answers the attack with one of his own. A verbal one, in this case: “Excellent, yessss. You will be a challenge. I relish it! Mwahahah!” His speech out of the way, he rears his dragon head fist, and fires.

Kup is only dimly aware of his surroundings. And he’s thankful of that. He didn’t even notice his screen when the Priority One alert is issued. Nor would he have cared; the only thing that currently occupies Kup’s mind is his ‘glory days’, when transformers were robots, not animals, and when you saw your enemy you shot him, not signed a treaty with him. The intercom beeps. He ignores it; choosing instead to take another swig from the energon harness. The beeping becomes insistant. Finally, despite his desire to ignore the incoming caller, the vidscreen pops up with an image of Depthcharge. “You’re hard to get ahold of,” said Depthcharge. “Not really, I was just ignoring you,” replied Kup. “Now why don’t you get off my screen, and let me get back to my drinking. Computer, end transmission.” The computer obeys, cutting off Depthcharge before he can get a word in edge-wise. “Just as well,” thought Kup. “He probably just wanted to find out what I was still doing alive.” The intercomm beeped again. “Grumble...computer, ignore all incoming transmissions. I’m not taking any callers.” “Unable to comply,” responded computer. “Incoming message is rated alpha-one.” “Alpha one? One above my security rating. Nice one, punk. Fine. Display.” The computer obliges, and Depthcharge is once again on the screen in-front of Kup. “You can talk, but I don’t have to listen. I have better things to do.” “Listen, Kup, I was wrong, and I’m sorry.” said Depthcharge. “It was my last day on-duty. I thought someone was playing a joke on me.” “Yea, well, the joke is on the lot of you. Megatron is back. And unless I miss my guess, you guys aren’t equipped to handle him. Serves you right. I told you that going to the Maximal Upgrade was a mistake. But none of you would listen. Maybe after he knocks a few of you unconscious, you’ll learn your lesson.” “Kup, he’s killing us,” replied Depthcharge. “Sending innocent beings to meet Primus. Sensors indicate he’s heading toward Iacon right now. Probably to attack the Elders.” “Eh? Killing? What, you guys forget how to repair a ‘bot, too?” replied Kup. “They aren’t dead. Just in stasis-lock. Maybe if you unseal your records, you’d remember that.” “I KNOW stasis-lock when I see it!” shot back Depthcharge. “They’re DEAD. The sparks are gone. We’ve learned a few things since your time. Like when NOT to send our comrades off in a flaming barge.” “That was low, lad,” replied Kup, more subdued in his tone. “We didn’t KNOW at the time. Our chief medic was one of those that ended up in stasis-lock. It was a WAR. We didn’t have anyone else trained to tell the difference. My God, how could we have known...” Despondant, Kup looked away from the screen, lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts of those that died in the Great Wars filtered thru his processor. Too-many for one being to name. But name them he could. He kept track of every Autobot who lost their life in defense of The Cause. It was his way of honoring them, and of honoring the sacrifice they made. These days, he figured, he was the only one left alive who WOULD remember them. The others were gone; products of downsizing and memory wipes. As Kup saw it, he was the Last Autobot. The Last Autobot. The thought resonated thru his thought processors. And snapped him back to cold, hard reality. He was an Autobot. He was sworn to protect life, ALL life, against the Decepticons. It was his duty. And if Kup could be relied on for one thing, it was that he would do his duty. Hell, hadn’t that been exactly what he’d BEEN doing for the last 250 or more years? His duty? Keeping watch? He’d been waiting for the Decepticon threat to surface once again, and now that it had, what right did he have to turn his back on it? Lives were on the line. Maybe not fellow Autobots, but certainly their descendents. That had to count for something. But what could he do? Sure, he had sounded the alarm, but it wasn’t enough. These Maximals couldn’t deal with the threat themselves...but in his current condition, he was of no real help to them. He said as much to Depthcharge: “Lad, I want to do something. Really, I do. But my body, it’s...well, I can’t move.” “Paralysis?” asked Depthcharge. “Can you give me a status?” “Yea, I’m broke! I can’t move, and I can’t transform. I’m in-need of a damn tune-up. I don’t suppose Hoist or FirstAid are still around, are they?” “No, but we have something almost as good. It’s called an ‘R’ chamber. I just don’t know if we have one big enough that’s portable. I’ll have the technicians work on rigging something up. Otherwise, we have to figure out how to get you here for repairs.” “Yea, but while you guys are monkeying around, Megatron is running rampant. There’s got to be something...” Kup ponders the situation. It looks hopeless. He reviews the diagnostics from his on-board computer: *Diagnostics running *Main motor units off-line *Secondary motor units off-line *Transform circuits off-line **Unit mobility at 0% *Self-repair circuits not responding “Aw lad, it’s no use. I can’t do anything on my end.” Despondant, he wonders how Depthcharge and his team can get to him before Megatron kills more civilians, when he hears an odd thing in his head; “I forsee a time when the allspark shatters. But now is not that time. Or yours. Look within yourself. You will find the answers within.” If Kup were human, he might cry. Or scream in frustration. The closest he can come is a grating whine from his audio assembly. “Great. Now I’m hearing voices in my head. I really am messed up. It must be all that cheap energon out of the tap...” At least, that what Kup thinks until a diffuse glow bubbles up from the ground and begins to surround him. “Ack, what’s this? Hey kid, something must be wrong with my energon harness. Things are starting to fog up in he...AAARRRGGGH!” “Kup?!” Kup!” Depthcharge’s shouts go unheard as the monitor blanks out. He doesn’t know what’s happening to Kup. All he does know is that he has one less resource with which to combat Megatron. An Autobot of Kup’s size and strength might have made the difference between victory and defeat. Now? The outlook was grim. He placed the call to Iacon, hoping that the Elders had a plan of action. Prowl’s face appeared on the screen. Depthcharge hits him with the news. “Tripredacus is dead. And Megatron is headed your way. I’lve stationed security forces around the city. I can’t make any promises, though. If he gets past them...” “You’ve done all you can, Depthcharge. (a conversation occurs off-screen). “I should have seen this coming,” said Prowl. After all, it was only logical that we’d have to deal with a Decepticon threat again. I simply hadn’t expected...” Depthcharge interjected: “Well, SOMEONE knew it would happen. Kup contacted me earlier, and tried to tell me. But I wouldn’t listen. From the reports I’m getting from Polyhex, Megatron’s not taking any prisoners.” A noise from above the chamber, out of site. A crashing sound. And the screen goes blank. “Second time today. (a pause) I’m going to help. Depthcharge, transform!” Now in his sleek alt form, Depthcharge goes to help his comrades. If he can.

The glow subsides. And Kup is still alive. But something is...different. He raises his gloss-black hand to his face. A double shock occurs: his body looks different...and he can move. He accesses his on-board systems: *Diagnostics running *Main motor units on-line. *Transform circuits on-line. **Unit mobility at 100% “Primus, what...what happened? I’m alive! I can move? But how? It must have been Depthcharge. He’s got some fancy way of getting me fixed. Well, no time to lose. Computer, what is Megatron’s current location?” “Unit Megatron is currently at Iacon. Do you require direction?” “No thanks. I know the way.” Kup transforms into a sleek black version of his old self, and motors out of his quarters at high speed. Destination: Iacon.

Megatron stands victorious over Magnaboss. Although the reformatted band of heroes fought with everything they had, it proved not to be enough. Sure, they’d gotten in a few good hits, as the slight damage to Megatron’s structure indicated. However, the damage was far worse on Magnaboss. “So, puny animal. Will you seperate, and allow me to destroy the three of you individually? Or will you stay in this mockery of a gestault mode as I grind you to dust?” “Magnaboss does not surrender”, he replied, as he struggled to throw another punch at Megatron. The blow was weak; glanced off without a scratch. “How amusing,” replied Megatron, as he tossed the Maximal into the wall again. “Very well. You will all die together.” Megatron takes aim with his dragon-arm, and prepares to fire, as Depthcharge crashes thru the doors. “Depthcharge, Maxamize!” Although he was as tall as Megatron and Magnaboss, and just as powerfully built, Depthcharge wondered if he was outclassed as a warrior. He didn’t let his concerns get in the way. “Your tyranny stops now, Megatron. Leave, or be destroyed.” “How courageous,” replied Megatron. “Another animal wishes to die to save his leaders. So be it.” Megatron fires a powerful blast, directly at Depthcharge’s chest. Depthcharge counters with a blast of his own. The two beams intersect, and cancel each other out in a rather bright display. Depthcharge is momentarily blinded, giving Megatron time to come up behind him and grab him by the head. “Did you really think you could defeat me? Did you? Bah!” Megatron lifts Depthcharge by his head, and throws him into the wall. He lands on top of Magnaboss, stunned. Megatron doesn’t quit. He charges over to him, grabs him, and pounds Depthcharge’s head into the wall, repeatedly. Depthcharge fires his missle-launcher blindly, scoring a lucky hit on Megatron. It gives him enough time to stumble away from the wall, and off of Magnaboss. The two Maximal warriors climb slowly to their feet. Depthcharge’s vision begins to clear. As the room comes into focus, he sees Megatron, a triumphant smile on his face. “Is that all you Maximals have?” sneered the Decepticon. “I’ve gotten more entertainment out of your Autobot predecessors.” “If that’s the case, then why don’t you try fighting ME for fun and games!” Megatron hears the voice, and turns just in time to see a black vehicle come charging in at him thru the doors smashed open by Depthcharge a short time ago. “What’s this? OOOmph!” Megatron cries out as the black vehicle runs over him, heading toward the two injured Maximals. Kup transforms, and faces the enemy, blocking Megatron’s access to them. “If it’s an Autobot you want, then it’s an Autobot you’ll get!” Kup draws his gun and fires, the blast scoring a direct hit on Megatron’s torso. Flesh is burnt away, exposing metal and circuitry underneath. “Aarrgh!” screamed Megatron. “How...how did you DO that? The damage...” “Been a long time since you felt what a REAL gun can do, eh?” replied Kup. “Like the animal said: you’re finished. Leave.” “Finished?” said Megatron, clutching his side. “Oh, no, not finished. I haven’t yet begun to fight.” Megatron fired again, multiple fireblasts from his dragon-head hand. The shots were dead-on, hitting Kup squarely in the chest. “Hah! That will teach you that not even and Autobot can stand up to the might of Megatron!” As the smoke clears, however, Megaron is presented with a different picture: Kup, standing triumphant, and undamaged. “Raaah! I’ll rip out your optics!” Megatron charges Kup, knocking the rifle away. “Let’s see how well you do without your little pop-gun, Autobot scum!” He tries to land a punch on Kup, but Kup deflects it, blocking the attack completely. He then makes an attack of his own. Holding him back by one hand, he reaches with his other and begins to tear a large chunk of flesh from Megatron’s body. The reaction is instant, and predictable. “Arrrggh!” Megatron screams, falling to his knees. The pain of having the flesh torn from his body is real. He does what any animal would; he backs away. Whimpering, Megatron trnsforms back into his dragon-mode, and prepares to fly away. But Kup is having none of that. He grabs Megatron by the tail, holding him in mid-flight. The Maximals, wanting a little payback, begin firing on the captive Decepticon. Depthcharge shoots for the areas that Kup stripped of flesh, while Magnaboss proceeds to punch holes in Megatron’s wings. The triple-attack is too-much. Megatron transforms back into robot mode, and falls to the ground. “Mercy, I beg of you!” shouts Megatron. “An old line, Megatron,” Kup replies. “You get no quarter from me.” Kup picks up his gun, and takes aim. But before he can fire, Magnaboss puts a hand on his shoulder. “Enough, old friend. Let him go. It is our way.” “What?!” Kup responds, turning his head to look at the Maximal Leader. “After he nearly kills you, you want me to spare his life?” The distraction is enough. Megatron makes a run for the exit. “Slag!” screams Kup, as he realizes what’s happening. He fires at the fleeing figure, but too-late, as Megatron gets around the corner and escapes. “Now look what you’ve done!” shouted Kup. “He got away!” “It’s allright,” replied Magnaboss. “You’ve stopped him.” “Yea, but knowing Megatron, he’ll be back. He doesn’t just give up. Trust me.” “We DO trust you, Kup,” said Depthcharge. “Thanks to you, the Elders were saved. And now that we know the threat Megatron represents, we can make plans for his return...with your help, of course.” Depthcharge extends his hand in friendship to the Autobot. Kup hesitates for a moment; but then, a smile on his face, he takes the hand offered, shaking it. “By God lad, why not? After all, I wouldn’t be much of a Security Chief if I neglected my duties.” “Glad to have you back, Chief,” said Magnaboss, placing his hand over the other pairs. “There will be a lot of happy Cybertonians out there knowing you’re still on-duty.” The thought fills Kup’s fuelpump with gladness...

Epilogue. “You have fufilled your duty for now, Last Autobot. Past and future are again on-course. There will be a time and a place where you will again be called upon. Be ready for it.” He doesn’t question the voice. He assumes it’s some part of his consciousness; or that maybe he’s simply gone off his rocker. Either way, he’s happy now; his waiting was not in-vain. He has a purpose. He always did. It simply got a little fuzzy along the way. But now, in an upgraded body, and with a renewed sense of purpose, his duty has never been more sharply in-focus. Protect Cybertron. To guard against the Decepticon threat was certainly one part, but it is not the only part. There are many other dangers to Cybertron’s citizans, be they metal or organic. He needed to guard against it all. The best way to do that, in his opinion, was to shift his focus to the planet itself. Instead of thinking about Autobots, or Maximals, he needed to think of protecting Cybertron wholly. And to think of himself as a part of it. “That means no more drinking,” thinks Kup, “but it will be worth it. Cybertron must come first. The best way to protect the people is to protect the planet.” Not all Cybertonians need to have organic bodies. It was always an option, of course. But for his purposes, Kup...or rather, Obsidian(he rather liked his new black body, and a new name would certainly be appropriate)...finds a pure technological form is best suited to his purposes. As he drives along Cybertron’s highways for the first time in years, he finds that there are a few others who apparently share his belief. “Well, what do you know,” ponders Obsidian. “They didn’t all become mountain goats after all. Maybe there’s someone out there that I can consort with, to talk to about the virtues of a pure metal existance...”

Alone in Polyhex, Megatron ponders the same thing. It’s obvious to him that when Transformers went organic, Cybertron suffered. The best thing to do would be to get rid of the organics. But how to do that? It wasn’t just the Maximals/Autobots; his own Predacons/Decepticons had chosen the same fate in his absense. They were all guilty. He had no one to turn to. He’d...have to do it all himself. They(the organics) would all have to be purged. Somehow. Perhaps in the memories of the Predacon that he merged with, he would find an answer...yessss...He curls up in the R-bath, and ponders his next move. The End

Notes: Yes, this could concievably happen :-) Remember, time was screwed-up a bit, and Megatron came thru a transwarp ripple, so Depthcharge could very well still be on Cybertron. Who can say exactly for sure WHEN Megs popped back into space. As for Kup’s security access into a new computer system; as they upgrade computers, I see no reason why they wouldn’t transfer data en-masse into a new system. There’s no reason why Kup’s preprogrammed orders(and security codes; remember, they never took away his job) in the old Teletran-4 system wouldn’t have simply carried over into each new system. Who looks at every line of code when they transfer data from one system to another? As for Megatron’s spark...yes, we all know about the deleted scene in Beastwars where they put the spark back into old G1 Meg’s body. However, note that it was a DELETED scene...for all intents and purposes, then, it could be assumed that this never happened in the storyline proper. It is difficult to say how this would have affected time in-general; perhaps Starscream led the Decepticons in G1, and things turned out nearly the same. Or perhaps time-adjustments flow slowly, and the massive ripples simply haven’t hit Cybertron yet to alter the rest of history. Or maybe sometime afterwards, they find a way to return the G1 spark to earth, and its proper time. This having happened/going to happen, time wouldn’t ripple and change, despite the spark displacement. Of course, if they didn’t remove/return the G1 spark, this would be an excellent way to explain the changes in the head Predacon’s personality; why else would the calculating BW Megs launch a mad, insane attack against his enemies in my fanfic? Or strip the planet of organics later on in the BM storyline? Or think himself a God? If he were the G1 Megs (or at least, influenced by him) all these things would make sense. Or perhaps, if you don’t like your continuity messed around with, this Megatron didn’t pop into the correct universe when he fell off the old autobot shuttle. Transwarp is tricky at best; perhaps he ended up on a different Cybertron in a different universe, where things were nearly identical. That could mean that there are two, possibly three sparks of Megatron existing at the same‘time’in this universe(obviously, Galvatron still exists in the Beast era; and assuming it is the same Galvatron created by Unicron from Megatron’s remains, we’d have an apparent chronoclasm. Or not; if you assume that Megatron was destroyed when Galvatron was created). This means that there are many universes where transformers exist, and all things that have happened/will happen CAN happen, because the multiverse is large enough to accommodate it all. What a concept. And what a headache! In the end, believe whatever makes you feel good. I know I will :-) For one thing, I believe Kup is cool in black. I also believe Obsidian(from BM fame) had to come from somewhere...I think Kup is a nice fit. As for the unknown voice, and the energy fog...yes, a convenient plot device, but one that is not my own. I am simply following canon. After all, the Oracle has a proven track-record of interference. Who's to say when it started, or what it all did?