"Man! Can't I believe this! The Maxies getting new forms! Well, some of them, but still!" Bumblebee asked enthusastically as before. "New forms, new weapons, I mean, it's amazing Smokescreen!"

"Uh huh, but how are the Maxies gonna carry on without Primal, Bee?" Smokescreen asked.

"Well.. they got Rhinox to do that right? Or Rattrap?" Bumblebee asked naively towards Wheeljack.

"Rhinox's too easygoing to be the leader and Rattrap's good at leading the Maximals, but he's not interested to be the boss." Wheeljack commented.

"Not just Cheetor and Rattrap, Bumblebee! Megatron's also got himself a new form." pointed out Bulkhead.

"Careful, Bulk, that's a two-edged sword when you're referring to Preda-tron and our Megs here." added Sideswipe.

"I'm right here." Megatron said in slight irritation.

"That aside, are you all ready for the viewing?" asked Omega Scion.

"We are, Omega Scion." Prime replied.

"Viewing in 3...2...1..."

In the Darksyde, the computer announced....

[Two stasis pods down in Delta quadrant.]

"We must hurry, Inferno, yes!" Megatron beckoned as he and Inferno departed the Darksyde, leaving Waspinator behind.

"Ah yes, the one where Megatron there has to reach the stasis pods to find more men to assault the Maximals while they are still leaderless." surmised Onslaught.

"One moon now...those markings... Waspinator knows!" he whined.

Meanwhile, Dinobot looks upon from afar in Predacon territory.

"What's Dinobot doing in Pred territory?" asked Grimlock.

"I dunno, Grimlock, maybe he's likely left something inside the Darksyde." Jazz guessed.

"No.... Dinobot must have come for something else." Prime spoke out.

[Maximal infared signature detected.] a turret retracted itself from hiding and fired, prompting Dinobot to take cover. Unable to charge through recklessly as he often does, Dinobot then stares upon a pile of steaming mud.

[Signature detection negative.] the turret's systems announced as it began to scan the perimeter for Dinobot, though it found nothing but a strange figure covered in mud.

"Clever. Covering himself in some kind of a natural visage to hide his signature." Knockout said.

"Just like the humans would with their snipers." Ultra Magnus pointed out.

The figure in mud continued to slowly move in towards the turret until it was close enough, prompting Dinobot to spring forward and maul the turret to shreds.

[Proximity alert! Proximity alert...] too late as the turret was smashed to pieces by Dinobot himself.

In the interior of the Darksyde.

"The disks!" Waspinator transformed and moved closer to the field protecting the two Golden Disks left in storage by Megatron himself.

"The Golden Disks!" harkened Perceptor.

Shockwave looked with intrigue. "The Disks that led us from savages to civilization... which approximately was 10 million years ago..."

"But why would Waspinator be interested in the Disks themselves?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Curiosity." answered Knockout.

Waspinator tries to touch the contained Disks, but the field protecting the latter repelled him.

"What..." he asked when a slick of mud spilled on his shoulder, and he looked upon Dinobot himself.

"Worthless bug!" Dinobot derided. He picked up Waspinator who brandished his gun, but it was blasted out of his hand by Dinobot's optic lasers.  "You saw the moon?"

"Yes! One moon now!" Waspinator screeched "Planet changed! And that means..."

"Earth. Yes." Dinobot replied. He dropped Waspinator and approached the contained Golden Disks.

"Whoa whoa Dinobot! You can't just copy your former leader." commented Grimlock.

"Doesn't stop them now, especially when they had a history of copying each other Grim." pointed out Jazz.

"It means Megatron was right." Dinobot mused. "And the disks..."

"Give record of the future! Ultimate power!" Waspinator cuts off...

Everyone was stunned... the Golden Disks, now said by Waspinator to uphold ultimate power. For what?

"But Megatron has disks guarded! Lizard-bot and Waspinator team up?" he suggested "Get disks together!"

"An excellent idea." Dinobot agreed.

"Lizard-bot think so?" But Waspinator had his answer when Dinobot picked him up again.

"You go first." Dinobot then tossed Waspinator to the protective field.

"NO!" Waspinator yelled as the field began to shock him until it shorted out. Then extra Predacon security measures would come to magnetize parts of it and grind him to a cube of garbage. He was soon tossed like a ball.

Most of the audience laughed as they always do.

"Oh man, Wasp-boys in for a cube!" joked Cliffjumper.

"Primus curse it, Cliff!" hissed Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Ironhide.

Only Ratchet laughed at the joke.

Until Waspinator collided with Tarantulas' remains. "Hey! What's going on here!?" Blackarachnia yelled as she arrives. Soon the latter took control and realized "He's taking the disks! Stop him!" She was met with optic laser fire hindering any possible response.

Too late, as Dinobot snatches the Golden Disks and departs the Darksyde hastily.

"Forget it! He's leaving and I'm not risking MY body to go after him!" Blackarachnia refused. Tarantulas takes control of him. Again.

"Fool! Those disks are more valuable than..." Tarantulas sees the required equipment and changes his mind. "Never mind... for now. I see the equipment we need."

Blackarachnia roughly kicks his chassis like a soccer ball, prompting Tarantulas to hiss out "Easy! That's my body there!"

"Oh sure. Don't mind Waspinator. Waspinator just lie here and suffer. Drag himself to CR tank." as the crushed Predacon slowly drags himself off. "Not fair, always picking on me..." he whined.

"Pitiful." commented Predaking.

"Worse than pitiful, but at least Waspinator's loyalty counts as reliable." Megatron asked.

In Maximal territory, the Maximal party converged around a stasis pod.

"At least this one fell where we could see it." Rattrap pointed out.

"Yeah, but two more dropped into Pred territory." Cheetor replied. "And who knows where the others landed?"

"That's what Airazor and I are going to find out." Tigatron proposed. "After you, my lady."

"Keep the fuel rods warm. We'll be in touch." Airazor transformed and departed. Tigatron followed suit.

"Journey well, friends. You are part of this planet. Let its heart guide your own." Rhinox spoke out.

"Very astute, Rhinox." Prime commented.

"Be careful, big cat."

"Always, little cat." Tigatron responded to Cheetor.

"You both goin' soft in the circuits or what?" interrupted Rattrap. "Come on! Why we lettin' this guy snooze? Let's crack th' egg and say hello!"

Rhinox analyzed the stasis pod and replied. "Not this one. It's a blank. A protoform without a Spark."

"No...." Ratchet was shocked.

"We still have the other two stasis pods, Ratch!" assured Bulkhead.

"The Preds are closer to that territory... the Maximals may be too late." Ultra Magnus replied.

"Aw man! If that don't cut th' cheese, what good's that do us?"

"None... at the moment." Rhinox replied. "We can only hope that Megatron is having no better luck with the protoforms that landed near him."

At the stasis pods...

[Critical scanner damage. Replication error. Datatrax not recoverable.]

Two forms, a scorpion and a dog-cat hybrid came out, coming to their bearings.

"Well! Looky what we got here!" taunted the scorpion.

"Two new forms come to life. But they're in Predacon ground, so Pred-Megs would capitalize recruiting them to get the replacements he'll need." Blast Off stated.

"Who are you?" asked the hybrid "For that matter..."

"Who am I? I dunno, pal." the scorpion said unsurely. "But I'll tell ya one thing I do know. An' that is... I bet I can thrash yer tail!" he threatened.

"What!?"

"Ya heard me! Come on, fuzz an' feathers! You an' me, we's gonna tangle! Right here, right now!" But from afar, they can hear Inferno yelling "For the Royalty!"

"Tarnation! Another one thinks he's tougher'n me!" the scorpion hissed. They took cover when Inferno rained fire upon them.

"Hehehe, just like one of those 'cowboys' the humans once had centuries ago..." Knockout commented.

"We've done nothing to him. Surely there's been a misunderstanding..." the hybrid reasoned.

"Yeah! Ol' blender-butt there misunderstands my need to kick his keister!" the scorpion came out of cover and leaped at Inferno, trying to sting him. The latter replied the scorpion stings ineffectively harmed him with a wicked laugh. "Fool! Pain is my friend! Allow me to introduce you to it!"

He grabbed the scorpion's stinger and slammed him like a toy repeatingly.

"Seems like he hasn't known when to transform yet to fight back." replied Brawl.

"Can you blame him? They've lost their datatraxes in the crash. Not a chance they remember something after that alien ray fiasco." pointed out Swindle.

"Now, that's just dirty fighting." the hybrid spouted. And he called upon to Inferno. "Hey, you!" As Inferno looked upon his challenger, the hybrid demanded. Inferno dropped the scorpion.

"You've had your fun...now leave him alone!" he continued.

Inferno taunted but not before he brandished his weapon "Oh look, a hero! My favorite!" and began he blasted at the hybrid at a wall. 

"Ah, me. Such entertainment, yes." Megatron surmised. "But I suppose, while they are distracted, I should attend to business. Computer! Access the new creatures' activation commands. Quickly! While their security circuits are still offline." he ordered.

[Accessing...]

"Though the problem is, they've lost their datatraxes that badly they don't even remember their names." pointed out Barricade.

"Hope they'll get new ones to made up for it." Breakdown replied.

Inferno suffered both newcomers ganging up on him, but their endeavor was futile. He threw them off him and yelled "Insolent ones! Burn in the fires of Inferno!" and prepared to spray flames at them, but he was cut off by Megatron's tail.

"Goodbye bad cop, hello good cop. Yes." Megatron introduced himself to the newcomers. "I am Megatron. A simple misunderstanding. I do apologize." 

"I knew it!"

"What, you trust this tin horn toad?" the scorpion asked the hybrid.

"Why should he not? We are all Predacons. If your datatrax had not been damaged in the crash, you would know this yourselves." Megatron pointed out.

"You blow a pretty tune, stranger. But it's still hot air to me... lessn' ya can back yer claim." the scorpion said to Megatron.

"But of course, my good, uh..." Megatron tried to reply, but he doesn't know the scorpion's name.

"Call me Quickstrike. An' good's got nothin' t'do with it." the scorpion, naming himself Quickstrike introduced.

"I think my name's... Silverbolt."

Silverbolt looked at intrigue at the Predacon, that named himself after him. "Interesting..."

He got pats in the back by Air Raid and an impromptu high five by Jetfire.

"So good to see you got family in here, Bolt! Means quite a lot to know you're around!" Jetfire said.

"Guys, please! I wouldn't know that unless I got married!" Silverbolt pointed out.

"Not like we care! We're relieved to see you got a descendant!" Air Raid added.

The Renegatrons were intrigued at the possible descendant of theirs.

"Quickstrike... yes, I know him. He once presented such a personality before. When he was a lawman in Western Ajalin, far west of Kaon..." Breakdown remembered.

Soundwave agreed. Quickstrike was an outlaw, gunslinger, highwayman and the self-proclaimed Sheriff of Lithan, the town and capital of West Ajalin, where no law existed, far from the jurisdiction of the Primes. When the war came, Quickstrike offered his allegiance to the Decepticons, where he served as Soundwave's bodyguard. Soundwave was surprised at least to see how one Con killed 6 Autobots in one draw while he was on a recon mission. It was a pity that Quickstrike met his demise at the hands of Bumblebee during the last assault of Iacon.

"Yes. Pure. Strong. And fast." he boasted.

"Just like OUR Silverbolt is. Minus the fear of heights."

"Not funny, Air Raid!"

Starscream smirked, having exploited Silverbolt's fear of heights to kill him in Autobot airspace.

"Yes. Excellent." Megatron then said to his new recruits "In any case, Quickstrike, and, uh... Silverbolt... my proof is a simple one. Just speak aloud the Predacon activation code: TERRORIZE!" as Megatron transformed as proof.

"There. You see?" Megatron asked.

"Now hold on. Ya mean all's I gotta do is say Quickstrike- TERRORIZE!" as he transformed. "and...AAAGH! Tarnation!" he looked in awe of his robot form.

"And there you have it. New form, new weapons... new opportunity." Megatron replied.

"Silverbolt- TERRORIZE!" Silverbolt transformed as well, but replied with discontent "It's not a word I like the taste of."

"Can't argue with the results, though!" Quickstrike then tested his new weapon on Inferno.

"Excellent. Yess... Welcome, my new Predacons!" Megatron jovially welcomed his new recruits.

"That aside, Max-Bolt there doesn't seem like he's liking to be Pred material there." Jazz pointed out.

"I'm hoping that he'll defect to the Maximals, Jazz." Silverbolt groused.

Elsewhere, with the Maximals...

Rattrap, realizing the grim situation they were in now...

"Oh man! If that don't take th' chrome-plated cookie...Primal's been vaped.. Dino-butt's disappeared. Stripes an' the bird lady are off on some World Cruise, and now yer going offline?!" Rattrap whined, knowing too well that their chances in the Beast Wars had gone low while rowing towards Rhinox who was sitting down before another device. "Why don't we just open the front door and invite Megatron in?"

"Tigatron and Airazor were off to find more Stasis Pods around the world, Rat-Face." corrected Smokescreen.

"Can't be helped. When the alien device exploded it created a window into transwarp space. It won't last long." Rhinox clarified.

"So what?!" It ever occurred to ya that we might need yer core consciousness right here?!" as Rhinox sealed himself in the device. Once Cheetor arrived, Rattrap turned to him "What're YOU lookin' at? Get yer shiny new butt skyward an' see if you can find Chopperface before the Preds do!"

"You mean fly?" he asked.

"Do I mean fly... No, I mean take a submarine!" Rattrap answered sarcastically. "Of course I mean fly! Now get goin'!" and pushed Cheetor out of the Axalon.

"Aw right!" Cheetor took off in his own, leaving Rattrap with a comatose Rhinox.

"That aside, and all, what's Rhinox trying to do inside that coffin he built?" asked Grimlock.

"He said the alien weapon had caused a window into transwarp space. He might bring back Primal there before he passes on to the Well of the All-Sparks." Perceptor pointed out.

"Good. They won't survive without Primal." added Predaking.

"Sheesh. Optimus, how did ya do it?" Rattrap sat down, exhausted from his panicking.

Meanwhile, on neutral ground belonging to neither Maximal nor Predacon, Dinobot stayed there, musing poetically while holding the Golden Disks with both hands.

"To be...or not to be. That is the question. These disks I hold... are they a record of what WILL be, or only what of MAY?"

Prime looked upon, carefully comprehending what Dinobot was talking about.

"For if the future is indeed immutably foretold, then my demise is but moments from that confirmation, for I could not live if not the master of my fate."

Dinobot looked upon the Golden Disks with the startling realization "But...IF... the future CAN be changed... if these disks record merely one path of all the myriad ways the cosmos might conform then their power is infinite!"

Thunder strikes as he continues his poetic speech.

"And yet, still limited...for they could be used but once, and in that change be rendered fiction forevermore. I could destroy them!" Dinobot tried to contemplate, but he decided better. "But... no. T'would be a coward's answer. I will know the truth instead. Then, t'will be either them or me that face oblivion."

Dinobot then lifted a rock revealing a hole beneath.

"Till then..." he dumped one of the Golden Disks inside and closed it.

"That was weird. Anyone knows what he was saying?" Wheeljack then asked Knockout.

"Humans. That was based on the poetry known as Hamlet, they call it-"

"In that moment of reflection, Dinobot realized of the future that would come to pass if the Predacons prevailed. One that he alone cannot change. Even if the Golden Disks had not revealed how he would pass away, he would then look to face it himself without relying on the information the Disks hold." Prime cuts off.

"That's... surprisingly astute of you, Optimus." Ratchet commented.

"And that's why you're Supreme Commander of the Autobots!" Ultra Magnus replied.

"Then again.... I got the chills on my back cause I dunno when will Dino-boy pass away..." Grimlock muttered. He had wished Dinobot would live through the end of the Beast Wars.

Omega Scion chuckled, knowing too well that the leader of the Dinobots would be wrong.

Elsewhere, Blackarachnia technically supervised Tarantulas' resurrection.

"Yes... Yes!" Tarantulas was filled with power. "It's working...it's working...My Spark is restored...and my body is stronger than ever!I LIVE! I LIIIIVEEE!" as the resurrection process is completed, and Tarantulas comes alive, in a new Transmetal II chassis.

Meanwhile, Silverbolt helped up Inferno who had regained consciousness.

"Yes, excellent. Teamwork and cooperation; those are the Predacon watchwords." Megatron stated.

"How 'bout backstabbin' an' treachery?" Quickstrike suggested.

"We can be flexible." Megatron replied "But our main focus must always be the Maximals and their destruction."

"Backstabbing and treachery... the weapons of cowards and criminals." Predaking spat out disdainfully.

"Destruction's good. I like destruction." the scorpion Fuzor replied with a smirk on his face.

"Then you shall have your chance, my dear Quickstrike. Observe!" Megatron stated as he prepared his fusion cannon to fire at Cheetor flying nearby.

"Dinobot, come in. This is th' Cobalt Kitty callin'!" Cheetor hailed to Dinobot, but without an immediate reply as he was under fire by Megatron. "Somebody's trying to cook this cat!"

"Silverbolt! Pursue and destroy!" Megatron ordered Silverbolt.

"Why? He's not attacking..." That got him an abusive response by Megatron's shoulder cannons.

"YOU SCRAPHEAD! HOW DARE YOU!" yelled Silverbolt, not liking to his descendant