22 - DINOKING VS PREDAKINGHaving intercepted new Autobot commander Springer's distress call to Computron into assisting him and his forces to defend Autobot City against Decepticons’ attack again, the Dinobots once again separated themselves into five individual merchanical robot modes and headed back to their Earth-based fortress where they had left in unlikely circumstances.
Even though they had yet to speak to anybody other than their new combined self, things began to make sense to them gradually. Not just recent events but past memories of how they came about in the first place through built-in memory archive chips that Spike had suggested implanting into their brains before he left for Cybertron with Hot Rod and most of his second generation Autobots team.
The unexpected discovery of dinosaur fossils within Mount St. Hilary upon her unexpected rare eruption and in which the Autobot first shuttle The Ark had crashlanded, Wheeljack’s suggestion to create robot dinosaurs as additions to their team in strength an firepower, how they created havoc upon being introduced by Wheeljack and Ratchet to Optimus and Autobots, how they almost fought and killed each other when their leader Grimlock and first two comrades Slag and Sludge were seduced by Megatron to fight for his Decepticon cause, their first sub-group battle against their Decepticon counterparts Constructicons and new combined form Devastator and Grimlock creating Technobots to defeat Decepticon Terrorcons.
As well as the Hate Plague in which their participation upon Grimlock’s eager command that caused them to malfunction and fall into deep coma resulting in their loss of memory and finally, the Technobots modifying them from just another Autobot subgroup to a new merge group as the only solution to save their lives and enable them to continue functioning as they had before.
Everything was beginning to fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Yet they felt different from before. They were no longer just simple-minded merchanical primitives but felt as though they were evolving into next-level entities and combatants in terms of their thinking and fighting capabilities.
Now was the time to put those into use as they just had subconsciously against the Decepticons’ first three combiners Devastator, Menasor and Bruticus whom they had managed to overcome with ease as they were flying towards the huge looming interior of the old Autobot City.
Unknown to them, the Predacons were waiting to ambush them in various parts of the old majestic coffee brown and transformable city fortress. Prior to that, they had created terror and wreckage to both the Autobots and humans stationed there knowing that Metroplex was not there to protect them now that he had taken to the skies to engage his sworn foe Trypticon.
Despite the fact they had been evacuated to underground anti-aircraft-and-ground attacks shelters four and five levels deep, they had located them with their artificial sensors and instincts. Though they held all of their victims hostage, they intended to wipe them out once they had finished their business with their larger but still manageable Autobot counterparts.
Their creations came shortly after the Dinobots - led by their commander Grimlock raided their prison fortress on Quintessa to rescue Hot Rod and Kup. Feeling indignant and humiliated by that merchanical tyrannosaurus – especially when he stomped on the ground and commanded the Sharkticons to execute them which they did not eventually, the Quintesson Masters decided to create their own Decepticons subgroup to match the Dinobots in brutality, firepower and strength.
It was not difficult since they were the original creators of both the Transformer warring factions. Making use of the Constructicons shortly after they forged an alliance with the Decepticons, they watched the recordings of Grimlock and his Dinobots giving their fearsome Sharkticons a bigger scare of their own and Earth documentaries of the fiercest creatures on our home planet.
Initially their plan was to create the Decepticon version of the Dinobots but since their resources were limited and most of the materials had been allocated for the development of Trypticon which took place simultaneously, it was abandoned. Fascinated by the lion, tiger, rhino, buffalo and eagle which they considered to be the strongest Earthly creatures in modern days since the dinosaurs had been extinct and were no longer around, they decided to make do with the animal robots instead.
The reasons they selected Constructicons were because they regarded them to be the most creative and innovative collectively since they were built to build, construct and design by function and personality and also because they had battled the Dinobots on a few occasions and were familiar with their behaviour and fighting styles be it in dino or robot forms.
Running a bio-scans on each Dinobot and animal they selected, they decided to use the result displayed on their screen as their design plan. Because the lion was regarded to be the strongest animal, he was naturally made leader and his design in terms of facial and body would be based upon Grimlock in robot mode.
The rest as in tiger, rhino, buffalo and eagle - whom they called Rampage, Headstrong, Tantrum and Divebomb - would have their designs inspired by his fellow Dinobots Sludge, Slag, Snarl and Swoop.
Yet upon completion, they did not activate to test them against the Dinobots since their leader Grimlock was somewhere away with new Autobot leader Rodimus Prime who was magnified from Hot Rod upon his successful activation of Autobot Matrix Of Leadership. Upon intercepting the message sent to Blaster on Earth, they decided to put the Predacons to the test against Autobots’ other new creation Sky Lynx instead. Though they had lost the first encounter, they had learnt their lessons well and kept taking their skills to the next level.
Now that Sky Lynx had been dealt with by their other and also identical dark version of him, the Quintesson Master-One could now use the Predacons against the Dinobots in full effect.
Sensing something wrong and yet unable to explain why, the five Dinobots decided to split up upon landing on the surface ground within Autobot City to search for Springer and any of his Autobots or human operatives requiring help.
If necessary, they would fight any Decepticon they saw to the death so as to protect them and Autobot City from further ruin.
As the merchanical tyrannosaurus, Grimlock was among the strongest and most fearsome Autobots and Transformers individually. Hence he was made the commander of his Dinobot subgroup, considering that only his name did not begin with S as well.
In terms of personality, he could be cold, merciless and contemptuous of those he considered below him whether they were humans, animals, aliens and even fellow Transformers themselves, including their leader Optimus Prime whom he would happily usurped as the new king he proclaimed to be. However given his enormous strength in both dino and robot modes, he developed a superiority complex as a result.
Still he was a valiant warrior who commanded respect from all who witnessed his capabilities whether they were his friends or enemies. One of his most distinguishing features was his famous speed impediment which led him to shorten sentences and refer himself to addressing himself as Me Grimlock rather than the conventional and typical I Grimlock.
The reasons for this varied from different angles and perceptions. Some assumed this as a result of his true mental limitations while others concluded due to his damaged vocal processor or even ruse he perpetrated into allowing others to think of him as less intelligent than he actually was.
But whether they were true or not, he was still an Autobot wanting to defend Earth as much as his compatriots and humans as well as showing begrudging respect for Optimus Prime even though he was more accepting for his successor Rodimus as the new bearer of Matrix and Autobot commander.
Due to his massive size and strength, he was frightening effective warrior and an efficient commander who was utterly dedicated to those under his command. Those made Optimus wonder at times and asked him before - whether he would be more suited to lead both Autobots and Dinobots through this messy war, considering his battlefield experience and willingness to make difficult and ruthless military decisions.
In truth to most neutrals, Grimlock thought he would be a better commander than Optimus since he constantly flouted his authority and that attitude as well as his Me speech was reflected in his fellow Dinobots who acted more like a gang than an Autobot fighting unit as displayed by subsequent subgroups Aerialbots and Protectobots.
His infuriating attempts to draw him into conflict with Optimus and even Megatron almost succeeded on several occasions. That made several fellow Autobots and even humans wondered why he was even on the Autobots side in the first place since his deposition was more suited to Decepticons considering the fact that he valued strength and power more than compassion and moral values.
Or even why Optimus tolerated his seemingly antagonistic demeanor other than the reason that he was grateful to Optimus for saving him from Megatron’s seduction even though he and his Dinobots betrayed him initially due to their simple and gullible minds.
However, two last things that Optimus had told him before on their way to help defend Autobot City and the latter was killed by Megatron in their one-to-one duel during the last Great War were the Autobot leader seeing great possibilities for the Dinobot commander and his principle - that no matter how they hated and wanted to defeat Decepticons once and for all, they should not be like them in order to beat them and which he hoped Grimlock would understand this as well as most other Autobots.
As a warrior, he was frightening powerful and a living nightmare to all beings. In his tyrannosaurus mode, his huge jaws and razor sharp blade teeth could snap, bite and chew anything that was caught between them.
They ranged from steel cables to a Decepticon limb. He could breathe fire from an inbuilt flamethrower within his mouth which was also the same case with his fellow Dinobots except Swoop. His merchanical claws and tail could swipe anything out of his way whether they were jets, vehicles or even walking and running creatures. Those were sufficient to compensate for his slow moving and yet bulkier legs to crush anything beneath.
While Grimlock was still looking and scouting for any signs of movement in Northern sector, something or someone still suddenly leapt out at him from nowhere. Upon it drawing closer, he saw that to be a yellow and black lion which was also his Decepticon counterpart whom he had met and battled twice in their last encounters.
Predacon commander Razorclaw.
Razorclaw was most dangerous when he was seemingly motionless. Such as now when he was the only one who spotted the Dinobot commander having sneaked unseen into the Autobot City vicinity earlier.
Inactivity simply meant that he was sizing up the best moment as his one and only best opportunity to strike. When he did, he would make sure his victim to be a shattered and smoking memory in less time than it took for him to scream.
Unlike most Decepticon subgroup commanders, leader Megatron or Galvatron and even his creator Quintesson Masters, he did not like to waste time stalking and hunting his prey aimlessly unless he was certain his plan aligned fully with his actions into a desirable result he wanted to achieve as he believe that what he and his team were designed for.
Even when he spoke, he would make sure his words had an immediate effect on his fellow compatriots in that they would understand and fulfil his orders immediately. Very much like his fellow Decepticon communications officer Soundwave who was the master in his espionage missions, the fearless business-like Predacon commander was known for his utmost loyalty to the overall Decepticon cause whether it would be serving Galvatron or the Quintesson Masters.
A peaceful settlement between the two long feudal races of Transformers meant nothing to him. For the only peace he yearned for was when he had personally extinguished the spark of the last surviving Autobot.
The only problem was the last Autobot and victim he was to prey on was much bigger and stronger than him. Which if not careful, he himself would be a victim instead. When spotting a dino T-Rex, most humans, aliens and even Transformers would be absolutely terrified of its size.
But not Razorclaw. Given his years of hunting as his primary instincts, he believed his agility to leap and fly on his will would outdo the massive and yet slow moving dinosaur. So without any hesitation or whatever, he immediately took a leap of faith with the aim of striking and biting his opponent Grimlock’s throat first before being bitten into two.
Though Grimlock was surprised by the Predacon lion’s ambush, he was not entirely stunned into being motionless. Instead one swipe of his left upper arm claw was all it took to bring that lion down effortlessly and easily.
But the creature was determined not to give up easily. Instead he quickly balanced itself on the ground with his feet and continued leaping with his four red steel claws towards him.
Grimlock opened up his huge mouth and jaws full of metallic and bladelike teeth, hoping to bit the lion into two and end his resistance once and for all. But his opponent was lightning fast and cunning as he seemed to see through and anticipate his move before he could execute it.
While still in the mid-air, the merchanical black and yellow lion instantly configured into humanoid robot warrior mode.
Its animal head tilted towards and slotted in perfectly into his chest and stomach. Its hind legs moved outwards and became his main robot legs while the front ones also the claws shifted backwards and were fixed on to his rear as support. A smaller yellow head with just the red visor emerged from where the lion head had once been second ago.
Two more components slided out from either end of his lion-chested body, becoming his arms which from either end, came out black fists. In the right fist emerged a red beam which gradually formed into a yellow shining sword. Two long black machine-like guns slided out from his shoulders at the same time.
Upon completing his transformation, Razorclaw attempted to do his own heroic stunts to bring down Grimlock with his sword and twin turret guns he saw and tried to duplicate from watching the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy series.
He might be created as a beast but he was not entirely dumb to stick to it permanently in that mode knowing that his opponent would certainly beat him as common sense told him there was no way a primitive lion could ever beat a Tyrannosaurus in one-to-one duel unless the lion saw through the dinosaur’s weakness and outdo it with his smart thinking.
Having read the story of David and the Goliath as well, he saw himself as David and his opponent Grimlock as a Goliath. Despite the odds heavily stacked against him, he strongly believed that however strong the latter was, he would be certain that his opponent had a weakness which was obvious in his body movement. That would eventually bore, frustrate and tire the Dinobot leader out and he would emerge victorious. It was not a matter of if but when it would happen. Given his limited patience, he would see to it being turned into reality soon.
Given his years of programming and training, he had proven himself to be an experienced battlefield commander and skilled long-term military strategist and tactician.
As a lion, he could leap 100 yards in a single bound at his top splinting speed of 90mph and his claws on both his front and rear legs could carve out titanium and most other solid steel with one single swipe. Those claws were so strong and effective that he could even climb vertical walls with them tearing through and gripping his own made holes to balance himself.
In both his animal and robot modes, he possessed twin grey and black shoulder-mounted concussion cannons which resembled more like sub-machine laser guns as they fired crimson energy bolts of 400 CC rounds per trigger and an additional launcher ejecting capsules filled with explosive gas. But his most powerful weapons was his hand-held vibrating sonic sword that could disrupt and destroy the molecular bonds of any metal it cut and penetrated, enhancing its stabbing lethality.
Against all other opponents either smaller or equal to his size, they produced such effects instantly. But not against Grimlock whose body armor - to his amazement - could endure all those with unbelievable strength physically and mentally. Even still in his T-Rex mode, he again swiped him off and this time while him being off-balanced in the air, the Dinobot commander again opened his big mouth and attempted to catch him with his teeth.
Grimlock might not be the most intelligent Transformer but his ferocity, strength and rage were second to none as proven by the futile attempts of both Autobot and Decepticon leaders Optimus Prime and Megatron to stop him on several occasions.
His opponent might have more weapons and firepower than him but in terms of size and strength, he could still outdo and outsmart him easily. Despite the fact that he was not moving as fast in his T-Rex mode as compared to his opponent in lion form, he believed it would take a lot more than just firepower to stop him.
Just as he was about to catch and bite the Predacon commander with his jaws and huge teeth, the latter produced a series of ultra-sonic waves with his seemingly golden sword. That caused him to groan in pain as those noises produced an effect on his ear drums as he tried to cover them with his upper arm jaws.
That created a distraction and gave Razorclaw time to turn as quickly back into his lion mode before leaping on to the Dinobot’s back and biting his neck with his teeth fangs.
At the same time, the arm-mounted launcher - which was now on his back - converted into fully automatic machine pistols firing rapid bolts on to his back.
He hoped that by executing these, he would inflict additional pain and damage to his opponent and would be proud to tell his Decepticons the story of how that he managed to overcome Tyrannosaurus Rex as first Transformer and probably even being in minutes as compared to hours and days by so many other human hunters in Earth history.
Unfortunately for the Predacon commander, Grimlock was made of much tougher and sterner steel than the former thought him to be.
Usually using his strength as the main weapon, he decided to come up with his own firepower as well to counter his enemy strikes. His components of his back suddenly opened up and out came the double-barrelled and self-propelled rocket launcher which pointed straight towards the surprised lion and fired twin blue blasts. At the same time his strong tail swing up and strike as well.
The double impact caused the yellow and black lion to be thrown backwards. But yet still in mid-air, he transformed yet again into the humanoid robot before executing a somersault of an experienced athletic and then the skills and swordsmanship of a seasoned robot warrior.
Seeing that his opponent was just as tough and unyielding as him, Grimlock decided to switch to robot mode.
The rocket launcher came down and slotted back into his rear as they had appeared before the metal components closed as well. His dino head moved downwards at 90 degrees and revealed an opening.
That allowed the space for both halves of his upper dino body to split and reveal his actual robot chest which ascended, aligned and fitted in with his hidden actual robot head.
The powerful hind legs of his T-Rex form now became his robot arms out of which emerged black fists as the powerful claws moved upwards at the same time to create more space. The powerful tail
The lower end of his tail also dispensed into two and folded vertically into place while the upper extended from his chest and moved down to become his legs. Meantime, the upper body halves now formed into what looked like his wings on his back.
Now in his robot warrior mode, Grimlock looked just as majestic as his equally ferocious opponent Razorclaw.
His black head and face was just as expressionless with only his blue visor as being lively because of its blink which represented his life force.
His golden chest clearly complimented the latter’s yellow lion-headed body.
As the rocket propeller now shifted into his left hand while his right now wielded a red glowing energon blade, both the Dinobot and Predacon commanders could now proceed to fight each other on level terms in what was to be a real duel.
Glowing in confidence with his red blinking single optical visor and with raw determination that only the fitness could produce, Razorclaw again charged towards his Dinobot opponent with his sonic sword which again produced crimson rays of ultra-sonic waves.
But the Dinobot commander was better prepared this time round. With a swing of his red glowing blade, he simply broke those energy chains with two huge strokes before preparing himself to block the blow he was about to inflict him face to face.
However Razorclaw had no such intention. As mentioned before, he did not like to waste time matching strength for strength and skill for skill in which the battle would come to no end. Considering his extensive experience in shifting his mind in tactics as quickly as he did with his skills, he executed another impact somersault 180 degrees before slicing his opponent into two from behind.
That almost succeeded if not for the fact that Grimlock was just as alert to turn round and fired his rocket launcher again. Hissing smokes emerged from the barrels as another pair of blue plasma energy bolts ejected and hit the Predacon commander squarely in his lion-headed chest.
Despite the latter’s twin concussion guns and grenade launcher firing, the shots went haywire and Grimlock did his best to avoid being hit by flying as far as possible.
Despite being physically the second strongest Dinobot next to leader Grimlock, Sludge was in truth the weakest mentally. So much so that even the flying and smaller Swoop could outdo him in terms of aggression and speed in attack.
For in personality, he was dumb, dull-witted and soft-spoken. Whether that was due to the nature of his alternate dinosaur mode as brontosaurus which turned out to be a herbivore despite its massive size and strength still remained a mystery to both humans and Transformers. Individually on his own when he was not fighting or with his fellow Dinobots, he would rather spend time relaxing by the rivers and seas learning more about Earth nature and living creatures than strategizing their next move to defend and counterattack the Decepticons.
Due to his amazing gentle personality, he wanted to make friends with everybody he saw and yet they were afraid of him since his size terrified them. He was also slow in comprehending and understanding what was happening around him that when it came to combat and warfare, he was entirely dependent on Grimlock to lead the way as leader. Quite simply, he was by nature more of a follower who simply followed for the sake of following instead of providing constructive alternatives and feedback which he was perfectly incapable of.
His willingness to stick with Grimlock even when the leader and third strongest choose to betray Optimus under Megatron’s seduction and their first encounter with the Constructicons displayed the traits of him not behaving as a warrior even though he looked like and was capable of fighting one. While that was bad in war, that was also good with some humans who found him more likeable along with Swoop than Grimlock and the rest who were perceived to be arrogant.
Even when he was on his own right in the Eastern sector of the Autobot City, he was more immersed by its surroundings than looking for his comrades and assisting them. That despite knowing it to be costly should he be spotted first by any Decepticon who would have no problems sneaking upon and ambushing him as a result without him even knowing who his enemy was.
That was exactly what the Predacon second-in-command Rampage had in mind as he looked down upon the back of the much bigger and yet blurr-looking merchanical brontosaurus from the top of one of the looming City towers.
Although his design was modelled upon his Dinobot target, his personality was the exact opposite since as a tiger and his name implied, he was created to hunt, track and kill his prey as quickly and with minimum resistance from the other side as possible.
If he was to take his own sweet time in planning only and not implementing at all, that would only give his enemies a chance to move against him. Henceforth, he fully embraced a lifestyle of pure action and results with minimum talk - the trait he inherited from his leader to close perfection. Like Razorclaw, he did not like to waste time even saying a single word unless they were part of his agenda guaranteed to reap benefits for him and his fellow Predacons.
In contrast, he believed that speed loved action as his own results in the last few years had clearly proven that his beliefs made sense based on a number of captives - aliens, humans and fellow Transformers - he had captured singlehandedly in recent years. That along with his exceptional fury and valor in battle had impressed his compatriots even though they were initially annoyed by his immature outbursts.
When he was not in war and away from his Predacons, he enjoyed watching Earth broadcasted television programmes in the Decepticon ship bunker. They were the only things that had brought him to a standstill. Specifically, any vapid and inane form of entertainment which might appeal to the lowest common denominator sparked his interest. While watching those reality shows or videos, he had been to remain calm and agreeable for hours.
His personal favourites were the Japanese sword-fighting dramas and movies about Samurai and ninjas. While he was fascinated with Samurai, the ninjas were what impressed him the most. Their completely covered faces - save their eyes for seeing - and dark clothing which could blend in well with the dark and using this to ambush and assassinate their intended targets without even revealing themselves nor saying a single word.
That was what caused him to request his mouth be covered with five metallic plates which fully complemented his entire red body with a few yellow patches on his arms and legs and also enabled him to fight with the same stealth and speed whether it would be practising with his fellow Predacons or actually attacking his victims and Autobot foes. Constantly he would also learn from and practised with one of the Decepticon espionage spies Ravage on the finer points of leaping and attacking most effectively when the enemy least expected it in his tiger mode.
Which was exactly what he would be doing next as he quickly swooped upon Sludge’s back and hoping to sink his fangs into the Dinobot’s long neck as well.
Sludge cried in pain as he felt something or someone had jumped on and sank what felt like razor sharp blades on to his back As his legs were right below his huge upper body, he could do nothing about the moving object or whatever was sneaking from behind and attacking him.
As his pain intensified in his neck as well, the only thing he could do was to topple himself over to one side, hoping to crush whatever it was hurting him in the process. The impact was heavy but necessary. Upon crashing on the ground, he hoped that he would feel better.
But he was wrong as that did not happen.
Whatever it was moving along and biting his back and neck was still on to him with seemingly renewed determination. The increasing pain only caused him to be even more unbalanced not just physically but mentally as well. Hence he decided on one more alternative by raising and swinging his other long and powerful tail towards whatever was chewing on him from behind.
True to his expectation, his powerful tail hit home on and gripped his assailant in its coil before releasing him into the air. Yet his assailant refused to give up easily. In what should have been him falling on to the ground, he turned out to be leaping up once again towards him. Upon looking closer, Sludge discovered to be a red Predacon tiger and immediately recognized him to be Rampage since they had met and even fought with each other within the massive Decepticon dinosaur Trypticon during their journey to whoever was summoning them as primitives.
While Sludge might not be as fast and clever as his Predacon counterpart, he had more than sufficient strength to overcome him singlehandedly. Now that he was able to gain a clear sight on his enemy, he activated his mouth flamethrower and blew fire towards the latter, hoping that the incineration would damage him badly to cause any of his own to him.
Unfortunately, Rampage was again too swift and agile even in his tiger mode.
He skilfully evaded those bellowing flames and landed again on his neck before sinking in his teeth for another attack. This time with greater determination and intensity that his enemy would be completely helpless to do anything at all. Having learned a lot from Ravage on the basics and fundamentals of hunting, he now improvised by taking those to the next advanced level by striking with his four claws as well.
As a merchanical tiger, he harnessed and mastered the art of stealth to full perfection based on the ninja shows and what Ravage taught him. In that mode, he was capable of leaping 300 feet straight up and for a distance of 500 feet that he just demonstrated. His feet were incredibly powerful as a single kick from any one of them could break and crush a reinforced concrete wall.
Other than those, each of his legs had a double-barrelled machine gun port which was now firing potentially up to 300 rounds per 12 breems in the form of angry fiery red bursts just like his body color.
Having failed in his previous move, Sludge proceeded with the next though it was completely out of this world unless in extreme circumstances.
Lifting his left front foot up, he brought it down with all his might and relentlessly until they caused a earth-shattering and shaking rumble in the ground.
The first time was just to stun his enemy and the second was to take advantage of his distraction from his continual biting as his opportunity to transform into robot mode. One which he hoped would bring his enemy down and refrain him from attacking again as his moving body parts would be too much for him to hold on his balance let alone continue with his attack.
His huge long neck along with his dino head moved down vertically to 180 degrees as his top upper back split into two halves into what would be his rear wings. His back legs began to unfold and extended from his chest while his front legs rotated into arms out of which emerged black arms from either end.
As his whole body tiled into vertical standing position and resulted in him being in full humanoid jungle warrior mode, his tiger opponent fell down and at the same time transformed as well in mid-flight.
Like his fellow Predacons, his strong will to survive and beat his opponent or target at any cost was part of Rampage’s personality due to their basic instincts to hunt, track and reap the fruits of their labor be it as individual or as a team.
In any given scenario, he would have beaten his foe by now. Despite being smaller, he had displayed all his attributes, fighting skills and flexibility in switching from tiger to robot and back in seconds while all his opponent could do was simply to roll over, breathe fire aimlessly, swing his tail and stomped the ground to shake him off.
His tiger head rotated in an inverted and slided up and slotted in perfectly between the gap between his left and right side of his tiger back which now became his robot similar to the one of his leader Razorclaw. Out flipped his red ninja-like robot head with his mouth fully sealed from below his front legs whose lower claws clamped down and interlocked right below.
The front leg components extended from his body to become his arms and allow more flexibility in movement of them. From either side of those arms where the claws were affixed, out came his red fists.
Once the first phrase of transformation was completed, his upper body rotated 180 degrees as his back claws slided into the legs which in turn flipped out to reveal his knees before forming into his robot legs. The front claws now acted as his back support
Upon configuring into robot, Rampage re-activated his firing weapons as in double-barrelled machine guns now affixed on either side of his upper arm as well as a brand new weapons which first appeared as a shimmering red beams and then as lightning rifle in his left hand and golden thermal sword in his right.
Now fully armed and ready, his first instinct was to charge towards Dinobot Sludge who also armed himself with red energon sword powered by fuel pipes and laser rifle.
The result was both of them firing their weapons which illuminated red and blue beam energy fireworks while defending against each other with their traditional and just as powerful hand-held swords.
That looked to be the case visually at first glance but if a sharp observer was to be a spectator, he would state from their body language as in movements and expressions that Rampage obviously showed more hunger and desire to finish off his opponent rather than vice versa.
After all, he was a naturally born hunter, fighter and admirer of speed and stealth while his opponent was strong physically but preferred peace to war since he was slow in comprehending and reacting mentally in most situations let alone combat.
Therefore it was not surprising that despite his massive size, Dinobot Sludge was completely taken by surprise by his smaller and more aggressive opponent who clearly meant business when he indicated his intention to destroy him by his first ambush from behind attack.
Despite doing his best to shield himself with his energon sword and firing his laser rifle, he soon ran out of ideas to counterattack against his Predacon foe’s relentless firing his red bolts and warding off his blue beams with his own sword.
Coupled by a pair of machine guns firing on each side of his arm, it was a matter of time before his laser rifle was knocked off along with his hand from his left arm. With just the energon sword now as weapon, he began to retreat and soon ended up staggering as Rampage closed in harder, faster and being more ruthless with every step he took towards him.
So much so that both combatants were now at the edge of the Autobot City outskirts overlooking the cliffs and waterfall right below.
When they were within inches of each other, Rampage continued attacking fiercely with his inhuman beastly determination that was even more intense than any other animal and fellow Dinobot he fought with.
He was no longer firing but just swinging his thermal sword in blind swirling stroke patterns that Sludge had no idea of how to comprehend.
All of a sudden, he lost his balance, his red energon sword dropping from his opened hand and into the deep waters below. As he barely hanged on the walls of the city fortress, Rampage stood over him with a sneer and pointing his thermal sword towards him. A cracking hiss of pink lightning suddenly formed at the sword tip and burst out towards him.
The impact caused Sludge to fall a hundred metres into the waters below but just before he could even touch the wet surface, he was instantly hauled up into the air and rescued in the nick of time by his fellow Dinobot Swoop who had come to his assistance at the right time.
Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived as Swoop himself was shot at by another Predacon who came in the form of black eagle out of nowhere to engage him. As he fell, he began to transform back into his Brontosaurus mode with the outer dino shells shielding his vulnerable robot body from the heavy impact fall.
So instead of falling into the deep waters, he balanced himself as though he was relaxing on the surface as the herbivore dino mode like his own Earthly kind while they were on their own in marine and aqua terrains.
If Rampage could fly in animal mode like his fellow Predacon Divebomb, he have pursued Sludge all the way until he killed him.
But now after seeing what had happened to him and his flying compatriot Swoop after Divebomb had intercepted them, he no longer felt it was worth his time to pursue his fallen opponent anymore.
His fallen opponent might or might not survive but that was of little concern to him as he had already accomplished what he set out to do. He had won and by knocking Sludge out from the city all the way down below, their duel was clearly over.
Deactivating his weapons and transforming back into his tiger mode, he set out to search for the rest of his team mates and see if he could assist them to win their primitive war against Dinobots faster.
It was stubbornness versus hostility as the third strongest Predacon Headstrong and Dinobot Slag came head-to-head against each other.
Yet looking at their creature modes, they looked more like cute than battle-heartened warriors they really were.
Unlike their commanders and second-in-command of their respective subgroups they represented, they displayed none of the stealth and agility their senior counterparts displayed in earlier mentioned duels but just pure direct showcase of direct brutality and strength in their first ever clash upon encountering each other at the junction point of the Western Tower.
Slag was on top of the platform pavement overlooking the equally determined Headstrong who clearly stood his ground despite being smaller. Yet despite their differences physically and whom they represented, they subconsciously had a common personality which caused them to have more enemies than friends.
As part of his Predacon instincts he inherited from being with his fellow subgroup members and even real life animals, Headstrong certainly lived up to the most negative connotations of his name.
Once he made up his mind on his next plan and course of action, he would stick to it and could not be persuaded otherwise whether others agreed with him or not and how foolish and risky it might be to a wise observers such as Soundwave and Constructicons.
Under those circumstances, he worked especially hard to ignore the advice of his fellow Decepticons and sometimes even fellow Predacons regardless of how helpful or sensible they might be. Because to him, giving up on what he already decided and planned to do would be a sign of weakness and loss of ego which he strongly forbid even threatened at gunpoint.
But the truth behind his personality was his insecurity as he was not as powerful, quick and smart as his other fellow compatriots. Yet because he was an important of their combined form as their ultimate and strongest weapon, he was allowed to have his way of thinking and do what he perceived as right even when some of his decisions were against what his commander Razorclaw abided by and expect his team to do the same.
Henceforth he felt listening to others and do what they said would allow them to control his thoughts, actions and even life or in his own terms, seeking approval from everybody in how he would live his life. He thought that doing so would be living a life full of regrets on what he should and could have done but never got it done because he did not have the support of others.
As a rhino, he could briefly splint at speeds of up to 60mph. At this speed, his horn could easily skewer 3 feet of steel armor plating and also released a localized acid whose corrosive properties increased his offensive potential.
Against anyone be it humans, animals, aliens and even typical Autobots of his size or less, that would be guaranteed for sure. But against Dinobot Slag, none of the three happened.
Even though he realized the latter to be stronger and had three horns – two on either side of his head and one on his nose as compared to his one, Headstrong stubbornly lived up to his name by charging forward out of blind rage. The result was upon heavy impact of their head-to-head clash, his black horn broke and he ended up crying in pain as three holes appeared on his forehead.
Despite facing his opponent charging into him, Slag barely moved. In fact he saw no need to as his opponent, not him - was suffering the consequences of that needless charge and crash.
He might be hostile but he was not foolish to allow his emotions get in his way of getting things done. With or without his fellow Dinobots, he could still stand and fight on his own feet with the same ferocity despite being the third strongest behind Grimlock and Sludge.
Yet in his personality, he was disruptive and foul-tempered even compared to his compatriots. Anarchic as in surly, mean-spirited, nasty and disturbingly violent, he was the one who most likely lived up to his team’s bad reputation. He would reject any orders that did not come from Grimlock but sometimes would even argue with the Dinobot commander. He was always angry and only violence seemed to release his pent-up energies. Such as fighting anyone over anything at the drop of microchip and fight dirty.
Bringing Decepticons to a grisly end was one of the few things that can lift his spirits.
Such as reducing them and even Autobots - whom he felt annoying him into pools of molten metal with his fire breath. At times, he simply charged and rammed into them to teach them a painful lesson they could never forget.
If he had no enemies to smash, he would wander off to punch holes in the sides of the mountains or anyone – including Autobots – attempt to get in his way. Even those concerned with his well-being became his victims of his fiery breathe or worse. The only ones that got away were his fellow Dinobots who were also not sure what caused him to behave that way even though he was stabilized in his brains with them by the late Wheeljack.
Other comrades had wondered as well, questioning why he even fought for the Autobots at all and his answer was not forthcoming.
As a three-horned triceratops in dino mode, Slag possessed incredible strength. His three horns -–which he just inflicted damage on its almost identical but turned out to be rash and much weaker rhino counterpart -–were capable of shattering an entire reinforced concrete wall or even building which was smaller than him. Along with his intense fury, that was what made him even more dangerous than Grimlock and Sludge despite being the third strongest.
Sensing his opponent now in pain and at a clear disadvantage, Slag now took his turn to charge the same way his opponent had a while ago. Only this time his would be more lethal in what was just mentioned above.
Bellowing in anger, Headstrong refused to let pain overcome him easily.
Barely recovering to stand back on his feet, he could sense his Dinobot opponent going to ram against him exactly what he had done earlier. Even from far distance, he could sense his anger and determination to be just as strong as his even though this was only their second encounter.
With his black horn now broken, he would have to try other alternatives. Activating his inner switch, his back suddenly opened to reveal a double-barrelled foot stand cannons which extended out and upon triggering another switch mentally, the cannon guns began firing an array of purple plasma energy bolts. The color quite the refreshing change from his fellow Decepticons’ standard red laser beams.
In any given circumstances against any human, creature or smaller and weaker Transformer, they would have been annihilated and torn to shreds under the intense cannon fire. But against the Dinobot, they seemed to have no effect as his seemingly thick grey armor seemed to protect him as he continued charging.
Realizing that he was the one at a clear disadvantage, Headstrong quickly leap up into the air and began transforming into robot mode since he had no other weapons left in his rhino mode to fight off the persistent Dinobot.
Especially when the latter started to open his mouth as well to release his infamous 3000 centigrade flames from his mouth.
His lower front feet started to fit into what appeared to be his lower body in rhino mode and main chest panels in his robot mode while his hind feet rotated 90 degrees to fit into the inner compartments from his back. Two red panels slided forth to support his feet and parts of his top front legs began propelling to become his arms in robot mode. Finally his head began to rotate 90 degrees as well to align with the top of his main body right under his rhino head.
Once the metamorphosis was completed, he began activating his other weapon arsenal of two plasma sphere shooter rifles which fired much heavier bursts of red explosive energy.
The problem was Slag was just as strong-willed and stubborn as his Predacon opponent. His hostility outweighed everything else in his path as proven by a direct to the target ramming and breathing fire approach.
When he hated something to the core and it was right in his sight, he would not refrain from what he do until that something was truly destroyed by his confirmation.
Just as he was about to close in for a head ram again, his opponent suddenly leap up and landed on its back while attempting to fire his rifles into him.
Taken back by his opponent’s unexpected move, Slag quickly rolled over and sent the latter tumbling. Then he breathed fire again, hoping to eliminate him once and for all with his blazing flames. Yet somehow his opponent suddenly activated another beam which dispersed into multiple rays that in turn absorbed those flames with ease.
Now that his opponent had switched to robot mode, it was Slag’s turn to do the same though he still could not believe what he did could not kill his foe. His back lower legs slided into the top supporting compartments while the other half of his body opened into two halves of what appeared to be his robot legs as the tail began to tilt upwards. Black fists began emerging from the ends of his front legs which now become arms.
His lower mouth jaw moved down and slided into his robot chest compartment while his front half of his dino body split into two plates of alloy steel, forming his back wings for air flight. His black robot head with the red optical visor and mouth was still locked within its immovable triceratops triple-horned head but aligned well with the top of his robot body.
Once he had completed his transformation which he admitted personally was what he was most reluctant to do, he began activating and wielding his red energon- sword - a simple straight forward blade with two curved hilts - as well as electron gun in his right and left arms.
The gun itself was now firing particle bursts that had the capability to tear through most Transformer armor. The third weapon appeared as a missile launcher on his right shoulder which also began firing the silver projectile as Slag leapt into the air to engage his enemy.
When all else failed, Headstrong could still count on his golden light diffraction sword.
Upon activated, his sword emitted bent light rays around him and made it difficult for his opponents to tell where he truly was.
That along with his plasma sphere shooter rifles were his only counter-offensive against the Dinobot Slag’s seemingly endless arsenal range of weapons that he could use effortlessly and relentlessly in both dino and robot modes. So even when his combined blue bolts and missiles were launched, he could take advantage of those particle beams to evade heavy bombardment and move in to attack again.
As they were within inches of each other, Headstrong lunged with his light sword with the determination to stab his opponent’s heart with it.
But the latter was equal to the task by intercepting with his red energon blade.
As he did so, Headstrong could feel intense flames running from that red blade and his opponent which clearly spelt fury and rage.
Before he could even react further, his opponent suddenly converted back into his dino mode and suddenly breathed heat-burning flames from his mouth once again. That caused him to be in intense pain once again as his face and upper body were completely tormented by the searing damages.
As his sword and rifles fell from his arms, Slag ruthlessly rammed and impaled his three horns into his body again. The Dinobot might seem dumb but he was certainly not stupid. And when he was angry and on the warpath, nobody - whether Autobots, Decepticons or any other being – ever messed with him unless he or she knew exactly how to deal with him before he did the same thing.
And Headstrong was far from being his ideal opponent even though he might look identical to him in both robot and animal mode despite their obvious difference in size. Unknowingly to both of them, their duel had taken them to the edge of Autobot City from which he fell along with his weapons into the deep waters below.
The next round of Dinobots versus Predacons battle saw Snarl being up against his equally ferocious counterpart Tantrum who was clearly raring to go despite being smaller in size at the other junction of the Southern Tower. The fourth strongest Dinobot on the other hand was just as prepared to defend and feed off whatever attacks his enemy might muster.
Due to their upbringing as primitives even in different circumstances, they were evenly matched in their personalities and fighting abilities.
One was a merchanical bull while the other was the merchanical stegosaurus who was not just the most heavily armored Dinobot but could draw upon solar energy to recuperate his strength quickly and easily which his team members could not.
As Tantrum charged towards on his typical bull surging runs, Snarl firmly stood his ground to block the attack with confidence.
For the latter realized - by common sense - despite the Predacon’s bravery that was still stupidity from his perspective as those solar panels on his back also had razor-sharp blade ends that could pierce anything and anybody.
Trying to reason with Tantrum would be as utterly pointless as talking to a lightning storm or fierce wind. For violence and threats were the only issues that he dealt in and anger was the only emotion he seemed to possess.
In fact, his fellow Predacons had come up with 20 new classifications of anger just to define the variations in their ally’s myopic mind. Baseline anger, intensively angry, completely slagging enraged, intense fury and immense rage were just a few examples.
To take the edge off, Tantrum would often knock down a building or highway pass, which temporarily made him better. That his condition would improve only when he was hit or hitting something had caused some Decepticons to wonder if his uncontrollable infuriation could be caused by some misaligned circuit or fuel line which had been knocked in and out of place.
Unfortunately for all their concern, the merchanical bull warrior took aggressive issue with anyone who tried or even suggested changing his thinking and behaviour.
As a warrior, Tantrum possessed enormous strength and endurance. Other than that, his armor was extremely thick and reinforced. He also had four exterior fuel tanks - over his legs in bull mode and within his arms and legs as robot – which could carry and transport additional energon.
In bull mode, his normal range was 1200 miles at an average speed of 30mph. However with the tanks, he could make it almost 10,000 miles. They could also be used to fuel his fellow Predacons. As he charged towards his Dinobot opponent, his horns began shooting 20,000-volt red bolts of hot electricity which he finds difficult to control when he was angry.
This also suited him fine especially when his opponent was two or three times his size and appeared to possess just as hard to penetrate body armor as him.
Snarl often stayed silent, biding his time unhappily.
As a loner, he preferred to allow his fellow Transformers and humans manage the strategic side of warfare and considered if his job was to just go wherever Grimlock told him and fight. Yet his utmost loyalty made him his commander’s favourite on the battlefield.
Separated from his beloved terrain plains from which he first made his debut upon his birth creation and trapped with an alternate mode which he found tragically hideous, his sole respite and joy came from being locked in a do-or-die combat with the only beings he hated more than himself.
The Decepticons.
Which was exactly what he could be involved in. Not against the usual standard jet fighter types. But their subgroup Predacons who send their representative - obviously one that complimented him in strength and tactics – to confront and destroy him.
In battle, he was already physically very strong. Even though he was the fourth strongest Dinobot after his leader Grimlock, Sludge and Slag, he could throw out the theory by his capability of increasing his strength even further. For the solar panels on his back in both his dino and robot modes could attract and harness the power of the sun which resulted in turning solar power into energy and augmented his strength, making him 10 times more powerful. Best of all, he could transfer this raw energy into his four fellow Dinobots.
As his opponent came charging down the path towards him with his purple hisses of lightning cracking from his two horns, Snarl simply did the one thing that mattered the most. Which was to demonstrate his solar powers’ third main function besides drawing upon sun’s energy to strengthen himself and comrades. The activation caused the those bladelike panels to be ejected from his back like in the form of blue energy spikes the same way that Porcupine fired its coat of sharp spines or quills as their defence against their predators.
Those blue spikes came in thick and fast, brutally intercepting and crossing through the red lightning energy before stabbing the completely red bull, causing it to tumble and fall.
Yet when Snarl attempted to do the same surging run, his Predacon opponent instantly turned his back and began igniting his other weapon system. Out of his back split components appeared a huge bulky foot stand plasma cannons that began shooting plasma blasts towards him.
While those blasts could have severely damage any being and fellow Transformer alike, they hardly affected Snarl since his body armor was specifically designed to shield him from the likes of those. Due to his next batch of panels emerging from his back, they simply caused those red energy to bounce off harmlessly.
Once looking up, he suddenly discovered that his opponent was nowhere to be found. It was like while he was busy defending himself, the latter simply vanished into thin air even though the whole process took about a few minutes.
Sensing that his foe would not give up easily, Snarl began to transform himself into robot warrior mode for easier maneuverer and flexibility since he spend much time in his dino form and despite knowing that he would be vulnerable without being encased by his stegosaurus casings with his plates.
His front dino head split into two halves while his front legs began rotating 45 degrees before fitting into two compartments between his front dino head and back legs whose lower feet began opening up to reveal his black fists as they became his robot arms. His spiked tail also broke up into two what would become wings. The main front dino body components also rotated 90 degrees to turn into his robot legs while his back component - where his solar panels were affixed – began ascending upwards to reveal his dark robot head aligning from within to fit into the top of the body.
Once his transformation was completed, he began his own trio of weapons used for his robot mode. Three blue beams appeared in their illumination. Two in his fists and another on the side of his left arm. When the light was gone, he was wielding a standard red energon in his right hand, long-range laser rifle – fuelled by energon pipes – in his left and missile launcher mounted on the side of his shoulder.
Then he began his exploration and search for any signs of movements between those tower walls.
Unknown to his opponent and unlike his fellow Predacons, Tantrum was not entirely dull-witted, dumb and just went for the straight kill for the sake of killing even though he had to put on a show to survive and keep his place among the Predacons.
For all his powers and capabilities, betraying his commander Razorclaw and his comrades was the last thing on his mind though the thought of deflection once emerged in his mind. He needed to work with them in order to live longer while they needed him as part of their group’s ultimate weapon.
Yet right now on his own against his Dinobot counterpart, he was able to think and act on his own.
Hiding behind the tower and watching the latter turning into robot mode, he also proceeded to do the same.
But not before igniting the silent switch mode to prevent his limbs from making those squeak noises while he began his transformation.
His hind legs stretched out from his main animal body, allowing his lower legs to turn flexibly and slot within the void components within those legs.
That also served as his robot legs. His buffalo head began turning 180 degrees as the top half of his front legs began to slide outwards and pinned themselves into his back while the bottom half spring forth and unfolded into his robot arms and hands.
Upon completing his rather complex configuration, Tantrum now armed himself with his electro-sword. But instead of having it in his right hand, he now affixed it into his arm waist which he could activate anytime he wanted by a flick of a switch like pen knife.
Then moving quietly, he began to get ready to launch his own personal ambush and see to it that his foe died without even knowing what killed him.
Snarl barely managed to intercept the incoming bright blade that his opponent suddenly lunged at him out of the wall he was approaching with his energon sword. Lightning cracks of blue and red brilliance hissed across the junction point of their weapons as they were interlocked in close quarter duel.
In that moment, he began to realize how strong his opponent was despite being shorter than him considering the fact that his alternate mode was a stegosaurus and the latter was a bull. But an extremely force he felt was more than just strength. It signified his rage probably over the previous round when Snarl had beaten him in their creature modes.
Raising his other arm, Tantrum activated and fired his concussion rifle. Red flames of catalytic carbon fire chemicals illuminated from the rifle barrel, with the potential of eroding most metals and creating new alloys.
Coupled with his sneak sword attack, he hoped this movement would execute his foe once and for all as he was not the one who would waste too much time hunting down just one target when he could have achieved five in the same short space of time.
Yet again his opponent was equal to the task by counterfiring his own rifle which produced another blue brilliance that somehow absorbed his red.
Angry at the turn of the events which went against him when it should have turned the combat tide in his favor, he began slashing his arm-wrist blade in a flash but again his blow was blocked by the enemy’s red energon sword again which was glowing this time with greater intensity.
Snarl this time managed to ward off his enemy’s second attack this time round.
Even though his sword might not look as impressive, its effects were stronger and more destructive. Along with his strength which he leveraged upon the sun energy in the current daylight, he broke the enemy’s golden blade before kicking the latter on to the other side.
Seconds later, his opponent recovered to his feet and came at him with the other blade from his other arm waist.
Again Snarl stuck at him right across his chest as he diverted his blade ankle at the last minute after giving him the delusion he was going for a straight strike. As his opponent fell, he began switching back into his typical stegosaurus and repelling those spike needles from his back
Now with his opponent defeated and lying in a heap, Snarl continued his search for any surviving human, Autobot or even his fellow Dinobots that he believed needed his help.
In what should be a simple initiative to rescue his fellow Dinobot Sludge from his Predacon opponent and help him to safety, Swoop found himself gunned down by another Predacon who turned out to be his dark equal and like him, was able to fly in both creature and robot modes.
The latter came out of the blue right below where he was and suddenly came on a collision course against him, the black guns underneath his dark wings firing red plasma beams.
One of which hit his wings and he went down towards the vast coffee brown landscape span of the Autobot City. But not before activating and launching missiles from his underwing launchers as his brave but futile counter-offensive against his attacker.
Compared with his comrades, Swoop was the most affable and often acted as the liaison to the other Autobots. Even though he was able to get along with them better than the rest of his subgroup, he still agreed with their belief that Optimus Prime was an ineffective leader.
Some Autobots were put off by Swoop’s fearsome dinosaur mode while humans were terrified as his size still overwhelmed them despite the fact that he was the smallest of his own five. They also questioned his loyalty to the Autobots cause since like all Dinobots, he was also in agreement with his leader Grimlock whose temperament and behaviour might or might not be in Autobots’ interest.
But what they did not realize was that his appearance and public trait were simply a disguise for his seemingly out-of-place kindness and good-natured personality. All these saddened him but his sorrow was instantly outweighed by his dedication to the Dinobots and their goals which might not always align with those of Optimus and his main team.
Swoop had also managed to turn his grotesque form into his advantage on battlefield where he became an expert at using his diving attacks and disconcerting battle cries to confuse and scatter his terrified Decepticon targets.
As a warrior, he might be the weakest and most vulnerable but he was also the most agile.
In his merchanical pteranodon form, he could soar at speeds up to 250 miles per hour for 700 miles at a time. He was a natural top-notch flyer and his maneuverability was excellent.
He was also a well-trained pilot. He had two wing-mounted missile launchers with air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities. Each missile had a blast force of 5000 Ibs. of TNT and were extremely accurate at ranges up to 8 miles away. He could also use them when in robot mode which was what he intend to do if he could get his act together and be more prepared for what was to come next.
Especially when facing an enemy that was his equivalent of appearance, flying, fighting and firepower. Not to mention that the enemy was not in the least affected like what most others would by his strengths mentioned just above. Heading towards the Autobot City with his enemy still pursuing and firing at him, Swoop decided to land first and switched to robot mode later if he could still evade and survive those beams.
Divebomb made short work of those grey and red-tipped Dinobot missiles by detonating them in mid-air with his relentless firing wing rifles. That was really easy and nothing outstanding to him since he always enjoyed combat experience and became very experienced as a result.
He was as deceptively cheerful as he flew overhead but his giddiness was more malicious than anything else. When seeing helpless targets below him often unaware of his attack until it was too late, he could not help but be overjoyed by all the options for him to rain destruction upon. He relished that moment of infinite choice right before unleashing his destructive assault with glee upon his unsuspecting and unprepared foes.
Still he often got tired of the easy and unsuspecting ground bound targets most Autobots represent or human planes like airliners and even military aircraft, he longed for a more compatible challenge with his abilities. Such as aerial Dinobot Swoop which he was attacking right now to help his fellow Predacon Rampage but ended up disappointing him with his futile counterattacks.
But in normal circumstances away from this Autobot City War 2, he would draw out worthy nemeses by building extravagant nests for himself to draw their attention. They were usually expensive and rare objects such as the crystal flight bubble he stole from a museum. When luring his foes to him, he would always have the upper hand since he was the one orchestrating the setting and in control.
As a warrior, he had above-average intelligence and strength even though he did not often speak. In his eagle mode, he could achieve speeds of up to 300mph for a distance of 2000 miles and operate all the way to sub-orbital levels. His beak was capable of rending 5 inches of solid steel with a single swipe while his telescopic optic sensors allowed him to spot a bolt from 2 miles away which was how he was able to subdue his primitive counterpart.
In both modes, he was armed with particle beam rifles which fired 200 rounds of crimson bolts per trigger and loaded with at least 4000 packs of energon firepower.
Having seen his opponent heading for Autobot City, he continued to give chase and would not give up until he saw to it that the Dinobot be completely dead at his feet.
Due to his enemy’s sudden attack which damaged his right wing, Swoop was unable to exhibit his full aerial combat abilities as pteranodon against what appeared to be his counterpart Divebomb in his eagle mode and serving Predacons.
Despite meeting and challenging the Decepticons’ primitive subgroup within the interior hull of Trypticon on their way to whoever summoned them as robotic animals, this was his first personal duel against Divebomb though it happened when he least expected it.
Upon landing on the broad surface ground, Swoop began his transformation from dino to robot mode.
His front elongated beak split from his red helmet with a plane like tail wing protruding and slided downwards into a void compartment created by his lower body which also divided into two. His wings folded 90 degrees backwards and attached to the his back. His upper body compartments also opened up and tilted down vertically becoming his robot legs.
His arms extended forth from his body and came along with his fists. With his long pteranodon beak firmly embedded between two sides of his chest, his black robot was revealed from within. With the helmet to support his head, he looked very much like an ancient Roman soldier during the days of Christ.
Upon completing his transformation, he activated his red thermal sword which possessed the ability to heat up to 4000 Centigrade and slice through most Decepticon armor plating in his right hand while getting ready his missile launcher in his right.
Now fully armed and ready, he looked up with the expectation of welcoming his Decepticon counterpart lunging from the skies towards him. But the latter was nowhere to be seen nor found. Sensing something amiss, Swoop began to take a long slow walk through the North and South Tower arena while keeping his eyes and mind open to any movement from above and on the ground behind any of those towers.
Hiding not far from behind the wall where Swoop was walking to right now, Divebomb also decided to switch to his humanoid warrior mode but with his feet still hovering above ground level since he was better supported by his jet-pack which also enabled his eagle wings to fly better as compared to the Dinobot whose dino wings were rather thin and vulnerable.
The dark metallic feathers all linked together into a full closed up wings which in turn flipped down vertically. His upper body rotated 180 degrees as back legs suddenly folded outwards with the upper thighs joining his taloned claws as his knees to lower legs. Two yellow panels came out from his lower legs to become his feet and another two more orange components spring forth from either side of his black body to become arms out of which appeared yellow fists.
Once he was in his robot form, he activated his own thermal sword with the added laser-targeting system that guided him to strike any locked-on target within range.
Detecting Swoop approaching within his digital zooming optics, he began to thrust his sword with the intention of stabbing his dino beak through to which he knew was his opponent’s most vulnerable spot.
Taken aback by his opponent flashing right in front of him and stunned by the golden sword aiming for his chest, Swoop managed to block what could have been the death blow with his own red energon sword.
Hissing cracks of yin and yang plasma energy burst forth from his blade and his enemy’s as well now that both combatants were interlocked with their handheld weapons in close quarter combat, with the determination to overcome each other.
After a while, the Predacon eagle warrior suddenly pulled his sword back and began firing his particle beam rifle with his other hand. Red thundering bolts poured forth from the barrel but yet again Swoop intercepted them well with his thermal blade which was now glowing in red brilliance and as a result, absorbed those bolts effectively.
Swoop then removed one of his missile launchers and fired. The grey missile with the red tip arrowing towards his aerial nemesis who again was alert enough to fire again with his beam guns. Again it exploded right in mid-air right between them and while he was momentarily stunned, his opponent leap up into the mid-air and executed a somersault over him before landing what could be another lethal blow.
His reaction was to do his own vertical jump as well and with his back to the enemy, he transformed back into his merchanical pteranodon mode into mid-flight before turning around and launching his missiles again.
This time they hit home. One in his opponent’s right leg and the other in his stomach much to his astonished look which was clearly obvious that he had not anticipated his move that way. But he was still not down and out as he still charged forth with his sword and particle beam rifle.
Swoop again transformed quickly into robot mode and counterattacked with the same determination. But in terms of logic thinking and common sense, he had clearly outplayed his opponent. Making his own U-turn somersault which was rarely seen and known by most Autobots and Decepticons alike, he instantly rammed and knocked the Predacon out of the skies.
Now alone again, he continued his search for any surviving humans, fellow Transformers or even Dinobots.
Completely beaten to the core by his Dinobot authority counterpart, Predacon commander Razorclaw decided to unleash his team’s ultimate weapon which he felt confident was completely unbeatable except by the now decreased Sky Lynx, Tornatron and Hate Plague - both of which were history as well.
That despite realizing how fortunately he was not to have his body lifted up and bitten into two by Grimlock’s jaws and teeth which the latter could have his chance twice when they were in creature and robot modes.
Activating his message through his brains to those of his fellow Predacons, he began giving his command which would be an absolutely nightmare to most beings when being executed.
“PREDACONS, GATHER AND UNITE INTO PREDAKING!”
Immediately, all four of his subgroup members Rampage, Headstrong, Tantrum and Divebomb appeared around him as if by magical teleportation. Rising up to his feet, Razorclaw signalled by pointing up his sword to affirm his command and they all acknowledged and complied as they began their unification.
Headstrong and Tantrum began first by converting back into rhino and bull modes. Then their animal heads began sliding down to reveal the joint openings and right at the bottom of their bodies emerged two cannon-mounted foot stands. Both of them became what looked like gigantic legs.
Then their commander Razorclaw moved up to join them as the main body. With his lion head remained firmly in his chest, his upper body rotated as his legs split further apart while his arms and fists were interlocked within either side of his body.
Finally, Rampage and Divebomb proceeded to form what resembled huge arms. Like their leader, their bodies also rotated while their legs and arms were similarly fixed in their original positions while in animal mode. Their beast heads also shifted to allow another openings which enabled them to join either side of their leader.
Grey fists with spikes emerged from the tail end of their bodies now formed into arms and Divebomb’s jet-pack wings was now affixed on to Razorclaw’s back. An enormous orange knight-helmeted head surfaced from behind and completely encased the Predacon commander’s yellow head.
Then his red eyes lit up from within the black visor face and shortly after, the largest Decepticon gestalt warrior was armed with a long battlesword that used to be Razorclaw’s sonic sword but the blade length was much longer, sharper and deadlier.
The five Predacons were no more.
Instead standing in their place was their ultimate combined form and every Transformer and being’s worst nightmare indeed.
Predaking.