The Anime Universe-Transformed!

The Transformers

Issue 2: When Worlds Collide

After awakening from a four million year slumber, the Autobots and Decepticons find themselves in modern-day Japan. As Megatron and his forces have set out to build a new base and exploit the Earth's hidden Energon supply and the Autobots try to stop them, the members of the human population carry on with their daily lives, unaware of the robots' arrival. But not for long...

It was a perfectly normal and pleasant Wednesday morning for the residents of Tokyo-despite the fact it was softly raining volcanic ash, ash that had been carried over to the city from Mount Ryo-Aru. But it was a harmless inconvenience, and several residents that had gathered around the TV screens of an electronics shop were reassured of that.

"The eruption of Mount Ryo-Aru occurred at precisely 5:48 this morning, the first time in nearly six million years. Lava spread throughout a twenty mile radius and fires have broken out throughout the Hikarii mountain range, but authorities say there's no danger to the public. However, all roads leading into the area have still been closed for precautionary purposes."

"Pretty nifty stuff, huh Tenchi?" Amagisaki asked as he and his two friends walked to school.

"Yeah, I guess so" Tenchi replied. "I mean it's not everyday that a nearby volcano erupts. But I've seen stranger things." He grimaced. "Every day at my place, it feels like a hundred volcanoes are erupting" he thought.

"I bet you Miss Briefs will be all over this during science class," Hirao commented.

"No," Amagisaki said. "She'll be too busy talking about the new fusion reactor plant that's opening up tomorrow."

"Well that's pretty cool too, though," Hirao added. "I hear it's the first of its kind in the world. It's got ten times the power of a nuclear plant, and it doesn't make any waste! And Tenchi's Dad helped design it!"

"Wow!" Amagisaki exclaimed. "Your Dad built that thing, Tenchi?" Tenchi smiled lightly.

"Well, he only...huh?" The Jurai power in Tenchi shot up like a rocket-warning him of some kind of danger. As he looked around, he was directed upwards...where he saw several objects soaring across the sky at high speed. He couldn't tell what they were, because they were too high up. But something didn't seem right about them.

"Tenchi!" Hirao said. "Tenchi, what's wrong?"

"Huh?...uh...nothing. I'm fine, really!" He chuckled weakly. Amagisaki and Hirao just stared at him strangely. Hirao spoke again.

"Well, come on then! We're gonna be late for class-again!"

"Sure, I'm coming." As Hirao and Amagisaki walked into the school, Tenchi stared at the sky again. "What on Earth was that?" he thought. "And why did it make the Jurai power in me go like crazy? Hmm...I better talk to Grandpa about it when I get home." Tenchi jumped back at the sound of the school bell. "Oh no! I'm late!" He rushed inside.

******

"Here!" Megatron shouted. "This is perfect!" He and the other Decepticons dove down to a mountainside and landed. "We will construct our base here! Begin unloading our supplies!" Astrotrain, still in shuttle form, opened his rear hatch, and the other Decepticons began to unload the material they had stolen from the Ark. Eventually, Runamuck exited Astrotrain carrying something that quickly caught everyone's attention-a deactivated Autobot.

"Look what I found," the white robot said.

"What is that Autobot doing in there?" Megatron growled, then shot a menacing glance at the Decepticon shuttle. "Astrotrain, explain yourself!"

"I...I don't know, Megatron" Astrotrain replied fearfully. "Ratbat and Soundwave put that and five others in with all the other stuff...I thought you had wanted them to, I swear!"

All optics landed on Ratbat and Soundwave, both looking panicked. "You don't understand, my lord!" Ratbat said quickly. "Me and Soundwave brought those Autobots along to provide spare parts-and subjects for an experiment we were going to conduct!" Megatron squinted his optics as he approached the two, his fusion cannon armed.

"What kind of experiment?" he asked.

"The reprogramming of the six Autobots," Soundwave explained, "to test a new technology we were developing on Cybertron with Shockwave. We had built five prototype units, but we had to go on this expedition before we could activate them." Ratbat cautiously flapped up to perch himself on Megatron's shoulder. "So if you allow us," he said, "Soundwave and myself can add six more warriors to your ranks, armed with this new technology." Megatron looked at the bat with curiosity.

"What exactly is this technology?" he asked.

"We call it gestalting-it's combiner technology."

Megatron thought about it for a few moments, then smiled. "It sounds very interesting, Ratbat. Very well, you and Soundwave have my permission to conduct this experiment, once we have completed building the necessary facilities." He observed the pile of scrap metal, computers, supplies and weapons parts they had removed from the Ark and frowned. "This is all we have to construct our base with?"

"I know it's not much, boss" Astrotrain said, transforming into robot mode. "But it's all I could carry."

"It won't build a fortress, but I believe it's perfect for constructing a subterranean base within this mountainside," Ratbat said.

"Subterranean!" Megatron exploded, forcing Ratbat to dismount from his shoulder. "As in hidden?"

"Well, sort of," Ratbat replied weakly.

"I am Megatron! I do not reside in small, puny facilities hidden from the enemy-that's for Autobots! I require impenetrable castles, magnificent fortresses whose strength reflects the power of the Decepticons!"

"And where, exactly, do you plan on finding the materials to build such a fortress, Megatron?" Starscream asked defiantly.

"Fool! You saw that native settlement we passed over! We'll take from them whatever we need!"

"But, what if they attack us? Thundercracker asked. "Or the Autobots?"

"I doubt these flesh creatures could do much to us, Thundercracker" Megatron snorted. "And as for the Autobots, I don't think there's any way they could be back online...but just in case, we should have someone watch the area." He turned to Runabout and Runamuck. "Go back to the mountain range where we came from. If you see any Autobots, eliminate them!"

"Yes sir!" Runamuck said with a salute, and he and Runabout took off.

"Laserbeak," Megatron continued. "Go and scout that settlement for possible building materials and energy supplies. We don't have the tools right now to directly mine Energon, so we'll have to convert it from other sources. Now go!"

"As you command, mighty Megatron!" the metal bird squawked, and rocketed off towards Tokyo.

******

"Those Decepticons look like they did a really good job of cleaning out this place, Optimus," Ultra Magnus said, looking at the wreaked and nearly empty cargo bay with Optimus Prime and Grapple, a bright orange Autobot with a crane on his back and a blaster in place of one hand. Inside, Windcharger, a gray and red robot, and Gears, a small red and blue Autobot, were still rummaging through the place, trying to find useful equipment that hadn't been stolen from the Decepticons or damaged by the crash.

"No kidding, Magnus!" Gears added. "We've been looking through this stuff for hours, and it seems almost everything that Decepticons left for us is smashed, twisted, or has dead batteries!"

"Well, what have you found?" Optimus asked.

"If you mean generally, mostly junk" Windcharger replied. "But if you mean specifically, as in what's still working, we've found three cases of Energon rations, a tank of rocket fuel, a few rocket launchers-minus the missiles, of course-some construction tools, some steel for what would've been our base, and a radio transmitter."

"Looks like we're going to have to live a little rough for now," Optimus said. "Let's make us of what we have and repair what we can."

"Sound's like a great idea, chief" Gears huffed. He then tossed a small piece of junk to Grapple. "Go see what Wheeljack can do with that," he said as Grapple caught it.

"I hope everyone else is getting more results than those two," Magnus said as he and Optimus headed for the communications post, where Sunstreaker, a tall yellow robot, and Skids, a square, blue robot, were listening to the airwaves and intercepting TV signals from all across the world.

"How's it going, you two?" Optimus asked.

"The native inhabitants of this world are something else, Optimus" Sunstreaker replied, pointing to the various screens on the console. "We've found over 83,000 different visual transmission signals and counting, and almost none of them provide any real insight to what these creatures are like. Skids here, of course, would say otherwise."

"Well, what do you think about these creatures, Skids?" Optimus asked. The Autobot didn't answer. "Skids? Skids?"

"Allow me, Optimus" Sunstreaker said. Sunstreaker raised his arm, and gave Skids a powerful thwack behind the head. "Yo, metal head! Wake up! The chief's trying to talk to you!" Embarrassed and hurting, Skids quickly turned around to face Optimus.

"I'm terribly sorry, Optimus! I didn't mean to seem insubordinate!"

"That's okay, Skids" Optimus warmly reassured him.

"It's just that I can't stop studying these creatures," Skids continued, turning back to the screen he was watching. "These visual transmissions, or "television" as these creatures call it, has been giving us amazing insight into their culture and social behavior."

On the screen were a man and a woman, both in a heated argument, scowling at each other. "At least your mother cooked well!" the man said. The woman slapped him, and the man quickly slapped her back. The two then looked at each other, their faces became gentler, and they kissed, with dramatic music playing in the background.

Optimus raised a metallic eyebrow. "This type courtship seems rather bizarre, if you ask me," he said.

"I know!" Skids exclaimed. "But that's what's so fascinating about it!"

"Well, continue on, and stay alert for anything that might reference to Decepticon activity."

Optimus and Magnus walked over to another console, where Beachcomber was working. "Beachcomber, how's the map coming along?" Magnus asked.

"Hound's been sending me periodic area scans for the past two hours, but so far they've covered only about 20 miles," the small, blue-green robot replied. "So it's pretty small, and we probably won't get any real map of the area for long time-I think that's one of the reasons I heard Ironhide and Mirage cussing him out earlier."

At the front of the bridge, Sideswipe and Huffer were busy trying to repair the systems still offline-including the main power generator. "Okay, let's try it," Sideswipe said. He pressed a few buttons, and the panel in front of him and the bridge itself lit up-then flickered, and dimmed out. "Dammit!" Sideswipe cursed, slamming his fist down.

"Hey, calm down!" Huffer said. "I don't know why you're in such a rush to fix this thing, anyway!"

"Huffer, we can't run on emergency backup power forever! If we don't get the main generator back online within 17 hours, the backup generator is going to die out and the few working systems we have will be shut down permanently!"

"I take it it's not good," Prime said as he approached the two.

"No, Optimus" Sideswipe replied grimly. "In fact, it's disastrous. We still can't get the main power grid restored, and the backup generator is losing juice fast. Wheeljack's building some solar panels to help keep the backup generator online, but that'll give us an extra hour or two of power, at best."

"And they'll be useless when night comes," Optimus added. "Well, keep trying. I'll get Gears and Windcharger to help you when they're finished." He stared into space. "I only hope Megatron isn't up to any trouble."

******

Laserbeak soared across Tokyo, his scanners analyzing every part of the city for possible building and Energon materials, but had so far found nothing.

"For Primus's sake!" he squawked impatiently. "There's got to be something that we can use here! Wait a minute...there!" He banked to the left and dived towards the earth. Below him was white and red building on the outskirts of the city: the Greater Tokyo Nuclear Power Plant. Laserbeak landed on top of the surrounding security fence, his steel talons cutting through the barbed wire. A small camera exited his forehead and took several snapshots of the facility.

"Lightly defended, a powerful uranium reactor core, constructed of steel well suited for building our fortress...it's perfect! I have to tell Megatron about this!" The camera retracted back in, and Laserbeak took off, speeding across the Tokyo sky as he headed back for the Decepticon base.

******

"There it is again!" Tenchi thought, staring out the window. The Jurai power had once again risen, indicating that danger was nearby. Of course, it could've been referring to his science teacher now entering the room-Miss Bulma Briefs.

"Pay attention class" Bulma said. She stared sharply at Tenchi. "Musaki, that means you too!" she snapped. Startled, Tenchi quickly paid attention.

"Uh, yes, of course ma'am! Sorry! Heh heh..."

"Now class," Bulma continued, her tone much gentler. "You may have noticed we have a new student here." Tenchi certainly did-considering he was sitting right next to him. He was a white male about Tenchi's age, with blonde hair and brown eyes. He seemed a little nervous.
"He's an American, here as part of the school's foreign exchange program," Bulma continued. "Now, let him introduce himself. Go on, Buster."

Hesitantly, the boy sitting next to Tenchi rose. "My name is Buster Witwicky," he said slowly in mediocre Japanese. "I... I'm sorry. My Japanese isn't all that great."

"That's okay, Buster" Bulma said sweetly. She walked over to Tenchi, papers in hand. "Tenchi, the school is having Buster live with you, if that's okay."

Tenchi thought grimly about the prospect. "Let's see...He'd be moving in with an ousted Jurai prince, his two half-sisters, a genetically-engineered former space pirate, a cat/rabbit creature that turns into a space battleship, a ditzy Galaxy Police officer, and a 20,000 year old mad scientist who looks like she's 13. He'd have to put up with sleeping without a roof over his head every other night, because the roof usually gets destroyed whenever Ryoko and Ayeka fight-as does most of the rest of the house. Washu would probably want to use him as a guinea pig for some zany experiment, Ryoko and Ayeka would get the delusion that he somehow wants take them away from me, and for all I know he's allergic to cat hair."

"Tenchi," Bulma said impatiently.

"Uh..." Tenchi began to reply. "Well..."

"Good! It's all settled then. Buster will be staying with you. Please sign these papers before you leave school today." Tenchi frowned. "Oh, and Tenchi," Bulma added.

"Yes, ma'am?" Tenchi asked. Bulma suddenly slammed her fists down on Tenchi's desk in an outburst of pure rage. "I want that geology project you, Hirao and Amagisaki were supposed to have turned in three months ago by tomorrow!" she screeched. "Do you boys take me for an idiot?! Do you think I won't notice you haven't turned in your work?! Well, guess what! I'm not an idiot! And if you boys continue to think that by not turning your project in tomorrow, you all get F's! Got it?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the three said, nearly white with fear. Bulma immediately went back to being calm, straightforward and sweet as a bird.

"Good. Now, as you all know, class, tomorrow we will also be going to see the opening of the new fusion reactor plant, the first of it's kind in the world. As an interesting side note, Tenchi and Buster's fathers were involved in the development of this plant, and will be there to help present it. So I want everyone on their best behavior." Tenchi and Buster sighed with embarrassment, and Bulma went to the board to finally begin class.

******

At three o'clock, after all their classes had ended, the students left the school to lazily enjoy the afternoon-and for Buster Whitwicky, that was going to be easier than he initially thought, for he had received a warm welcome and made three new friends.

"So, what do you guys do after school?" he asked Tenchi.

"Well," Tenchi said with a sigh. "This afternoon, we're going to be working on a geology project we were supposed to have turned in way back, but didn't...because we were trying to see who could beat Final Fantasy X first."

"At level 99 with all the spells, weapons, and GFs!" Hirao added.

"It's going to be a long afternoon, guys" Tenchi moaned. "We don't even know what we're going to do our project on!"

"Hey!" Amagisaki piped in. "Why don't we do it on the recent eruption of Mount Ryo-Aru?"

"I don't think there's enough reading material for that, Amagisaki" Hirao said. "Plus, the project instructions say we have to do some field work."

"Exactly!" Amagisaki exclaimed. "So let's go check it out!"

"Of course I'm serious!"

"Amagisaki!" Hirao exclaimed. "The area around the volcano has been closed off! We'd be breaking the law if went in there!" Amagisaki just crossed his arms.

"What's the lesser of two evils, gentlemen?" he asked. "Breaking the law, or having to show up in Miss Briefs's class without a project?" Hirao's and Tenchi's faces fell.

"You've got a point there, Amagisaki" Tenchi said. "Alright, we'll do it. Since my Dad is out of town and won't be coming in till tomorrow when the plant opens, I've got his jeep. But guys, let's try to make this quick. Buster, I guess you can come along with us...Buster?"

Buster was staring at blonde schoolgirl sitting on the school steps, talking with a younger, pink-hared girl. "Who is she?" Buster finally asked. Tenchi gasped and began to sweat when he saw who Buster was referring to, and Hirao answered Buster's question.

"That's Serena, and that other girl is her little sister, Rini."

"She's beautiful!" Buster exclaimed. Then, Serena looked up and saw the four boys... then jumped for joy and ran after one of them. "Oh, Teeenchiii!" Serena screamed happily. She grabbed Tenchi and gave him a tight hug. "How come you never talk to me anymore, you cute, adorable, hunk of a man?" Tenchi turned red with embarrassment.

"Serena, please!" he protested. "I've already told you, I've already got a girlfriend...sort of."

Serena looked at him, hurt. "Oh, Tenchi! Don't be so stubborn! A handsome guy like you needs to experiment, you know?"

"Trust me," Tenchi moaned. "I've had all the experimenting I can take!"

"Serena!" Rini called out, sounding impatient. "Serena, come on!" Serena sighed.

"Well, it looks like I gotta go" she said. "But I'll see you later. Bye, Tenchi!" She giggled and blew him a kiss.

"Come on guys," Tenchi sighed. "Let's get out of here." And they walked off.

As Serena approached Rini, her younger sister looked at her with annoyance. "Why can't you leave Tenchi alone?" she asked. "It's obvious he isn't interested in you!"

"Not interested in me!" Serena snapped, insulted. "I'm sure his very interested in me, Rini. He's just shy, that's all." Rini shook her head.

"Well, even if that is the case, is it a good idea for him to be dating a Sailor Scout?"

"Oh, big deal."

"Anyway," Rini continued. "Let's go home, ok?"

"Okay." The two then departed.

******

"Laserbeak has returned," Soundwave said. The metal bird swooped down towards the mountainside, where the bottom half of the new Decepticon fortress was almost complete. Ratbat was at a computer, calculating the amount of material they would need to complete the project.

"With the design we have, we will require 18 more tons of material" he explained to Megatron.

"Fortunately, I've found just that!" Laserbeak squawked as he landed on Megatron's outstretched arm.

"Well done, Laserbeak," Megatron said. "Show me what you found."

Laserbeak transformed into his cassette form and placed himself inside Soundwave's tape-playing chest. A screen then appeared on Soundwave's chest and showed the pictures of the power plant. "Excellent!" Megatron exclaimed. "We now not only have a source for building material, but for energy as well!" He commanded the attention of all his troops.

"Decepticons! We have found the perfect location for resources in that native city! We will raid it at once! Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Soundwave! Attack that facility and strip it of it's steel and power generator! Ratbat and myself will remain here and continue to oversee construction of Deceptifortress."

"Typical of Megatron!" Starscream muttered to himself as he transformed. "Just waiting around to be waited on!" The five planes and Soundwave took off and headed for Tokyo. After watching them disappear over the horizon, Megatron turned and scowled at the three, identical purple and green robots standing around idly.

"Reflector!" Megatron snapped. "Don't just stand there! Get back to work!"

"As you command, Megatron," the three replied in unison, and resumed work on the fortress.

******

"Well, why shouldn't I try to go out with him?" Serena whined. "He's perfect for me!"

"For the last time, Serena, he's not!" Rini countered. The two were walking home-and still arguing about Serena's love interest in Tenchi. And it was starting to get really personal.

"You sure act like you know a lot about guys," Serena attacked, "for someone who hasn't even hit puberty yet!"

Rini scowled. "Well, when I do, I won't go after a new guy every other week! And that's exactly how it's been since you dumped Darien!" The two stopped and put their faces up to the others, scowling and growling.

"Girls, please!" pleaded Artemitis, who was walking with them.

Suddenly, Artemitis looked up upon hearing the booming whine of jet engines, and then widened his eyes and dropped his jaw in fear and disbelief. "G...Gi...Girls!" he stuttered in panic. The two finally looked down.

"What?!" they snapped simultaneously. Weakly, Artemitis lifted a paw and pointed upwards. The two looked up, and quickly saw what was scaring him to death-and now, themselves. Flying over at high speed and low altitude were three F-15s-one red and white, one blue, and one black-a purple MiG-25, a purple Space Shuttle... and a giant dark blue robot.

"Wha...What is that?!" Serena gasped, she and the other two trembling like crazy. They watched the planes and the robot fly over a hill. Serena finally managed to get a hold of herself and went to get a look. "Better check this out!" she said.

"Hey, wait for us!" Rini called out as she and Artemitis followed her. They ran to the top of the hill, giving them a clear view of the Greater Tokyo Nuclear Power Plant. They then watched in disbelief as the five planes began to change shape, transforming into giant robots as well, landing within the plant's gates. "Serena" Rini said uneasily. "What are those things?!"

"I don't know, but they look like they're up to no good!" Serena replied. "And if we're going to stop them, we're gonna need the help of the other Sailor Scouts!"

******

The workers at the plant ran for their lives as the Decepticons touched down, shooting at anyone around. "Get out of here, you little germs!" Blitzwing hissed, firing his laser rifle at the fleeing power plant operators. "Alright," Starscream said. "We're here, so let's start taking this scrap-heap apart!" The Decepticons began ripping slabs of steel from the building, pulling it away as if it were Styrofoam. Soundwave opened his cassette-holding chest and began to add more members to the wrecking crew. "Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw. Eject and begin disassembly of this facility. Be on the lookout for and seize it's uranium reactor." The four tapes flew out of Soundwave, transforming into their robot forms. "Okay bro," Rumble said to Frenzy. "Let's rock the joint!" They activated their pile-drivers and began to shake the steel walls loose. At the far end, Blitzwing was slashing away at the plant with his heat sword, but was being held back by Buzzsaw's own cutting. "Hurry up, bird brain!" he cursed at the yellow metal bird, much like Laserbeak. "Patience, Blitzwing" Buzzsaw replied, as he sliced away at the building with his wings. "You cannot rush art!" "I just hope the natives don't give us too much trouble for this," Thundercracker said. Skywarp and Starscream laughed. "You worry too much, TC" Skywarp joked. "I guess a weakling like you should be worried, though" Starscream said mockingly. "In fact, if I weren't always here to protect you, you'd never survive any real fight!" Starscream threw a heavy slab of steel into the pile that had gathered, taking pleasure at seeing the hurt on Thundercracker's face. "But, luckily for you, if those fleshlings we chased off are a sign of anything, we won't have to fight!" "Stop right there, you talking wind-up toys from hell!" a female voice shouted from behind them. "Huh?" Starscream said, as he and the other Decepticons turned around. All widened their optics in surprise at what they saw. "What the slag?" Starscream said, starring at the group of six females in strange outfits. "Who are you?" "We're the Sailor Scouts!" the lead one said. "Sailor Moon!" "Sailor Mini-Moon!" "Sailor Mars!" "Sailor Mercury!" "Sailor Venus!" "Sailor Jupiter!" "In the name of the Moon," the six said in unison. "We shall punish you!" The Decepticons were truly at a loss for words, and just stared at them for a few moments. Then, they all burst out in laughter. "What is this?" Astrotrain asked, nearly keeling over with laughter. "Man, if nothing else, these flesh creatures have a great sense of humor!" Rumble added. "Ooh," Skywarp exclaimed mockingly, pretending to be frightened. "Did you hear that, guys? A bunch of puny fleshling females are gonna beat us up!" "Um, they don't seem too intimidated, Serena" Sailor Mercury said worriedly. Sailor Moon was becoming really steamed by that fact. "Well then, Amy" she said as she drew her baton "We'll have to show them that they should be!" Her baton charged up with pink energy, and she slingshot an electric, pink beam towards Starscream. "Huh?" Starscream exclaimed as he saw the beam come at him. The shot slammed into his chest, exploding. "Aaagh!" he yelped in pain as the force of the shot sent him flying onto his back. The laughter amongst the other Decepticons came to an immediate halt, all glancing at both the Sailor Scouts and the injured Starscream in disbelief. Starscream got up, smoke rising from his wound and grunting with rage. "Why, you little brat!" he hissed. "Aww, did I hurt you mister robot?" Sailor Moon asked mockingly. "Yes," Starscream grunted, and raised his laser rifle. "And now, I'm going to hurt you even more! Decepticons! Let's show these insects some real firepower!" The Decepticons fired their weapons, forcing the Sailor Scouts to scatter. But they were still determined to fight the alien robots. "Let's show these tin cans what we're made of, Amy!" Sailor Mars said as she and Sailor Mercury charged at Rumble and Frenzy. "You ladies are way out of your league!" Frenzy snickered as he and Rumble activated their pile-drivers, knocking the two charging Sailor Scouts off their feet. Then, Soundwave unleashed more support for the two. "Ravage, Overkill, eject and assist Rumble and Frenzy." Two cassettes-one black and one white-ejected from Soundwave, transforming into a metal cougar and velociraptor, respectively. The two predators rushed at the downed Sailor Scouts, growling viciously. "Come here, little fleshlings!" Overkill exclaimed with sinister glee. "It's feeding time!" Mercury and Mars quickly got up and ran away from the two. "No, please!" Sailor Mercury squealed. "I don't taste very good!" Sailor Venus fired several orange shots at Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, but missed each time. The two metal birds then returned fire, strafing Venus with a barrage of laser fire. "Serena, help!" Venus cried out in fear. "I wish I could, Mina!" Sailor Moon replied, sounding panicked herself as she and Sailor Mini-Moon ran across the plant lawn, ducking several heavy laser blasts. Behind them, Blitzwing was giving chase in his tank form. "You can't run forever!" he shouted as he fired another tank round. "Sooner or later, you germs will be reduced to dust at the hands of Blitzwing!" "I hope you have insurance, pal!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed as she charged up a purple ball of energy in her hand, her eyes set on Skywarp. "Cause you're going to have one major repair bill!" With a yell, she threw the energy ball at Skywarp. Just before it hit, the Decepticon vanished into thin air. "What?!" she exclaimed. "W...Where did he go?" "Right behind you" Skywarp's voice replied from her backside. Before Jupiter could turn around, she was thrown forward as the ground behind her exploded, shot at by Skywarp. "My good-old teleporter" Skywarp said. "Works every time." "Rini, I got an idea" Sailor Moon said to her younger sister, continuing to dodge Blitzwing's bombardment. "If we split up, we'll force this guy to follow only one of us! That'll give the other a chance to take him out from behind!" "Sounds like a plan!" Rini replied. "You go one way, I'll go the other!" The two ran off in opposite directions, and Blitzwing stopped. He swiveled his turret left to right, unable to decide which of the two to pursue. "Blast! If I follow one, I'll be vulnerable to attack from the other! And after what happened to Starscream, that wouldn't be a pleasant situation!" "Then leave it to us," Starscream said as he and Thundercracker transformed into their fighter modes. "Besides, I've got to teach that little runt named Sailor Moon what happens to those who humiliate Starscream!" "Looks like our plan worked better than we had hoped, Rini!" Sailor Moon said. She drew her baton and charged it. "Let's finish old tank-brains off!" "This'll teach him!" Rini said as she drew her own baton and charged it up. "What?" Blitzwing gasped. "Oh no!" The two Sailor Scouts were about to unleash crippling attacks on the Decepticon, when suddenly they were rained on by a storm of laser fire, as Starscream and Thundercracker attacked the two. "Let's see how you like when you get hit by an energy blast!" Starscream hissed as he strafed Sailor Moon. "Sailor Scouts, retreat!" Sailor Moon shouted as Starscream continued to fire at her. She rushed to join the others as they headed for the hill outside the power plant walls. However, Starscream transformed back into his robot mode and landed directly in her path. "You're not going anywhere, insect!" Starscream said, aiming his laser rifle at her. "Except for your grave!" Sailor Moon stared down the barrel of Starscream's massive rifle in terror, then tightly shut her eyes, waiting for it to end. "Oh, God," she thought, whimpering. "This is it! I never thought it would end like this...Goodbye, Rini. I'm so sorry I said those things about you and that I haven't gotten a chance to apologize! And goodbye, Darien...I wish I had never left you!" "Hey, Starscream!" Skywarp called out. "Rumble and Frenzy have found and disconnected the reactor, and we've got enough steel!" "The job's done," Thundercracker added, as he placed the reactor into Astrotrain. "So let's get the slag out of here!" Starscream looked back down at the petrified Sailor Moon, and growled angrily. "Oh, alright! Well, it seems you'll walk away alive, fleshling-this time! When we Decepticons conquer this pitiful planet of yours, I'll see to it that you suffer to a point that you'll beg for me to kill you!" He transformed and took off with his comrades, heading back to their base. Relieved more than ever before in her life, Sailor Moon stood as she watched the Decepticons fly off. Then, exhausted, she collapsed back onto the ground. The others quickly rushed over to help her. "Serena!" Sailor Venus shouted. "Are you alright?" "Serena!" Rini cried, throwing herself around her sister. "I was so scared! I thought you were going to die!" "It's okay, guys" Serena replied weakly. "I'll be okay. Let's just get out of here." Venus and Mars lifted her up on their shoulders. "We need to be ready if those things ever come back," she continued, then smiled. "Don't worry, Sailor Scouts! Next time, we'll show these talking tin cans what we can really do!" ****** "How much further, Hound?" the white and blue Indy racing car asked with impatience. "Well, Mirage, at this rate we'll cover an additional 15 miles of territory within 3 hours." the Army jeep replied. "But when you consider things such as photography, bio-scans, soil samples, and area electromagnetic analysis, it could take as much as six hours." "Six hours!" Mirage shouted in disbelief. "For Primus' sake, Hound! I don't want to waste fuel searching a 15 mile area for six hours! What's all that stuff for, anyway?" "Hey!" Hound exclaimed. "Prime wanted a thorough scan of the area, so that's what me and Beachcomber are gonna do, okay?" "Hound," Ironhide moaned. "Prime wanted a map of the surrounding area, not a encyclopedia on it!" "Look, people" Hound continued. "I'm the one equipped with the advanced scanners here, so we're doing it my way. Got it?" "Oh, well aren't we Mr. Talented?" Mirage snapped. "Mirage," Trailbreaker quickly interrupted as he pulled up behind him. "Don't even start. I've seen you get like this plenty of times before, so I know what happens afterwards-and we all know it isn't pleasant. So just stop it right now." Mirage grunted angrily. "It's just such a waste of time, though. I rather be doing maintenance on the Ark than driving around this dumb rock!" "Dumb rock?" Hound asked, shocked. "Mirage, this place is gorgeous! There's crisp blue skies with fluffy white clouds, towering mountains with powdery caps of snow, and the life forms inhabiting this environment..." "Can all just kiss my tailpipe!" Mirage spat. "What is it with you and this damned planet and all its 'beautiful environment'? What the slag does all that matter when we're fighting a war, which for all we know we may have already lost?" He began to drive faster. "It doesn't matter! But still, here we are 'appreciating it' like you and Prime and all those other life-loving morons want us too! Well, I'm not going to appreciate it! I hate this planet! I hate it's mountains and skies and life! I could care less if the Decepticons leveled it all to dust!" "Well," Hound roared. "If that's the case, you'd fit in perfectly with the Decepticons! In fact, why don't you go join them right now?! Besides, everyone knows that's what you want to do!" In a flash, Mirage shifted into high gear and sped past Hound. He then quickly stopped directly in front of him and transformed into his robot mode, staring him down in hateful fury. "Are you questioning my loyalty?!" he screamed accusingly, ready to fight. Hound braked and transformed, a scowl on his face. "You tell me, pal!" "Why you!" Mirage lunged at Hound-but was blocked by an intervening Ironhide. "That's enough, both of you!" Ironhide roared, struggling to keep the two away from each other. Trailbreaker, Cliffjumper, and Jazz quickly transformed and helped him control the two. "What is wrong with you?" he continued. "We have a mission to accomplish and it ain't gonna get done by having a hissy-fit over something as stupid as this! Now get some damned control of yourselves!" A few moments passed, and the two calmed down. "Okay, Ironhide" Hound grunted. "Now," Ironhide resumed. "Let's get back to..." He stopped in mid sentence, a surprised statement on his face, then began to look around frantically. At first the other Autobots didn't know what had startled him, but as they too looked around it hit them. "Hey!" Hound exclaimed. "Where's Bumblebee?" ****** "Great!" Bumblebee thought with fear and frustration, braking in the middle of the dirt road. "I'm lost!" He looked at the large yellow butterfly fluttering above him. "And why? Because I wanted to follow this stupid thing! Sure, it's pretty...very pretty...but I can't believe I let myself zone out like that! Now I'm probably miles apart from the others, and for all I know they haven't even realized I'm gone!" His engine rumbled as he shivered. "Now, now, don't panic Bumblebee! That's the last thing you need to do! Just stay calm, think straight, and don't get distracted." Suddenly, Bumblebee's sensors began to beep. "What the...? Unidentified vehicle approaching from the west-it doesn't seem to be a Decepticon. It must be one of the guys! They've come looking for me!" He revved up his engine and sped towards it. "I'll go meet them so they'll know I'm okay!" ****** "How much further, Tenchi?" Amagisaki moaned. "I want to hurry up and get this over with!" "We're about 20 miles away from the volcano," Tenchi replied, steering the jeep down the rough, unpaved road. He turned to Buster, who was in the passenger side front seat. "I'm sorry we had to make you come along with us on this" he said apologetically. "It's okay," Buster replied with a smile. "I've had a great time with you guys. At first I didn't think I'd make any friends here, but you guys have proved me wrong!" He frowned as he reclined in his seat. "Too bad I'll only be able to stay here for only a few months. Then it's back to Oregon...with no friends." The other three were quite surprised. "No friends?" Hirao asked. "Why's that?" Buster sighed. "I don't know, I guess it's just because I'm...different. I mean, at my high school, everyone is an athlete, a student councilman, or a geek, and there aren't too many of those-and I have the honor of being in that group." He sighed again. "I've pretty much become the personal slave and object of entertainment for the captain of our football team-and that's not a pleasant position. I've put up with everything from 'kick me' signs to stink bombs in my locker. It was miserable!" He looked at the other three. "One of the reasons I was so nervous in class today is because I was afraid it'd be the same way here." "Hey, you don't have to worry about that here!" Tenchi exclaimed. "Trust us, you won't have to put up with a single miserable incident at school!" Tenchi then grimaced. "My home, however, is a completely different story!" he thought. Tenchi suddenly realized they weren't the only ones on the road. Approaching them was a yellow VW Beetle. "Huh?" Tenchi exclaimed. "This area is supposed to be closed off! These people shouldn't be here!" Tenchi quickly blushed upon realizing the irony of what he just said. "That looks like Hound!" Bumblebee thought upon seeing the incoming jeep. "Hey Hound!" he shouted. "I'm okay! Sorry about running off like that! I just saw...uh...some geographical formations in this area that looked interesting!" "Tenchi," Amagisaki said weakly. "Who said that?" "I don't know!" Tenchi said, looking left and right for a possible source for the voice, while keeping an eye on the... "That car?" Tenchi thought, his mouth gaping open. Suddenly, the VW began to change shape, transforming into a giant, yellow robot. Tenchi slammed on the brakes, and the jeep screeched to a halt just feet away from the giant machine. Everyone gazed up at it, their eyes wide with fear. "What the hell is that?!" Amagisaki screamed. "What the...?" Bumblebee began, as he stared down at the small creatures, fascinated and startled. "You're not Hound!" "It sounds mad!" Hirao screamed. "Tenchi, get us out of here!" Tenchi didn't even hear his friend's plea-he instinctively went for the other means of handling this kind of a situation. He thrust his hand down into his book bag to grab sword Tenchi-and found nothing but schoolbooks. "Oh no!" he thought. "I forgot! I left it at home this morning! Great, just great! I don't have the sword, and just at the moment I really need it! I'm facing a giant robot that can turn into a car and have no way of fighting it! Could it get any worse?" Tenchi and the others were sent flying out of their jeep as the ground in front of them exploded. Bumblebee, too, was knocked backwards. "What the?" he thought, looking in the direction the blast came from. "Decepticons!" He suddenly looked down and saw three of the flesh creatures running away from their burning vehicle-but one of them was laying there on the ground, not moving. "Oh no!" As Tenchi ran into the woods, he stopped and looked back to find Buster lying on the ground, apparently unconscious-and with the robot reaching down for him. "Oh no! Buster! Buster!" Tenchi's shouts were muffled as a missile whined down towards the road towards where Buster and the robot were. The robot quickly picked up Buster's still body and quickly jumped to the side, dodging the explosion as the missile impacted. ****** "Gee whiz, Runamuck!" Runabout exclaimed as he observed the attack through the trees atop a slope. "You've fired two of your most precise heat-seeking missiles and you still haven't hit that little Auto-baby!" "Shut up Runabout!" Runamuck snarled, still holding his orange bazooka. "Just shut up! If I can't hit him from up here, I'll just destroy him down there!" Runamuck transformed into a Chevrolet Camero, and his bazooka stuck itself on top. Tossing up mud and dust as his wheels span, the Decepticon took off down the slope towards Bumblebee. "Hey, wait for me!" Runabout exclaimed, transforming into a Pontiac Firebird and following him down. "I wanna piece of the little yellow germ, too!" ****** "Are you still functioning, creature?" Bumblebee asked the comatose Buster. Buster only lay there in Bumblebee's large gray hands like an injured bird, not moving. "Oh, dear Primus," Bumblebee panicked in his head. "Please be alive! Please! I know...I'll get you back to the Ark! Ratchet will be able to fix you up!" Bumblebee ducked as another missile whizzed over his head and slammed into the forest, unleashing a powerful fireball. Bumblebee turned around to see a white vehicle armed with a bazooka speeding towards him. "One way or another, I'm going to kill you Autobot!" it screamed threateningly. "That voice!" Bumblebee gasped, and quickly transformed into his vehicle mode, with Buster tucked safely inside. "I recognize that voice! That's Runamuck! I can't beat him on my own...I need to find the others!" He quickly sped off down the road, and tried to outrun the Decepticon. But Runamuck was persistent, and fired several more missiles as he pursued Bumblebee. "That thing's got Buster!" Hirao shouted as he and the other two looked back through the trees. "And now it looks like there's more than one!" Tenchi added. In a flash, Runabout sped pass the three boys-then suddenly braked to a screeching halt. The Decepticon then began to back up at high speed, then swerved to face Tenchi and his friends. Almost out of nowhere, a pair of machine guns appeared on Runabout's roof-and he aimed them at the three boys, who were too terrified to move. "He he he he" the Decepticon giggled with malicious glee, and began to rev up his engine. "Okay, you little germs! We're gonna play a little game! I'm gonna count to ten, and if you're smart you'll have run really far by then! One..." Tenchi and the others immediately took off further into the woods, running faster than they ever had in their lives. "Two... three..." Runabout continued, his engine roaring with power and his guns arming themselves. "Four... five six seven eight nine ten! Ha ha ha ha haaa! Ready or not, here I come!" Runabout was about to charge when he was suddenly struck by a hail of orange laser fire. "What?!...Autobots!" From up the road, Ironhide, Hound, Trailbreaker, Mirage, Jazz and Cliffjumper were charging at him, their weapons blazing. "Hey, Runabout!" Ironhide shouted, firing the twin laser cannons mounted on his roof. "We heard you setting off a fireworks show! Mind if we join?" "Nice new body you got there, Runabout!" Jazz chuckled, firing a flame-thrower mounted on his roof . "Too bad I need to give it a little fire treatment!" "Hey, while were at it," Mirage added, firing gattling guns mounted on his side. "Does your new form really need windows?" Mirage's fire shattered Runabout's passenger-side window. Added to laser fire from the others, the Decepticon panicked. "I'm outgunned! And at these rate there won't be scrap left of me!" He switched into high gear and rushed down the road. "I need to get Runamuck!" ****** Bumblebee dodged another missile as he swerved left and right down the dirt mountain road, trying not to violently rock the still unconscious Buster around while avoiding Runamuck's attacks. "This isn't good!" he thought. "This guy is gaining on me fast! And I don't know if can keep driving like this! Diagnostics say it's wreaking havoc on my rear axle!" Another missile flew past him and exploded in the forest...knocking down a very large tree, which crashed into the road a mere 20 feet in front of him. "Oh crap!" Bumblebee quickly transformed into robot mode and leaped over the massive tree. He transformed back into car mode before hitting the ground on the other side. "This is really starting to annoy me!" Runamuck cursed, and fired a missile at the fallen tree, blasting it into hundreds of pieces upon impact. "So, you finally hit something!" Bumblebee taunted. "You're next, Auto-brat!" Runamuck hissed as he fired again. Bumblebee quickly moved to dodge it, but the missile hit the ground right next to him. "Aaaaa!!!" Bumblebee screamed as the explosion sent him flying and blasted off one of his rear wheels. Bumblebee finally landed, but he was swerving out of control. "Ugnh! Gotta brake! Gotta brake!!!" As he tried to stop himself, his front right tire exploded, forcing him to swerve into the trunk of a heavy tree. Bumblebee hit the tree with a powerful metallic crunch, smashing his headlights and crumpling his front end like an accordion. "Ooo..." Bumblebee moaned painfully. "I...I can't move...!" "How unfortunate for you," Runamuck said as he pulled up to the crippled Autobot. He armed his bazooka and fired...nothing happened. "Damn! Out of ammo! Well, I guess I'll just have to finish this the old fashioned way!" Runamuck transformed and drew his beam machine gun. "Please!" Bumblebee begged. "Do whatever you want with me, just don't hurt the creature I'm carrying!" Runamuck was taken back with surprise, and quickly saw Buster laying inside Bumblebee's cab. "He isn't part of this," Bumblebee continued. "So please, spare him!" Runamuck burst into laughter. "Me?" he asked mockingly. "Spare the life of that little sack of flesh? No! In fact, I'm now going to enjoy killing both you and that creature!" Just before he pulled the trigger, Runabout came speeding around the corner, heavily damaged. "Runabout!" Runamuck gasped. "What happened? You look like you've been through a firing squad!" "In a way," the blue Decepticon replied as he transformed, "I have! There's a bunch of Autobots heading our way! They outnumber us three to one! We gotta get out of here!" "Well, let's dispose of this other one first!" Runamuck replied. "It should be pretty easy!" "Oh Primus!" Bumblebee thought. "I'm history! And an innocent life is going to be taken along with me! It's going to take a miracle to get me out of this!" "What?!" the two Decepticons screamed as they were strafed with laser fire and missiles from above. "Huh?" Bumblebee gasped. He looked up and saw two helicopters-a yellow Sea King transport and a gray Super Cobra attack chopper-hovering above and attacking Runabout and Runamuck. He immediately recognized them. "Sandstorm! Whirl!" he exclaimed with glee. "Am I glad to see you two! What are you doing here?" "To tell you the truth," Sandstorm replied as he continued to fire his lasers at the two Decepticons. "Beachcomber got really tired of having to wait around for you guys to send in an area scan every forty minutes or so to only cover five miles. So Prime sent us to find you and figure out what was taking so long!" "And I guess now we know why!" Whirl said, firing his rockets at Runabout and Runamuck. The two Decepticons fiercely returned fire, but the Autobot helicopters dodged all of their shots. Then, Ironhide and his team appeared from behind, transforming and attacking. "We're trapped, Runamuck!" Runabout screamed as he fired at Ironhide and the others, while Runamuck attacked the choppers. "We obviously won't get out of here alive," Runamuck said, then pulled out a small metal cylinder. He pressed a button on it and tossed it up into the air. "Unless we fight a little more underhandedly!" The cylinder exploded and unleashed a massive white flash, blinding the Autobots. "Ughn!" Trailbreaker grunted, shielding his optics. "Flash grenade!" "Let's get out of here!" Runabout exclaimed, and he and Runamuck took off into the sky while the Autobots were blinded. After a minute, the bright light disappeared, and the two Decepticons were long gone. "Blast!" Cliffjumper cursed. "And we almost had them!" "Don't worry, little buddy" Jazz reassured. "I'm sure we'll get another shot at those two suckers!" The two then saw Bumblebee's crumpled car body and rushed over to it. "Bumblebee!" Jazz exclaimed in panic. "Are you okay, buddy?" Cliffjumper asked. "Ughn," Bumblebee moaned. "I think I'll live, though I'm probably going to spend the next couple of weeks in the repair bay. But my real concern is this native creature." Cliffjumper saw Buster as Bumblebee opened his door, and gently pulled him out. "Oh dear," Hound gasped upon seeing the unconscious boy. "He looks injured!" "He was hurt when Runamuck attacked me," Bumblebee continued. "There were three others with him which ran off, but I don't know if they were injured as well." "Well," Ironhide said. "With you and this thing hurt, Ratchet's gonna have his hands full. That's enough excitement for one day, boys!" He transformed and began to speed off. "Let's get back to the Ark!" The others transformed and began to follow. Hovering above Bumblebee and with Cliffjumper and Jazz helping, Sandstorm began to lower a cargo net attached to a cable. "Put him onboard and I'll carry him back!" "Thanks, Sandstorm" Bumblebee said as Jazz and Cliffjumper placed him into the net. "No problem, little guy!" Sandstorm replied, and lifted off. "Autobots!" Ironhide called. "Roll out!" ****** In a dark corner of the Ark, a small hole appeared. After a few seconds, a tiny figure jumped out and leaped into the shadows, sniffing around and darting it's head-and ears-every which way. "Meow!" it finally said. "Sssshhh!" a female voice hushed from within the hole. Moments later, a female figure emerged and picked up the small creature. "Do you want to blow this?" she whispered harshly. "Meow..." the creature replied, hurt. "Hey, I think this is a stupid idea too! But we just have to go along with it!" "Ah, I see giving you a couple of good whacks on the head did help!" a nasally, high-pitched female voice said from within the hole, and a short figure exited. The hole then closed. The taller figure glared down at the smaller one, her amber eyes full of impatience and annoyance. "What's wrong?" the shorter figure asked. "What's wrong is that you made me come along!" the taller one hissed. "It's fine by me if you want to try this steal this thing...this Matrix or whatever...just so long as you leave me out of it!" "Aw, come on! I just brought you along so we could do a little mother-daughter bonding!" She peered down the gargantuan hallway. "That, and that I'm going to need a really strong fighter like you in the unlikely event that something goes wrong!" The three vanished, then reappeared further down the hall. The short figure looked into the adjacent room, and her green eyes shot up with fascination. "Well!" she whispered. "What have we here?" "I'm sorry, Prime" Ratchet sighed. "But I don't think I can help him. I know nothing about flesh creature anatomy." Prime sighed as he looked down at Buster, lying on an operation table and still unconscious. "This creature has been injured," he began, "because of us. Because we brought our fight with the Decepticons to this world!" Ultra Magnus tried to console the Autobot leader. "It's not your fault Prime," he said. "Look on the bright side, at least now he's safe from the Decepticons." "But that doesn't mean he'll live," Ratchet said gloomily. Bumblebee, laying in a recovery bed right beside the others, panicked. "No! He can't die, Ratchet! You have to try something." Ratchet just shook his head. "Sorry, Bumblebee. But the only thing I could possibly do is put the poor thing out of its misery...but if it's an intelligent life form as you claim, that would be violating my code of ethics as a doctor." "Then if you don't know how to revive him," a high-pitched voice said from behind them. "Why don't you let someone who does!" All four of the Autobots quickly turned around-and saw no one. "Yo hoo," another female voice said. "Down here!" They all looked down, and widened their optics at what they saw. Hovering slightly above the ground was a small female flesh creature with cyan hair and a blue dress, with a small furry creature sitting on her shoulder. And standing in front of her was an even smaller, but similar, red-hared creature in a green outfit. "If you big boys are going to survive on this planet," the red-head continued. "You're gonna have to learn it and its people inside and out." To the Autobots' astonishment, she suddenly vanished, then reappeared on the table next to Buster. "But until then, leave the medical duties on the natives to me!" "Who...what are you?" Optimus demanded. The red-head looked up at Optimus, bright-eyed. "My name is Washu-the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" She smiled and extended her hand. "And the best friend you'll ever have on this planet!" ****** Next Time: The Decepticon search for Energon heats up, leading to the ultimate showdown between the Autobots and the Decepticons in Tokyo! Four million years after their last encounter, Optimus Prime and Megatron battle once again! It's all coming up in the next issue, don't miss it!