9 - Choose Your Own... and Grand Central Space Station

[Grand Moff Muffin]

REMEMBRANCE

On New Year's Day, 2019, Bumblebee, Carnivac, Cerebros, Hoist, Inferno, Ironhide and Skids gathered on the field of battle to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Time Wars. Slag, Sludge, Snarl and Swoop travelled via shuttlecraft from the Savage Land, while Blaster, Scattershot and Wheeljack crossed the Space Bridge from Cybertron to join them, and Springer surprised them all by making the trip from Junk, though he - like Carnivac - stood alone and said little throughout the ceremony.

Blurr, Kup, Red Alert and Ultra Magnus had been invited to attend the sombre gathering, but respectfully declined as they had no memory of being present at the battle in question. Ten years earlier, New Year's Day had passed without anyone travelling back in time.

Time Warrior was present, strapped to Spike's wrist, somewhere in the head of Cerebros. He knew things that the others did not know, and what he knew he kept to himself.

THE END

CHOOSE YOUR OWN PROLOGUE (plagiarised text)

She awoke in a room, her eyes opening to reveal a blank wall. The combination of the darkness surrounding her and a slight coldness put her immediately at unease. Lying on her side, she found it hard to focus. At first she thought it was the lack of light, but no, it took a few seconds, but then the realisation of a terrible pain in her head hit. She closed her eyes to try to ease the pain and thought to herself, how did I get here?

She rolled over on the uncomfortable folding camp bed she'd been sleeping on, but found that one of her wrists was shackled to it, inhibiting her movement somewhat. Despite this, she managed to negotiate her legs to sit up, allowing her to see more of her surroundings. There was a door, a single window on the opposite wall, and a pile of clothes in the corner. Yes, for whatever reason, she was now wearing only her underwear. She at least remembered putting it on this morning before leaving the house to go to work. She remembered closing the front door, but after that... not a lot. Wait... Who was she?

She heard noises outside the door, some shuffling that came closer and then moved away. Outside, the distant hum of industry.

First things first - the cold. Without thinking too much about it, she dislocated her thumb and slipped out of the wrist shackle. (It would surely be impossible, she reasoned, to get dressed while still chained to the bed!) She put on the nondescript work clothes and looked around the room. A door, locked from the outside. A shelf that was attached firmly to the wall. An open window.

Looking out of the window, the first thing that struck her was the colour of the night sky. Not a deep dark blue as expected, but a purple-through-orange haze. She looked up and saw the moon... a comforting sight after whatever it was she'd been through. Then she looked around the sky and saw something that she really hadn't been expecting... a second moon. This must be Earth, right?

She looked to the horizon, where she saw a glow in the distance and made out the faint outline of what she guessed was a city. Between that and herself, though... not a lot. It wasn't quite a desert, but it was certainly an inhospitable environment. To the left of the window she saw some kind of vehicle. It was similar in shape to a motorbike, but, strangely, it had no wheels, just flat panels and some sort of vent system. To the right, she could see some kind of main entrance to whatever building she was in. And that was all, except... she also appeared to have caught something's attention. Shapes in the distance started moving.

It didn't take long for growls and snarls to start bearing down on her - three or four creatures, certainly dog-like in appearance, but a lot larger, with red eyes, hunched backs, large claws and teeth, from their heads two devil-like horns protruding, and dark grey furless skin, their powerful legs propelling them forward in great bounds.

Arriving at the base of the building but unable to reach the open window, the creatures elected to prowl around outside, waiting for a morsel.

TO BE CONTINUED (plagiarised text ends)

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

She thought for a minute, then, after indulging in a quick childish bounce to generate some warmth, lay down once more on the camp bed, reinserted her hand in the shackle, set her thumb back into its normal position, and went to sleep.
___

She awoke to the sound of bolts sliding back, and sat up as two shaggy orange-furred humanoids entered the cell. One had a bestial simian appearance, the other the head of a jackal.

They stared at her. She stared at them. The ape-like Beast Man turned to the Jackalman and began to berate him about something in a language she couldn't understand. The Jackalman made a retort. The row grew heated. She could guess what they were saying. Something along the lines of:

"You were instructed to remove her outer garments before chaining her to the bed!"

"I did!"

"Then how is it that she's fully dressed?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

It came to blows, and ended with the Beast Man lifting the Jackalman over his head and hurling him from the window. There followed the sounds of hungry dogs devouring their prey, and a Wilhelm scream cut short.

She joined the Beast Man at the window and looked down. Of the Jackalman, nothing was left. She made a mental note.

The Beast Man turned, produced a small key, which he sensibly kept attached to his belt to prevent it from being accidentally dropped, and unlocked the shackle around her wrist. He them made as if to strip her of her clothes, but she indicated by gestures that she understood his intention, removed the outer garments herself, folded them neatly and placed them where she had originally found them. The Beast Man blinked, confused, then shrugged and shoved her roughly towards the door and out into the corridor.
___

She was made to join a line of other prisoners - no two from the same species, as far as she could tell. They were made to pass through a series of security checkpoints. The first was a genetic scanner, to screen out anyone who was a mutant or god-like entity or who had been bitten by a radioactive penguin. This confirmed her to be an ordinary human being. This came as a disappointment to her.

The second checkpoint was a telepathic scanner, to detect spies or saboteurs, anyone who had arranged to be captured on purpose in order to infiltrate whatever faction her captors belonged to.

The telepathic scan was registered by the Insecticon cerebro-shell lodged in her brain, and once she was safely through that checkpoint it disengaged and disintegrated, taking with it her false memories (such as they were) and returning to her the knowledge of exactly who she was and why she was there.

The third and final security checkpoint was to detect hidden technology, such as weapons, cameras, even cerebro-shells. It found nothing odd about her except a slightly higher-than-average iron content in her bloodstream.

Certified as harmless, she was put onto a prisoner transport that had been parked on the far side of the makeshift cell block, and together with her fellow captives she was whisked away in precisely the opposite direction to that in which lay the distant city she had seen from her window, towards instead a dark mountain range from the side of which was carved a fortress in the shape of a giant skull.
___

As her intelligence briefing had predicted, Iron Man had been left in command of Skull Mountain while the Master, Skeletor himself, was away on his Roboskull. And, as predicted, he made a personal inspection of all the newly captured slaves upon their arrival, ostensibly as an added security precaution, but also, the analysts suggested, because he was a lone human on an alien planet, Cybertron, and he was, to put it politely, lonely.

"Stop," he said as the line of prisoners trooped past. "You!" He addressed her. "Do you speak English?" She looked blankly back at him. "Nebulanese? Cameronian?" He switched between languages as he named them. She shook her head. "What, then? Speak up!"

She replied in the dialect of Halfworld. Iron Man listened to the translation in his helmet.

"What? You're a goddamn Loonie?"

She shrugged.

"Well... at least you're human, and young and good-looking, and not a psycho Warrior Maiden from Third Earth like the last contender - what a waste that was! Come on, cheer up, it's your lucky day! No mining or construction duty for you, I think."
___

She followed him to a lift that took them to his private quarters where, he promised her, she would not be disturbed.

She looked confused, but appeared to be taking everything quite calmly, which pleased him. He sat her down on a sofa and headed over to the drinks cabinet, where he stepped out of his armour and told it to go and wait in the far corner of the room. He fixed a couple of drinks, returned to the sofa and bent over her with an ingratiating grin.

"You know..." he began, but didn't get any further than that, because in a flash she had boosted herself up on her elbows and had her legs locked around his neck, choking him. The two glasses smashed against the hard floor. "S-suit! H-help me!" he gasped, clawing at her in a desperate attempt to break free.

Obediently, the Iron Man armour began to move in their direction, until she called out, in perfect English, "Override, code T.S. thirty-nine, sixty-three. Power down!"

"With pleasure, Mr Stark," said the suit in a female voice that had not been heard before by the man now turning blue.

"B-but I-I'm the Iron M-Man of T-Twenty-Eighteeee..."

"Twenty-Nineteen," she corrected him, wrapping her arms around his head and snapping his neck. "Happy New Year, asshole. That's for Cog and Commander Kolaka."

As Arno so-called-Stark crumpled to the floor, she disengaged and rolled into a crouching position, took a few deep breaths and rose to her feet, brushing her long dark hair out of her field of view and turning to the patiently waiting Iron Man suit.

"Friday, isn't it?"

"I am, if that is your meaning," it replied. "But today is Tuesday."

"Good. First of all, I'm not Tony Stark."

"I am very relieved to hear you say so, Miss..."

"Lieutenant."

"A strange name."

"Just call me Dani."

"I am pleased to meet you, Miss Dani Lieutenant. Are you representing Mr Stark?"

"I'm here on behalf of Stark Interstellar, to retrieve stolen property."

"You mean me?"

"Correct."

She looked down at the sorry figure on the floor.

"First things first. We've got to get rid of that." She snapped her fingers. "I've got an idea."
___

Iron Man landed amongst the pack of horned dog-like creatures, still hungry after their Jackalman snack. The armour opened up and deposited its contents at their feet, then resealed itself and flew back to Skull Mountain.

Friday found Danita Santella going through the late fugitive's personal belongings. She had top secret files scrolling on all three of the desk's computer screens. The passwords had apparently not been difficult to crack.

She turned to face the suit. "Let's see what it's like inside there," she suggested, and the armour obediently opened up. Dani stuck her head inside, then recoiled. "Phew, that stinks," she said. "No offence."

"Imagine how I feel," said the A.I.

"All right. Bathroom. Now."
___

Ten minutes later, she was finally able to bring herself to step into the dead man's armour. A little more confining than the sort of thing she was used to, but tolerable.

"Have you flown before?" inquired Friday.

"Once or twice," came the reply. "Um... Friday. When I'm in here, can you make my voice sound like his? Arno's, I mean."

"Certainly."

"Hmmm." She glanced again at the text on one of Arno's desk monitors, listing the combatants due to take part in Skeletor's next arena blood-letting. One was a captive Nebulan freighter captain, a family man with a wife and four children back home, ages ranging from two to eleven. "Damn."

"You are thinking of staying, are you not?"

"You're very perceptive, Friday. If we leave, we'll have blown it. We won't get another chance like this."

"You mean, to impersonate Iron Man, the right-hand man of Skeletor?"

"It sounds crazy when you put it like that, doesn't it?"

"On the contrary, it sounds quite logical to me."

"Friday, I think you and I are going to get along just fine..."

TO BE CONTINUED

[blueshift]

Good man Martin, but I am upset there was not more jumping out of the window

[Grand Moff Muffin]

We achieved nothing by jumping out of the window!!!

Martin

[blueshift]

Nov 18, 2018 16:44:09 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

We achieved nothing by jumping out of the window!!!

Martin

We achieved one thing.

FRIENDSHIP.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN DESTINY

The Decepticon Krunix loomed over the yellow driverless Volkswagen Beetle, poised for the kill, but the car swerved to the left at the very last second, avoiding the swing of the purple saboteur's axe and transforming to robot mode. It knocked the Decepticon's weapon from his grasp and fired the twin lasers mounted over its large windscreen-fronted head into Krunix's eyes, causing the Decepticon's face to explode outwards, showering his killer with metal fragments.

The Robo Machine known as Bug Bite gave the Transformer's headless corpse a shove, and it toppled sideways. "Fatality!" shouted the master of ceremonies, Two Bad, over the arena loudspeaker, and the crowds of Beast Men, Jackalmen, Mer-Men, Monkians and Reptilians went wild with joy.

The Robo Machine's victory was short-lived, as it turned to face its next opponent, the Scraplet entity referred to as Scraplor. The yellow mechanoid fired its death-lasers without a moment's hesitation, and with unerring accuracy, but Scraplor possessed no central brain or vital organs, and accepted the loss of a proportion of its constituent Scraplets as the price of getting close enough to infect and devour its prey, and ultimately convert the Robo Machine into yet more Scraplets, growing larger and more powerful in the process.

As the Robo Machine staggered and sank to the arena floor, the audience roared its approval of the mechanoid's slow and agonising demise.

Iron Man stood to the left of Skeletor's raised throne, Kang the Conqueror to its right. Within the Iron Man suit, Lieutenant Santella of the Cameron Space Marines watched the Scraplets at work, and decided that they would have to be the first to go.
___

Like Mumm-Ra's army, the evil forces of Skeletor were apparently victorious refugees, but whereas Mumm-Ra had taken the opportunity offered by the coming of Galactus to Third Earth and New Thundera to wipe out the Thundercats, Skeletor had played the long game in order to vanquish his foes, amassing his clone legions of Beast Men and Mer-Men in secret over a period of years, salvaging a crashed one-man Roboskull fighter originating from Earth, using it as a model for his new dreadnought, and lying low until his enemies' guards were down before striking with savage suddenness, toppling Castle Grayskull, slaying its defenders and seizing at long last the coveted Power Sword. As Eternia's ecosystem imploded with the Castle's destruction, Skeletor's forces watched the spectacle safely from orbit before setting a course sideways through reality for the Marvel Transformers universe from which the smaller Roboskull had first found its way.
___

Cybertron, the year 2019.

Iron Man landed outside the isolated cell block and flatly announced, in Arno Stark's voice, that he was here to inspect the new arrivals. Leaving the Beast Man warden standing by the main entrance, he walked down the corridor, unbolting doors, entering cells, returning to the corridor and re-securing doors until he reached the cell containing the Nebulan freighter captain and father of four who had incurred Skeletor's displeasure to such an extent on the day of his capture that it was decreed he should die in the arena the following week.

Iron Man paused, unbolted the door and entered the cell. He put a finger to his mouth aperture and, in the voice of the A.I. called Friday, said, "If you want to see your family again, keep absolutely silent and do exactly as I say." Iron Man then snapped the chain shackling the prisoner to his camp bed before opening up to reveal that there was no-one inside the armour. "Get in," said Friday. The Nebulan, who was currently wearing only his Transformers underpants, grabbed his clothes and jumped inside. The Iron Man suit closed up and returned to the corridor, where he summoned the Beast Man.

"Explain this," said Iron Man, speaking in Arno Stark's voice.

The Beast Man inspected the broken chain, then stuck his head out of the open window. No sign of the escaped prisoner. "Strong for a human," he grunted. "But the dogs will have got him."

"Nevertheless, I will search the area. How long might he have had?"

The Beast Man shrugged. "Maybe up to four hours."

"Skeletor will hear of this," said Iron Man, launching himself from the window. "I suggest you take that bike parked outside and vanish. If you're seen again, you'll suffer the human's fate."
___

Iron Man carried out a methodical search away from the cell block, which eventually took him to a steep trench where he found seven armoured humans with holograms on their breastplates, staffs and shields, waiting for him.

"I am Leoric, leader of the Spectral Knights," said the group's commanding officer.

"I am Iron Man. Change of plan. Emergency extraction required for one civilian." He opened up, and out jumped the Nebulan, still clutching his pile of clothes. He scrambled to pull them on. "Do you have the package?" continued Friday.

The Spectral Knight Galadria stepped forward carrying a case, which she opened to produce five bracelets containing Danita Santella's Circuit-Breaker costume, and two '80s audio cassette tapes, a burgundy one labelled 'Welcome to the Jungle - Guns'n'Roses' and a yellow one labelled 'Transformers theme - Lion'. She placed all seven items inside the Iron Man suit. Three tiny purple robot insects then leapt from her shoulder and entered the suit before it closed. Iron Man promptly flew off to continue his search for the escaped Nebulan prisoner.
___

Dani Santella was woken by a knocking on the door of Arno Stark's quarters, and a sultry female voice, saying, "Arno... Arno, it's Evil-Lyn. I've reconsidered your proposition..."

Oh, that's just great, thought Dani. She considered for a moment, and decided that under the circumstances it was less hazardous to have Skeletor's witch as Iron Man's enemy than it was to have her as his lover, so she wrapped the bedsheet around her body and padded over to answer the door.

"Hello," she said in the language of the planet Halfworld. "I'm sorry, Arno's out at the moment. Can I help you with anything?" The older woman's expression changed from astonishment to confusion to embarrassment to fury, and she turned on her heel and stormed off. Dani smiled wryly and went back to bed.

An hour later, Friday returned, having been waved through all Skull Mountain's security checkpoints, and Dani eagerly set about counting her new toys.
___

The next day, during an unexplained power outage, Shrapnel infiltrated Scraplor's regeneration chamber and demonstrated that high-voltage electricity could be just as fatal to Scraplets as water. Once power was restored, the Monkian guards discovered Scraplor's remains, which consisted of little more than a small heap of black metal ash.

The following afternoon, Bombshell injected the Inhumanoid D'Compose with a cerebro-shell, while his fellow Insecticon, Kickback, infiltrated the giant Roboskull, and, choosing times when no-one was on board except Kang the Conqueror and Evil-Lyn, planted evidence that someone had been trespassing in and tampering with the contents of Lord Skeletor's forbidden inner sanctum.

In the Manganese Mountains, unbeknown to Skeletor, the foundations for a new order were being laid.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN STRATEGY

Thunderclash Prime (Emirate Xaaron) had his lieutenant, Gripper, draw his forces in a tight perimieter around Iacon, so that Computron, Over-Run and Rumbler stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Groundshaker, Quickswitch, the Autobot Clones and the Air and Battle Patrols, while the Armoured Convoy and Battlefield Headquarters joined the Missile Launcher and Tanker Truck combiner transports in a star-like defensive formation around the city's edges.

City Commander Prowl let it be known to the Decepticons, Quintessons, Robo Machines, Terrakors and Zoids based in Kalis, Tarn, Helex, the slag swamps and Vos that these manoeuvres were the result of new intelligence received to the effect that Skeletor's forces on Cybertron were preparing to mobilise and attack another robot city. Prowl recommended that Trypticon, Kledji, Nemesis, Krark and whoever was running the show in Helex consolidate their forces and be prepared to defend themselves against a possible invasion.

This story was, for the most part, a fabrication. The Autobots had no reason to believe that Skeletor intended open warfare against any of the remaining robot cities. Now that he had full control of Polyhex and the Manganese Mountains, the Master of Skull Mountain intended rather to use his Cybertronian stronghold as a base of operations for space piracy. The reason that the Autobots were digging in around Iacon was that they planned to go on the offensive and deal with Skeletor's Roboskull once and for all, and Autobot City would be at its most vulnerable at the height of this endeavour. Thunderclash, Prowl and Gripper wanted the other robot races on Cybertron to focus their efforts on defence at this time, so that none of them might be tempted to take advantage of Iacon's brief moment of weakness.
___

At Skull Mountain, Skeletor was troubled by the apparent intrusion into his most private quarters on board the Roboskull, an intrusion that could only have been perpetrated by either Kang the Conqueror or Evil-Lyn. Was one or both of them plotting behind his back? He had to know...

Then Evil-Lyn came and spoke to him about how little she trusted Arno Stark, and how she feared that the human in the Iron Man armour might be preparing to move against them. Skeletor said nothing, but received this advice with extreme scepticism. Of all his lieutenants in this universe, Iron Man had so far proven himself the most trustworthy, and Skeletor doubted that Arno was cunning or ambitious enough to attempt a coup against his Master. Evil-Lyn and Kang, on the other hand...

Skeletor had sent Kang away on an experimental diplomatic mission to Vos, and decided to test his sorceress by leaving her alone on board the Roboskull while he investigated her claims about Stark. Only Skeletor could activate and launch the Roboskull, so there was no danger of her taking control in his absence, but he wanted to see if she would trespass once more in his inner sanctum while he was away.

As it happened, Evil-Lyn did indeed take the opportunity to rummage through Skeletor's secret archives as soon as he was gone, but as usual she was careful to leave no trace of her treachery for him to find. Unfortunately for her, the Insecticon Kickback observed her every move, and when she had left the Master's chamber, he made certain that there would be signs for Skeletor to find, proving her disloyalty.

Meanwhile, Skeletor summoned Arno Stark to his Skull Mountain throne room. Iron Man arrived promptly, half-dragging a beautiful human girl along by her dark hair. He shoved her roughly to the ground at the Master's feet.

"What's this?" demanded Skeletor.

"This Halfworld creature has proved to be a disappointing servant," said Iron Man, in Arno Stark's voice. "Let her replace the escaped Nebulan freighter captain in tomorrow's games. We've repaired that Wakandan's Robot-Buster exo-suit. Put her in it and set her loose against that Mecannibal we captured yesterday. It should make for an entertaining match."

"Very well. I approve!" said Skeletor. "Do you have anything else to report at this time?"

"Well..."

"Speak up!"

"I have been afraid to raise this with you, Lord Skeletor. I have been watching Kang closely. He is known for his ambition, and it is unusual for him to serve another for so long. I feared treachery on his part when I saw him emerge from your inner sanctum on the Roboskull shortly before leaving for Vos, at a time when I knew you were not on board. But then I saw him talking to Evil-Lyn, who I know to be your most trusted servant, and my fears were allayed. If Kang was with her, then surely he was acting with your authority."

"I see... Very well, Stark. You may go."

As Iron Man left with his prisoner, Skeletor ground his teeth together with barely contained fury.
___

Outside the throne room, once they were out of sight of the guards, the Iron Man suit opened up. There appeared to be no-one inside. Danita Santella stepped into the armour and it closed around her. She was smaller than Arno Stark had been, and there was room to spare, except for in one or two places where it was a little tight. "You boys behave yourselves," she told Bombshell and Shrapnel. "I know Space Marines who would kill to be where you are right now."

Iron Man blasted off, heading back to 'his' personal quarters, while Skeletor returned to the Roboskull to assess the results of the loyalty test he had set for Evil-Lyn.
___

In Autobot City, Prowl met with Wheeljack to confirm that everything was ready for Operation: Skullbuster.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN FATE

The reward of the armies of Skeletor for their latest successful plundering mission was a double bill gladiatorial spectacular, and the amphitheatre at Skull Mountain was packed as a vicious one-eyed robotic cat-monster from the planet Elpasos, known only as Rhavige, squared up to the skeletal dinosaur-like Inhumanoid named D'Compose. Rhavige opened his jaws and vomited forth a stream of tiny metal balls, which coalesced and combined to form three lethal two-dimensional mechanoids called Reedmen. Meanwhile, Tendril stomped into the arena to back up his fellow Inhumanoid.

All was set for a magnificent bout of mortal combat, when something unexpected happened. The cerebro-shell in D'Compose's skull came on-line, taking over his motor functions. D'Compose turned, fixed his undead gaze on the skull-faced Master seated on the throne of power and screeched, "KILL SKELETOR! EVIL-LYN FOR QUEEN!" before lumbering forward with murderous intent.

Standing to Skeletor's right, Evil-Lyn froze with shock, but to his left, Iron Man was already reacting, launching himself from the balcony to defend his Master. He hit D'Compose with a series of repulsor blasts at full strength, stunning the giant creature, then lifted him into the air and dropped him from a great height. Bones smashed and decomposing flesh splattered across the dusty floor.

Tendril charged forward to avenge his expiring friend, but this gave Rhavige and the Reedmen the chance to leap onto his back and rip into his green hide. Iron Man saw that they didn't need his assistance, and so returned to check on his Master.

Skeletor was quivering with rage, while Evil-Lyn was strenuously denying all prior knowledge of D'Compose's rebellious words and actions. Skeletor was having none of it, and ordered Kobra Khan, Stinkor and Whiplash to take her into custody pending a full investigation.

The four mechanoids finished off Tendril and looked to the Master for approval. The crowds were cheering.

"My Lord... the games?" queried Iron Man.

"Yes, Stark," agreed Skeletor. "Bring on the second pairing."

Iron Man bowed and went out. When he was alone, he opened up and Dani stepped out. The suit closed up and went to fetch her Mecannibal opponent, while she climbed aboard the Robot-Buster exo-suit formerly manned by Commander Kolaka.
___

All Circuit-Breakers were certified Robot-Buster pilots, but it had been a few years since she'd last been in one, and she was a little rusty. When the Mecannibal charged at her, she only just managed to activate the exo-suit's rockets in time to leap over the ravenous robot. Now - which control fired the arm-mounted plasma blasters? That one, perhaps?

The exo-suit's forward guns fired, but she was facing away from the Mecannibal at the time, and the blast destroyed one of the Reedmen instead, infuriating Rhavige and the other two Reedmen, who had been standing by as passive observers. Rhavige fired a missile at Dani, but she had got jumping over things nailed by this point in the fight, and it sailed beneath her, hitting the Mecannibal instead, who dutifully exploded.

The Robot-Buster landed with both feet first on Rhavige's back, knocking him to the ground. His snapping tail weapon smashed the exo-suit's reinforced glass front, and she quickly instructed the suit's hands to grab hold of it and prevent it from doing any further damage. But the two Reedmen were already using their blade-like limbs to cut through the Robot-Buster's power cables, and it wouldn't protect her for much longer. Reluctantly, she punched the eject switch and was catapulted back out of the exo-suit, hitting the arena floor in a roll and coming up on one knee to reassess her opposition.

"Finish her!" commanded Skeletor, and the Reedmen stepped aside to allow their compatriots, the human impersonator Alys and the robotic spy called Phr'nzee, to step forward into the arena.

Alys's skin broke up as she transformed into her horrific metal form. "Any last words, sweetie?" she hissed.

"Just one," said Dani. "'Afterdeath.'"
___

Without a word of explanation to Skeletor, Iron Man launched himself from the balcony and landed between Dani and the five robots from Elpasos just as Phr'nzee fired three serrated compact discs straight at her from a slot in his chest. The discs bounced off the Iron Man armour, which opened up, and Dani stepped into it before it resealed itself.

"What?" snapped Skeletor, expecting to see Arno Stark inside the suit. He didn't even know that the armour could operate without someone in it, and he certainly had no idea that Arno Stark had died days earlier and been eaten up by large horned dogs on the plains outside Skull Mountain.

There was silence for about ten seconds, as the crowds took in what they had just seen happen. Then the Iron Man armour opened again, and out flew Dani in her full Circuit-Breaker costume, followed by Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel, all of them expanding to their full sizes, though the Insecticons remained in their creature configurations.

Steeljaw leapt onto Rhavige, biting into his neck, while Ramhorn tossed Phr'nzee into the air and Dani blasted Alys and the Reedmen with lightning bolts. The Insecticons, for their part, flew or hopped around the amphitheatre, firing their built-in weapons into the crowds, causing instant panic and stampeding for the exits.

"Traitors!" screamed Skeletor. "All of you! You've all betrayed me! But you won't live to enjoy the fruits of your treachery!" With a wave of his staff, he telepathically summoned the barbarian bird, Screeech, and ordered it to carry him to the Roboskull.

He was there in seconds, and stormed into the control room, where he plunged the Power Sword into a slot in the activation panel and muttered a spell to unlock the massive warship's computer systems. The engines powered up, and as the dreadnought began to rise, Skeletor ordered its crew of robotic killer clowns to prepare the main guns to fire on Skull Mountain as soon as they were airborne.

The five Transformers paused in their destruction of Skeletor's headquarters to watch the Roboskull ascend and move into an attack position. Ramhorn transmitted a signal into the night, a single word: "Now."
___

On board the Roboskull, a killer clown informed its Master that an even larger vessel was approaching fast from astern.

"What?!" protested Skeletor. "There are no spaceships on Cybertron to rival the Roboskull! Show me!"

The image on the viewscreen shifted to show the menace closing on them from behind.

"Oh..." said Skeletor. "I... didn't know Metroplex could fly in battle station mode..."
___

On board Metroplex, flanked by Prowl and Wheeljack, Thunderclash Prime ordered the main antimatter cannons to target the Roboskull and fire at will.

At the weapons console, Warpath muttered, "Boom," and hit the big red button.

TO BE CONCLUDED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ENDING

Less than three decades earlier, the Autobots and the Insecticons had witnessed the destruction of Unicron. The crimson fireball caused by the exploding Roboskull in early 2019 was tiny by comparison. Nevertheless, it was sufficiently close to the ground when it went off to make a major impression on those who observed it (and, more literally, on those directly below it), not least the legions of Beast Men, Jackalmen, Mer-Men, Monkians, Reptilians, killer clowns and samurai chimpanzees who now fled Skull Mountain in every direction aboard their Fist Pounders, Fright Fighters, Land Sharks, Nosedivers, Rotons, Skycutters, Spydors and vacu-sleds, as well as on foot, to escape what appeared to them to be the end of the world, or something not far off it.

The fall of the Roboskull was timed to coincide with a daring series of raids by the Spectral Knights to free all the prisoners held in the various cell blocks dotted around the plains that lay between the Manganese Mountains and Polyhex. In Polyhex, from the walls of Darkmount, Clawful, Jitsu, Spikor, Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops and Webstor watched the bright red light that had so suddenly appeared over Skull Mountain descend towards the planet's surface, and wondered what it could signify. Minutes after it hit, they felt the tremors.

Evil-Lyn had apparently succeeded at long last in convincing her three guards that she had been framed by the human girl (upon whom she swore to take bloody revenge) who was now causing havoc amongst the stragglers in the front row with her lightning blasts and kicks to sensitive parts of the anatomy, for Skeletor's witch was later seen flying on the back of a Drakillar, heading in the general direction of Polyhex. The android called Faker followed her, seated astride the purple battle-cat named Panthor.

When the Roboskull's crash site cooled the following day, Autobot and Spectral Knight search parties failed to find any trace of either the Eternian Power Sword or the Red Breath that Skeletor had reportedly brought back with him from Halfworld.

Metroplex returned to Iacon without incident. The Decepticons made a formal complaint that, as participants in the anti-Skeletor alliance, they should have been advised in advance about his part in the plan, but in truth they realised that, under the circumstances, the Autobots would have been fools to entrust their former enemies with that information. It had, after all, been less than thirty years, and these things take time.

THE END

[Grand Moff Muffin]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN EPILOGUE

The Savage Land, the year 2019.

The old man moved through the jungle silently, without so much as crushing a leaf or twig underfoot, every sense alert to a potential attacker's approach. He ignored the animals and the birds, as they had always ignored him. He even ignored the mechanical Pteranodon circling lazily overhead, and the mechanical Apatosaurus grazing on the treetops in a clearing about a hundred yards to his right. They were no threat.

Then he caught the faint scent of human sweat on the breeze, and ducked as the sheathed sword of the silent ninja codenamed Hush Job missed his head by mere inches. He snatched the weapon out of the younger man's grasp and jabbed two fingers into a pressure point on his opponent's neck, taking him out of the fight.

The old man heard an intake of breath, and caught the supple, scything arm of Hush Job's partner, Styletta, arcing towards his own neck. He twisted the arm, not so as to break it, but applying enough pressure to the right nerves to cause her to black out from the pain.

He listened for the tell-tale sounds of any further enemies, but all he could hear were the little noises of nature - insects buzzing, birds calling, small mammals running up and along the limbs of trees - nothing that would signify... And then he had a millisecond of realisation that he had made a critical mistake, before two small bare feet with clawed toes struck him in the upper back, a lithe figure swinging around the nearest trunk and tossing smoke pellets onto the ground to further confuse him. Her scent, her sound, her movements had been those of a cat, and so Storm Shadow's senses had instinctively filtered them out and discarded them as non-threatening. He cursed himself - not that he was defeated, as his hand reached out with lightning speed belying his age, snatched the Thunderian teenager out of the air mid-leap and flung her to the jungle floor. No, he cursed himself for the arrogance that had permitted him to make unwarranted assumptions about the signals sent out by his opponents.

Wildkitten sprang up, baring her teeth and assuming an aggressive fighting stance, but Storm Shadow was not concerned about her, now that she was in full view. His first and only priority was to locate her brother, who was still out there somewhere, and...

What was he doing? Storm Shadow and Wildkitten stared as the young male Thunderian scampered up Sludge's back and neck and crouched on his golden head. The Dinobot paused in his chewing and looked up inquisitively into the grinning youngster's face. "How cool is this?" laughed Thundakat.

"'Kat, this is no time for playing!" fumed his sister, hands on hips. "You were supposed to back me up! We have to show them we can beat this guy if we're ever going to become fully fledged Avengers!"

"Why must we always be fighting?" he protested. "This world has so much more to offer. After five years stuck on the Cosmic Carnival, perhaps I've had enough of conforming to people's expectations. Maybe I don't want to become an Avenger! Haven't we had enough conflict in our lives?"

Wildkitten sighed and turned on her heel, an effortless leap taking her to the side of Hush Job and Styletta, who were slowly returning to consciousness.

"Everyone must choose his or her own path," said Storm Shadow. "A reluctant student can never become a true ninja." He kept his other thoughts to himself. Now was not the time to declare that he had never encountered a non-superpowered human with the speed, agility and leaping potential of the younger Thunderians, or that they would all make superb ninjas if they only dedicated themselves seriously to the study of the ancient arts.

"You hear that?" said Thundakat as Sludge bent his neck to lower him to the ground, not that he couldn't have leapt the distance easily. "I'm sorry, but my heart's just not in it, sis."

Swoop slowly descended towards the clearing, and called down to the four supposed trainees. "Your friend Pumyra is signalling you from your 'Quinjet'. She says it's time for you all to return to Avengers Tower. She says visitors are on their way."

"You three go on back," said Thundakat. "I think I'll stick around here for a while, do a bit of exploring on my own."

Wildkitten looked hurt. The two siblings had been inseparable all their lives up until this point, either by choice or by necessity. Earth, with its boundless possibilities, had changed all that, and had caused them to drift apart.

"Suit yourself, 'Kat. What about you, Storm? You need a lift anywhere? Storm Shadow?"

But he had vanished. None of them had seen or heard him go.
___

Minutes after the Quinjet entered Avengers Tower's hangar bay, a Cameron star-fighter landed on the roof helipad. A reception committee was already waiting up there, consisting of Illyana Rasputin, Franklin Richards, Brunnhilde the Valkyrie, Daniel O'Hara, Swift, the Vision, Randy Horton, the dragon Lockheed and the reconstructed Autobot, Hopper. They were very quickly joined by the Avengers-in-training, Hush Job, Pumyra, Styletta and Wildkitten.

Danita Santella climbed down from the fighter's cockpit, embarrassed the Avengers' probationary security guard by giving him a hug, and noted that Starfox was conspicuous by his absence, mysteriously unavailable, as she had predicted. He must have known she would want to have a few 'private words' with him about his having got her best friend pregnant - a best friend who also happened to be current wielder of the Creation Matrix. Coward!

She pulled open her star-fighter's cargo hatch and hauled out Tony Stark's last remaining suit of Iron Man armour. "I'm sorry," she told the assembled Avengers. "I'm afraid her batteries are flat, and I haven't been able to lay my hands on a compatible charger."

"I'll take care of that," said Franklin, resting the flat of his right hand on Iron Man's chest. Energy flowed from the mutant son of Sue and Reed Richards into the suit of armour, and within seconds it was fully powered up.

"Master Franklin?" queried the suit's built-in A.I., known as Friday.

"Yes, it's me," he said, coming over all nostalgic. "Welcome home."

"Arno?" wondered the Vision.

"Eaten by Terror Dogs," said Dani. "You don't want to know."

"Will you be staying with us?" Illyana asked her.

"No can do," replied the Circuit-Breaker. "Got to get back to the fleet. Galaxy to protect and all that."

"Any chance of a lift?" ventured Hopper.

"I'd love to give you one," she frowned. "But my star-fighter isn't built to hold a full-size Transformer."

"What about a pint-sized one?" he countered, transforming to his new, improved mechanical frog mode, shrinking down to the size of an Earthen amphibian as he did so. "The Avengers call them Pym Particles - now reinforced with adamantium armour plating, I might add. Insecticons, eat your hearts out."

"In that case... welcome aboard! We blast off in ten..."
___

Once Dani and Hopper had cleared Earth's atmosphere, the citizens of New York were treated to a sight they had not seen for many a year - the Avengers in flight, led once more by the invincible Iron Man. Inside the Iron Man suit, its new and rightful owner, the mutant son of two of the original Fantastic Four. By his side, the Valkyrie, riding her winged steed, the Sorceress Supreme, carried on the winds by her Cloak of Levitation, and the Vision, who 'flew' by reducing his molecular density to make himself lighter than air. The Protectobot Blades hovered half a mile from Avengers Tower, observing and observed, a reminder of the continued presence on the planet of Jetfire's Autobot defence forces.

The Earth had never been so well defended.
___

On the streets below, Wildkitten covered her Thunderian body with a long coat and made her way to a coffee shop, where she ordered a glass of milk and slid into a booth across the table from N.Y.P.D. officer Robin Lindley, who was drinking a cup of hot black coffee.

"Please," said Robin. "Tell me about your time on the Cosmic Carnival."

Wildkitten grinned, and sipped her milk. "You go first."

"All right, then. For me and my friends, it all began with a game of make-believe. I was just five at the time..."

THE END

SPECTRAL KNIGHTS ALLIED TO CAMERON SPACE CONTROL

Arzon - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Arzon
Cryotek - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Cryotek
Ectar - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Ectar
Feryl - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Feryl
Galadria - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Galadria
Leoric - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Leoric
Witterquick - visionaries.wikia.com/wiki/Witterquick

Capture Chariot - www.thevisionaries.net/characters/capture-chariot/capture-chariot/19
Lancer Cycle - www.thevisionaries.net/characters/lancer-cycle/lancer-cycle/20

[Grand Moff Muffin]

TERRORCONS, COMBINE!

"Shan't," said Blot.

So they didn't.

THE END

[manmiles]

Bravo, Sir.

[browny87]

why is blot the miserable one, I imagined it'd be rippersnapper

[Grand Moff Muffin]

He's annoyed at his team-mates for continually pointing out how disgusting he is and telling him to get a wash.

Quoting from his TFU entry:

"Not surprisingly, Blot has a severe inferiority complex and is socially inept. He knows he is an object of scorn and ridicule, but is incapable of effectively talking back to his tormentors."

In short, he gets bullied.

Martin

[browny87]

makes sense!

[Grand Moff Muffin]

FACT-FILE INTERFACE

THE COSMIC CARNIVAL

The Cosmic Carnival arrived in this part of our Galaxy in the mid-1970s. This imposing, snake-like starship is believed to originate from outside the Milky Way, and parts of it appear to be over a million years old. The Cosmic Carnival's mysterious owners never show themselves openly to visitors, preferring instead to delegate to the likes of Mr Big Top, the green, tentacled, slug-like, cigar-smoking circus-master of indeterminate species, and his successor, Ollie.

It is claimed that there are performers from dozens of galaxies, and over 10,000 worlds, on board the Cosmic Carnival, but when the spaceship arrived in Earth orbit in 1978 its occupants had never encountered a human being before. The management therefore saw fit to bring on board one Mr Bert Coe, and put him in the sideshow. Four decades on from this, however, humans have lost their novelty value, and the Cosmic Carnival now sits on the Terbium Plains of the planet Cybertron, drawing in those who wish to see the latest, greatest robotic and cyborg acts from across the known Galaxy.

The legal and ethical basis for much of what goes on at the Cosmic Carnival is shaky, to say the least, and exploitation is rife, though the management points out that it is safer to find oneself an attraction in its sideshow than a combatant in one of the Murderpits on Derut Four or a contestant on one of Mojo's lethal gameshows. Nevertheless, fuel efficiency isn't the only reason for the management choosing the wandering planet Cybertron as the Cosmic Carnival's staging ground for much of the last decade - the designation of most of Cybertron's surface as unclaimed territory, outside the jurisdiction of interstellar law, makes it a convenient location for morally questionable enterprises such as the Cosmic Carnival. The savings on fuel costs are tiny compared to the savings on potential lawsuits.

In late 2018, the management considered calling it a day and moving on when the evil forces of Skeletor raided the Cosmic Carnival for food and other supplies. However, now that the Roboskull has been destroyed by Metroplex, they think they might stay where they are for a few more years, or at least until visitor numbers decline.

Famous acts appearing in the Cosmic Carnival in the course of the last forty years include Rorza the Rocket Cycle Racer from Rigel Three, the Autobot Sky Lynx, the Olympian Hercules, Wal Rus and his Terrible Tusks, and the young Thunderians formerly known as Wilykat and Wilykit (rebranded by the Cosmic Carnival's overpaid marketing consultants as 'the amazing Thundakat and Wildkitten'). The Cosmic Carnival's latest acquisitions include a pair of Sharkticons. According to early reports from their handlers, Gnitro and Gnedward are 'eager to learn'.

FILE ENDS

FACT-FILE INTERFACE

THE CREATION MATRIX

The Creation Matrix is a conglomeration of nanoscopic robots, a nanobot collective, which acts under the guidance and through the agency of a macroscopic host (the Matrix-bearer) to produce certain effects, notably: manipulating and reconfiguring mechanical devices, both simple and complex; bestowing life on non-sentient electronic hardware (which then appears to be immune to further manipulation or reconfiguration, at least without the subject's consent); assisting in the repair and restoration of such hardware when off-line; and disrupting/destroying the planet-eating robot, Unicron. This last property of the Matrix gives credence to the claim that it is a manifestation of Unicron's nemesis, the being (or beings) known as Primus, who slept beneath the surface of Cybertron until awoken by Emirate Xaaron (now Thunderclash Prime) in 1991. However, there are a number of holes in the traditional Primus-Unicron creation myth, and with robots' memories being susceptible to rewriting, the truth may never be known.

All the Autobots, Decepticons, neutral Cybertronians, Junkions, Lithones and Sharkticons are believed to owe their sentience to Creation Matrix nanobots, though there are many other sentient mechanical life-forms in the Galaxy who have no connection to the Matrix, among them Death's Head, Machine Man, Jocasta, Ultron, the Vision, the Chromites, the Deathbringers, the Mecannibals, the Robo Machines, the Robotix, the Zoids and the inhabitants of the robot planet Elpasos.

The Creation Matrix resided principally within the Autobot Commander, Optimus Prime, when he left Cybertron on board the Ark some four million years ago. However, it maintained an interdimensional connection with the Transformers' homeworld through the device known as the Matrix Flame, which those remaining on Cybertron were able to access from time to time to create new living robots, the last of these being four Autobots, Broadside, Sandstorm, Springer and Ultra Magnus. The Matrix Flame was extinguished for a while when Optimus Prime was transported to Limbo in 1986, and then permanently when the main conglomeration of nanobots was scattered with the destruction of Unicron in 1991.

Optimus Prime originally received the Creation Matrix from High Councillor Traachon of Iacon, who held it on behalf of the dying Autobot Overlord, Sentinel Prime. Prior to Sentinel, the names of Prime Nova and Prima have been remembered as supposed Matrix-bearers, though no-one alive today can testify to their existence.

In 1985, Optimus Prime passed most of the Creation Matrix on to a human, Buster Witwicky, for safekeeping. While Buster was the principal Matrix-bearer, he used it to learn about the workings of a variety of mechanical devices as well as to repair cars in his father's workshop. He also used it to destroy and then reassemble the non-sentient Decepticon, Jetfire, reprogram Jetfire as an Autobot and give him life. After returning the Creation Matrix to Optimus Prime, Buster was plagued by dreams, which Optimus realised were messages from the Matrix, containing the plans for the bodies and minds of twenty new Transformers, the Aerialbots, Combaticons, Protectobots and Stunticons.

The Insecticon Bombshell used a cerebro-shell to access Optimus Prime's thoughts and the Creation-Matrix's life-giving computer program, bringing the Combaticons and Stunticons to life while the Autobots created the Aerialbots and Protectobots. Together with the Constructicons, Jetfire and Omega Supreme, they formed a new off-shoot race of Earth-born Transformers. Bombshell secretly held onto his copy of the Matrix's software, used it to assist with the repair of the Predacons and Decepticon Triple Changers after the Underbase incident, and uploaded it into Unicron's systems during the battle with the Chaos-Bringer in 1991. Following Bombshell's resurrection as an Action Master, he no longer possesses a working copy of the Matrix life program.

The main Creation Matrix conglomeration was lost when Optimus Prime's dead body was blasted into space in 1987. It was relocated on VsQs in 1989 by humans from Cameron Space Control, who were subsequently attacked by a predatory alien, which, like the mad Deathbringer who visited Earth that same year, had been healed and enhanced by the damaged Creation Matrix. The Decepticon Thunderwing recovered the Matrix and used it to attack the Autobots on the Ark. The battle ended with both Thunderwing and the Creation Matrix sucked out into space, and believed to have been destroyed.

When Unicron attacked Cybertron in 1991, Thunderwing and the Creation Matrix reappeared, and Optimus Prime, restored to life as a Powermaster, re-established control over the Matrix and repaired the damage it had suffered in time to use it to destroy Unicron. He carried the main body of the Matrix inside Unicron, while Ramjet carried a fragment into the Chaos-Bringer's brain, just as Bombshell's copy of the life-giving software was uploaded into his circuits. The triple Matrix assault annihilated Unicron utterly.

The nanobots scattered by the exploding Unicron settled across Cybertron and began to destabilise the planet. However, the Last Autobot was able to bring order to their actions, and guided them in healing Cybertron of the scars of war.

With the energies of the Creation Matrix now diffused across Cybertron, the few hundred surviving Transformers had no way to procreate, and feared that their species had run its course. However, in the following decades, it emerged that Buster Witwicky's children, Katy and Jacko, each carried a Creation Matrix nanobot collective inside them, and were able to manipulate and give life to mechanical devices, just as Buster had done with Jetfire in 1985. Between 2008 and 2018, they bestowed sentience on a number of new and existing but non-sentient Transformers, including Action Master Thundercracker, Cerebros, Gasket, Grommet, Scamper, Six-Gun, Slammer, the Powerdashers, the Rescue Force, Brunt, Full-Tilt and eighteen former drones sometimes unjustly referred to as the Action Master partners.

In late 2018, after spending a night with the charming and promiscuous immortal Titan named Eros (an Avenger and brother to the late unlamented Thanos), Lieutenant Katy Witwicky, a Cameron Space Marine, Circuit-Breaker operative and one of the two Matrix-bearers, discovered she was pregnant.

The story of the Creation Matrix and its children, the Transformers, has only just begun...

FILE ENDS

[Grand Moff Muffin]

THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME

PART 1

"In robot mode, Optimus Prime actually splits into three components... The Optimus module is the robotic sentient being that is the storehouse of his vast knowledge and strength... His Prime module, also known as Roller, is a small cart-shaped device that he uses to unobtrusively slip behind enemy lines... He can operate by remote-control his Combat Deck module up to a distance of 1,500 feet. The Auto-Launcher mounted on the Deck can use a variety of artillery and radiation beam weapons, including most of those used by his fellow Autobots. The Launcher also includes a highly dexterous grapple-arm which allows it to load itself and change its weaponry. The communications disk antenna mounted on the launcher provides a link between Optimus and all his fellow Autobots within a radius of 50 miles. It can be adapted to a satellite hook-up that increases its effective range tenfold... The Optimus module is by far the most important component of the trio. Although he could survive without the other two, they could not survive without him."

- Transformers Universe
___

My name is Ethan Zachary. In 1987, I killed Optimus Prime, the greatest of the Autobots. I killed him, but I also secretly used the Spectramax 1000, the supercomputer belonging to my employer at that time, Energy Futures Industries, to save his essential memories, personality and intelligence on a prototype ultra-high-capacity computer disk.

His followers, the Protectobots, took away his robotic remains, while the triumphant Decepticons departed with the hydrothermocline that Optimus had fought and died to prevent them from stealing from my employer.

Ours was an isolated facility, standing alone on the Oregon coast, and it took a while for the authorities to respond to my call. All I would tell them was that the Decepticons had taken the hydrothermocline. The rest of it would be wasted on them. While awaiting their arrival, I wandered the grounds in something of a daze.

That's when I discovered it. In all the excitement, neither the Protectobots nor the Decepticons had given it any thought. Maybe each side had assumed the other would take it. But neither of them had. They had left it, and I had found it.

Something else that, I decided, would be wasted on the authorities if I brought it to their attention.

Optimus Prime's trailer.
___

The computer copy of Optimus Prime's mind informed me that Roller had been destroyed earlier in the year by the Insecticon Kickback in the battle of Washington D.C. Optimus continued to function just fine without his Prime module. But when the Optimus module died, the trailer just shut down.

I paid a trucker in cash to move it somewhere safe, where I could study it at my leisure. But I let myself get distracted, and neglected it for a while. Software was my thing, and, when Energy Futures Industries folded following the loss of the hydrothermocline, and I lost my job, I decided to go into business for myself. With a little help from my own personal copy of a sentient, extraterrestrial A.I., who now believed he was nothing more than a video game character devised by me, I soon created a thriving start-up company, Alternate Reality, Inc. My competitors didn't stand a chance.

I should have spent more time teaching my Optimus how to interface with and remote-control his old trailer. The Combat Deck sure would have come in handy when the Decepticon Pretenders attacked the following year. Fortunately, Goldbug and the Autobot Pretenders were there to defend me, and, guided by Optimus Prime's directions, the good guys prevailed.

The Autobots took the Optimus Prime disk away with them, to install in a new body that they hoped to build. I understand they travelled to the planet Nebulos to build it.

I didn't tell them about the other copies I'd made. Nor did I tell them about the trailer. When the new Optimus Prime arrived on Earth around Christmas 1988, he had a new trailer, one that was capable of combining with his cab to form a much larger robot.

My company went from strength to strength. Besides making computer games, I branched out into work for the government, and by the time the war between the Autobots and Decepticons reached its conclusion in 1991, Alternate Reality, Inc., now based in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, was to all intents and purposes the World Wide Web's first line of defence against any future Decepticon cyber-attack.

I picked my moment carefully and 'fessed up to the Protectobots about Floppy Prime. They took it better than I'd expected. Optimus Prime had been leading them in the real world since his return as a Powermaster in 1988, and now here he was, still in my computer, just as he had been when they'd fought together against Megatron and the Combaticons in the virtual reality of Multi-World back in 1987. Which Optimus Prime was the more authentic, mine or the one that had been binary-bonded to a Nebulan and reassembled by the Last Autobot? Neither of them possessed the Creation Matrix.

My Optimus Prime was defending the Earth from cyber-attack, and the original Optimus Prime had built the Protectobots to defend the Earth from physical attack. Hotspot and the others seemed content for that arrangement to continue.

Jump forward some two-and-a-half decades. I now have more money than I know what to do with, I've put on weight, I'm going bald, and I'm on my second wife, with kids from both marriages. The World Wide Web has become the Internet, and now connects the three human worlds of Earth, Nebulos and Cameron. Floppy Prime remains its guardian, aided by other virtual creations of mine, including good old Formulak the Compuzoid.

In 2018, Optimus Prime - the real-world Optimus Prime - handed over leadership of the Autobots to his old friend, Emirate Xaaron, who now goes by the name of Thunderclash, or Thunderclash Prime, though he doesn't have the Creation Matrix either. Optimus then set off for parts unknown on board the shuttle Autobot, Sky Lynx. Nobody knows if they will ever return.

I've still got my Optimus Prime.
___

About the Creation Matrix. It was dispersed across the planet Cybertron when the planet-eater, Unicron, exploded in 1991, and since that time the Autobots and Decepticons have been unable to create new Transformer life. When Optimus Prime uploaded himself into the Sprectramax 1000 in 1987, he chose to leave the Creation Matrix's life-giving program behind. Even if he hadn't, I doubt I'd have been able to fit it onto any storage device available to me at the time.

The Transformers who survived the war feared they might be the last of their species. But then the unexpected occurred. Buster Witwicky, a human whose mind Optimus Prime had briefly used as a receptacle for the Creation Matrix, had a daughter, and then a son, and when they were very young it became apparent that the residue of the Matrix in their father had been passed on to his children and grown into something resembling the full Creation Matrix, as it had manifested itself in Buster in 1985 before he returned it to Optimus Prime.

Katy and Jacko Witwicky are able to do something the Primes have lost the ability to do - they can bestow sentience on lifeless machines.

So far, so good for the continuance of the Transformer race. And not a bad development for the human race either, in terms of the overall balance of power between our two species.

But here's the thing. Katy Witwicky, a Circuit-Breaker and Space Marine, is now seven months pregnant, and the father-to-be is not human, but an immortal Titan, the notoriously promiscuous and seductive (though not ill-intentioned) Avenger called Starfox.

Starfox has had many children by many humanoid females over the course of his life. Katy knows this, but she has nevertheless decided to go ahead and have the baby, which will presumably turn out to be an immortal like her father, and possess the power of the Creation Matrix.

What nobody was expecting was that the child would start to manifest those Matrix powers while still in her mother's womb. And I'm not talking about the power to create life - I'm talking about the powers to levitate and manipulate anything mechanical.

Fortunately, for both mother and child, they were on Earth at Katy's parents' house when it happened. God knows what would have befallen them and those around them if it had happened out in space. As it is, there were some minor injuries and Buster's house is all but destroyed. The only way they could stop the unborn baby from rearranging the neighbourhood was to put Katy inside her mum Jessie's car, the Autobot Bluestreak. The Creation Matrix cannot control living machines, and, it would seem, living machines can be used as shields to block the Matrix's power.

But Katy Witwicky can't spend the next two months confined to the back of a sentient Datsun 280ZX, especially one with a tendency to babble when nervous. Even an ambulance like the Protectobot First Aid would be intolerably confining. And she wants to stay on Earth, so Metroplex isn't an option.

And that, First Aid tells me, is where Optimus Prime's trailer comes in.

Floppy Prime is excited by the prospect. He remembers possessing the Matrix, before he was a computer character, and he's learnt to control the Combat Deck and all its systems. He's confident he can turn it into a passable home (and maternity ward) for a human who is used to living on board spaceships. And while he knows that Buster's children are unable to return the Creation Matrix to him, he's eager to learn about how it is evolving, and play a part in the birth of the new Matrix-bearer.

I find it all rather bewildering, but in the interests of science and humanity, how could I say no?

The next few months will be... interesting.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME

PART 2

"Onward, Mechabots! Fight till we purge this land of these foul Bombasticons! Fight till every citizen of Hyperfax can function freely again! You cannot escape my righteous wrath, villains! No pit is deep enough, no night black enough to hide your fetid forms from the blinding light of justice! For as long as a spark exists within a single Mechabot, good shall always vanquish evil! So swears Optimus Prime! So... when do we start the next game, Ethan Zachary?"

- Marvel's Transformers #40
___

My name is Optimus Prime. I am a being in two parts - a truck cab and its trailer. But my cab module is incapable of towing the trailer, because the cab exists only in the virtual world, while the trailer is a physical entity. It used to be that both cab and trailer were physical entities, and there was once a third physical module, the scout car, Roller. But Roller was destroyed by the Insecticon Kickback in Washington D.C., and my cab module was destroyed soon afterwards - its likeness, together with my mind and memories, being preserved this virtual form.

Cut off from my mind, the trailer shut itself down, but although mindless, it was not dead in every sense of the word. Creation Matrix nanobots still infused its living metal, as they do the body of every Matrix-born Transformer. This makes it immune from manipulation by the wielder of the Creation Matrix. And now that Ethan Zachary has re-established the link between the virtual me and my old trailer, it acts as my body in the real world. For it is more than simply a trailer. It can transform. It has great potential both for destruction and for creation, and I have been using it to rebuild Roller.

My mission was once to lead the Autobots in their battle with the Decepticons, first on Cybertron, then later on Earth. After the physical destruction of my cab module, my mission changed. I became the leader of the Mechabots, ally to Formulak the Compuzoid, scourge of the evil Bombasticons, defender of Multi-World, Hyperfax and the World Wide Web. But whether protecting peace-loving Cybertronians, Earthlings, or the peoples of the Cloud-Steppes, Metropipe, Slimepit and Vineland, my values have never changed - defence of the weak against the tyranny of the strong.

As of today, I have a new mission - to watch over the unborn human baby who now holds the power of the Creation Matrix. Its mother, the daughter of my friend, Buster Witwicky, has moved into my trailer, in order both to protect the outside world from the child's unfocussed power to control mechanical devices even from within the womb, and to protect her from malign forces in the outside world who might wish to harm or take possession of a newborn Matrix-bearer.

I feel confident that my Combat Deck is more than capable of defending mother and child from any who might wish them ill. Nevertheless, our allies insist on taking it in turns to stand guard. Friends of the mother's family, my old comrades, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Jazz and Jetfire (Bumblebee and Jazz now able to shrink to human-sized Pretender forms). Ethan's friends and my fellow virtual gamers, the Protectobots. Katy Witwicky's own Matrix creations, Action Master Thundercracker, Basher, Tyrannitron and Vanguard (the latter three bringing their partners, Tracks, Snarl and Sideswipe, with them). And the father-to-be's comrades, the Avengers and Avengers-in-training - or at least, those of them not dependent on technology for their superpowers. They have agreed a rota, and will be alternating in teams between now and the day when the child is judged able to safely leave my trailer and enter the world.

I look forward eagerly to that day, for I believe that freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

[Note: Ethan wasn't overly enthusiastic about the prospect of a baby with uncontrolled Matrix powers being born in the middle of his tech complex, so we sought a more remote location for our temporary home. Ultra Magnus - who I fought alongside briefly on Cybertron shortly before becoming a virtual avatar in 1987 - suggested the foothills of Mount Verona in Oregon as a nice place to spend the summer, far from any human technology, yet not too far from Portland and the Witwicky family home. As I have no cab to pull my trailer, Magnus offered to tow me out there. It was the first time I've seen him without his own trailer, and his smaller robot mode took me by surprise. I wonder, what was Emirate Xaaron thinking when he built him?]

THE END

[Grand Moff Muffin]

A little fanficky tribute to the new movie.

BUMBLEBEE 1987

PART 1

"Wait!" Bumblebee chased after the taller Autobot, placing an arm on his friend's shoulder. "The longer we remain inactive, the greater any possible threat becomes. Surely the two of us should go to South America and investigate."

"No," Prowl said, as he turned and looked down at Bumblebee. "Such a move is out of the question. We've no idea of the Decepticons' strength or of Megatron's plans. Logic dictates that we remain here until Optimus returns. He'll decide on an appropriate plan of action."

"Twin Twist and Topspin are in the Ark," Bumblebee persisted. "I'm sure they'd help us."

"For the final time, Bumblebee... No! We are not going to South America."

- Marvel's Transformers UK Annual 1986
___

The small Autobot surveyed the valley floor. His three friends had finally clawed their way from under the chalky rubble, and he was relieved to see that they had only sustained minor damage. He had behaved rashly and he felt a little ashamed. Nevertheless, he had freed the humans, and although Megatron had escaped, there would undoubtedly be other battles...

"Well, that was fun," remarked Topspin as he dusted himself down. "But we travelled to Earth to find Ultra Magnus, not to mix it up with Megatron's Decepticons. It's gone past the time we were supposed to report back to Emirate Xaaron."
___

Megatron was furious that the Autobots had thwarted his scheme to mine rare South American crystals, imbue them with artificial intelligence and create a new army of Decepticon warriors without resorting to the Creation Matrix. He was all the more infuriated by the fact that his enemies had been led to victory by their weakest member. He read through the report of injuries sustained by his Strike Planes, not least Starscream, who had only just returned to their ranks after being freed from Autobot captivity. Megatron tossed the report aside in disgust and summoned one recent arrival on Earth who had escaped relatively unscathed from the recent skirmish.

"Blitzwing!"

"Yes, mighty Megatron?"

"Bring me the head of the Autobot Bumblebee!"
___

In the following days, the Jumpstarters returned to Cybertron, Prowl was deactivated by one of Shrapnel's splinter grenades during a battle with the Insecticons in Washington D.C. (a battle in which Roller was also destroyed), and Blitzwing succeeded in cornering Bumblebee on a military training ground somewhere in Oregon and ripped out his voice box and radio transmitter before he could call for reinforcements. However, the small Autobot got lucky and managed to trigger an explosion in one of Blitzwing's heat-seeking concussion missiles while it was still attached to his body, leaving the Decepticon warrior scattered in several pieces.

The wounded Bumblebee used the last of his strength to transform and flee from the converging U.S. army forces, and headed for Mount St Hilary. But he felt his power giving out as he hit the outskirts of Portland. There was only one friendly refuge that he felt confident he could reach before his reserves were depleted.

Exhaust spluttering and fuel leaking, the battered Volkswagen painfully made its way to Sparkplug's garage. Though unable to speak, Bumblebee was known to Buster and Sparkplug by sight, and surely they would be able to patch him up before sending him home to the Ark.

What Bumblebee couldn't know was that Sparkplug was in hospital again, undergoing another heart surgery, and Buster was there with him. The auto repair shop was closed until further notice.

Closed - but not deserted.
___

Megatron was livid when he heard what had happened to Blitzwing. But according to Laserbeak, Bumblebee was still alone and vulnerable, on the run from the military and leaking fuel.

Determined to destroy the Autobot before he could reach safety, Megatron sent the pieces of Blitzwing back to Ratbat and summoned two more Triple Changers across the Space Bridge from Cybertron.

Their names?

Shatter and Dropkick.

TO BE(E) CONTINUED

BUMBLEBEE 1987

PART 2

"Son, I've tried to be understanding. I know you haven't got the slightest interest in cars or mechanical things..."

- Marvel's Transformers #1
___

My name is Charlie Watson. Short for Charlene. Just telling you that so you know right off that I'm a girl, or at least I was a girl back in '87. I'll be fifty this year.

Anyway, I'm not the reporter Charlene who interviewed Circuit-Breaker on television before she became Circuit-Breaker. Nor am I the Charlene who was making moves on the gangster Jake Lomax when Joey Slick went on the rampage with Megatron. Nor I am Walter Barnett's wife Charlene, nor the Charlene who befriended Skids. I'm just Charlie - Sparkplug Witwicky's niece on my mother's side, the daughter he wished he'd had as a son, or something like that.

Unlike my cousin Buster, I love cars, and had been haunting my uncle's lot for years, even more so after my own dad died, pestering him for tips and spare parts. But Sparkplug was old-school. He believed mechanical stuff was for boys. I was wearing him down, slowly bringing him around, and he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that neither of his own sons had the slightest inclination to follow in their father's footsteps. I had an old wreck that I was working on at home, and felt sure that, once I'd got it running, he'd surrender and offer me a job. But it was taking too long, and I was constantly on the scrounge for the parts I needed to fix all the things that were wrong with it.

I'd heard bits and pieces about Sparkplug and Buster's run-in with Robot-Master's machines, but they were very tight-lipped and secretive about it. I wish they hadn't been. Then things might have gone a little more smoothly when I found the beaten-up Beetle in Sparkplug's garage, leaking all over the floor. I was just checking it out underneath when it transformed into a robot and retreated into a corner, as if frightened of me.

"Who are you? Do you speak? I won't hurt you... What's your name?"

But of course, Bumblebee couldn't speak. Except, it turned out, through his radio.

And so it began.

Over the course of the following days, we became close, and somehow together we managed to deal with the two Decepticons that came looking for 'Bee. Eventually, I managed to get his voice box and radio transmitter working again, and he was able to re-establish contact with his fellow Autobots.

I would have loved to see him drive off into the sunset alongside his leader, Optimus Prime, but sadly that was not to be, for tragedy had struck during Bumblebee's absence.

Optimus Prime was dead.

Instead, I left Bumblebee on the foothills of Mount Verona, in the company of a new Autobot he had never met before, called First Aid.

Bumblebee told me he'd be fine, thanked me and promised to stay in touch.

["Name's Death's Head. Rather no-one knew I was here, yes? Makes you an endangered species, eh?"

"Huh! Says you."

"Yep."]

Oh, 'Bee...

More than thirty years on now, but very close to the spot where I left Bumblebee that day in 1987, I finish decoupling Ultra Magnus from Optimus Prime's trailer and give the white cab a pat on the side to tell him he can be on his way.

Bumblebee drives up behind me, nudges me ever so gently with his front bumper, and plays a few lines from the song, 'This is Me', from 'The Greatest Showman'. ("Hide away, they say, 'cause we don't want your broken parts...") I'm the only person that 'Bee speaks to through his radio.

"I'll take your broken parts any day, buddy," I assure him.

I'll take any Transformer's broken parts. Sure, my second cousin, Jacko, claims to be the best motor mechanic in Portland, on account of his Matrix powers, but when the Autobots on Earth need fixing up, and my old mentor Hoist's too busy shooting his latest movie, I'm the one they come running to. There probably isn't a human on the planet who understands Transformer engineering as well as I do. I constructed Bumblebee's Heli-Pack. Though I have to admit, I'm struggling to get my head around this shrinking Pretender business.

I uncouple the fuel line connecting the Combat Deck to the newly restored Roller, and the scout car beeps its thanks and rolls off to begin its patrol of the forest.

Bumblebee is part of the first team watching over Buster's daughter and her unborn child, out here where there's no human technology for Matrix powers to cause havoc with. There are also a couple of robot dinosaurs, Snarl and Tyrannitron, stomping around. (The park rangers will not be happy when they get this area handed back to them later in the year and see how many trees need replanting.) And there's a semi-naked cat-girl sent by the Avengers, crouching on the roof of Prime's trailer. I think she's from another planet. She's about the age I was when I first met Bumblebee, but she climbs and jumps and swings through the trees like Spider-Man. In New York, I've seen her flying around on some kind of hoverboard, but that tech is no good where an unpredictable Matrix is concerned.

I'm also on the first team. Not to defend against potential attackers, but to make sure the Combat Deck works properly. It hasn't been outside Ethan Zachary's facility since 1987.

I'm looking forward to spending time out here with Bumblebee, under the stars. He may be Buster's car, but I know him better than most - and what he'll do to protect those he cares about.

Only he and I know what really happened to Shatter and Dropkick.

THE END

STORIES LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

MISCELLANEOUS
The year 1987: Bumblebee 1987
The year 1987: Battlechargers Forever / Transformers #23 and 32
The year 1988: Terrorcons, Combine!
Beginning from September 1988: Tales from the Cosmic Carnival / Transformers #44
January 1989: A Stopped Clock / Transformers UK #199-205, 223-227 and 251-254
The year 1989: A Stopped Clock: Chimes at Midnight / Transformers #60-61

THE LAST DAYS OF THE TRANSFORMERS WAR
The year 1990: Transformers UK #229, 237-239 and 255-289
The year 1990: The Magnificent Six (Transformers UK Annual 1991)
The year 1990: Transformers #67-70
The year 1990: The Last Days of the Transformers War: Xaaron / Transformers #71-73
The year 1991: The Last Days of the Transformers War: Unicron / Transformers #74-75
The year 1991: The Last Days of the Transformers War: Nucleon / Escort Duty / Breaking Bonds / Transformers #76-80
November 1991: Top Secret
December 1991: Another Time and Place (Transformers UK Annual 1992)
December 1991: The Reckoning

WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS
The year 1992: Destiny of the Dinobots (Transformers UK Annual 1990)
The year 1992: Stylor's Sequel
The year 1992: Stylor's Statement
The year 1992: Stylor's Speech
The year 1993: The Last Minispy (time of narration)
The year 1993: The Last Minispy: Jaws of Steel
The year 1993: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
The year 1993: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Minefield

INTERIM
1991-2018: Sky Lynx May Be a Rubbish Toy, But...!
1994-2018: Marvel Superheroes Meet the Transformers

TWENTY YEARS LATER
The year 2014: Twenty Years Later
The year 2014: Twenty Years Later: Kup's Story Retold
September 2017 to July 2018: Prelude to the Predator War
August 2018: Where Were You During the Predator War?
August 2018: Life and Freedom
August 2018: Cameron Space Marines
September 2018: Titanium Shott Blaster for Hire
September 2018: Titanium Shott Blaster for Hire: Death's Head vs Grimlock
September 2018: Game Over
September 2018: Game Over: Walkthrough
October 2018: The Mad Marvel UK Mash-Up
October 2018: The Mad Marvel UK Mash-Up: Deadlier Games
November-December 2018: War of the Skull
December 2018: The Legacy of Rodimus Prime
December 2018: The Legacy of Galvatron
December 2018: The Legacy of Primus
January 2019: Remembrance
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Prologue
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Adventure
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Destiny
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Strategy
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Fate
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Ending
The year 2019: Choose Your Own Epilogue
May 2019: The Return of Optimus Prime

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

1. THE URTUSKIAN'S TALE

In one of the shabbier quarters of the Galaxy, at the Black Hole Bar and Grill, J'Oh the bartender can mix 54,382 different kinds of drinks, from Abraxan blue lava fireballs to zygotic fermented slime slurpees with a twist of fungus...

Welcome to Grand Central Space Station, interstellar rest stop for weary travellers, service base for spacecraft needing maintenance and repair, and safe haven for some of the most dangerous and wretched beings to be found anywhere in the universe.

- Marvel's Transformers #52
___

"Energon, straight up," said Starscream, quietly.

"We don't serve your kind here, robot!" snarled J'Oh, waving a blue pseudopod aggressively in the Strike Plane's general direction.

A muscular red-skinned being with large tusks jutting from his upper jaw - a regular at J'Oh's who loved a good scrap - poked a finger into Starscream's chest.

"You reek of oil, robo-scum. We got a special place for guys like you..."

("Fight!")

("I'm betting on the Urtuskian.")

("You always bet on the Urtuskian!")

("That's because he always w-")

Starscream shot the Urtuskian through both hearts. The creature made a brief, undignified, high-pitched sound, then fell face-first onto the bar, stone dead.

So ends the Urtuskian's tale.

NEXT: STARSCREAM'S TALE

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

2. STARSCREAM'S TALE

"What's that you were saying?" asked Starscream, turning back to J'Oh, null-ray rifle still smoking.

"I said, nice spaceship," grumbled J'Oh, nonchalantly wiping a dirty glass with an even dirtier cloth, and gesturing with a spare pseudopod at the enormous Ark visible through the window, blotting out entire constellations where it lay docked to the side of the great space city.

(From half a mile away, on board the Ark, Galvatron saw Starscream turn to look out at the stolen Autobot ship, and backed quickly away from the window, concealing himself in the shadows. He wasn't ready to reveal himself just yet.)

"You like it, huh?" said Starscream, enjoying being the centre of attention. "I'm the captain of that crate, and expect to be treated accordingly."

"Yes, sir." J'Oh reached down under the bar for a can of premium Transformer fuel that he kept for just such life-threatening emergencies. "You travelling all alone on that thing?"

"No, I have a lieutenant," smirked Starscream. "He's gone to take care of business with the Mecannibals while I sample the local hospitality."

Several eavesdropping patrons spat out their drinks at this statement.

J'Oh shook his head sadly. "Friend, if your lieutenant is like you, and he's gone to trade with Master-Mouth, the only way you'll see him again is as recycled parts."

"We'll see," said Starscream. "My guy can be very persuasive. And if logical argument fails, he can always fall back on his ability to transform into a nuclear-reactor-powered gamma-ray-shooting space cannon. You see, where we're going we need a large cargo of high-quality microchips, to repair and reactivate our fallen comrades. And then... well, you'd better watch out, that's all."
___

A few hours later, the Ark approached the planet Earth, carrying all the chips Shockwave (or Galvatron) needed to restore to life the Seacons, the Terrorcons and many other fallen Decepticons. But one Autobot stood in their way...

FRAKK! Ratchet punched Starscream clear across the room, into the side of the pods containing the few remaining fallen Autobots not revived by Grimlock's Nucleon - Borebit, Chameleon, Corkscrew, Horsepower, Navigator, Playback, a few Minispies.

"How dare you trivialise life and death! Is that all it's ever been to you, this war - fun? How many, eh? How many have to die for you to get your jollies?"

Starscream raised his null-ray rifle, but Ratchet knocked it aside, causing the Decepticon to blast the Nucleon reservoir. The resultant explosion caused a catastrophic chain reaction.

"Yes!" smiled Ratchet. "Events... have come full circle." Those were the last words Starscream heard before the entire starboard engine went critical, killing them both, and taking with them Megatron, Shockwave and all the microchips obtained on Grand Central Space Station.

NEXT: J'OH THE BARTENDER'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

3. J'OH THE BARTENDER'S TALE

Besides being a part-time robot-spotter for the Mecannibals, arranging for defenceless mechanoids to be thrown out into space where they could be snatched up by Master-Mouth's ship and turned into microchips and other high-value electronic components, J'Oh also moonlighted (moonlit?) as an occasional talent-spotter for the Cosmic Carnival. He had an eye for picking those few with the potential for greatness (if only for a brief career in the spotlight) out of the no-hopers who patronised his establishment. Depending on the individual, J'Oh would either point such down-on-their-luck eccentrics in the right direction, with a personal recommendation that would get them an audience with Ollie and net him a healthy commission, or arrange personally for their transport and delivery.

His biggest fee had come when he talked Hercules, Prince of Power, into pursuing a stint in showbusiness and directing him to the Cosmic Carnival. It had been a close thing, preceded by a misunderstanding that almost saw the Olympian's Recorder companion sent to the Mecannibals, and one of the strangest one-on-many bar-fights in the Black Hole's history - bizarre to watch, as the one in question barely came up to knee-height on most of his opponents.

J'Oh's association with the Cosmic Carnival took an unexpected turn when he stepped into one of the Black Hole's booths especially designed for little people, and came face-to-face with-

"You!" said J'Oh.

"You!" said Berko.

"Me!" said Mr Johnson.

"Don't change the subject!"

J'Oh remembered seeing Berko, former sideshow manager at the Cosmic Carnival, lying in the gutter in Grand Central Space Station's Asteroid Alley in a semi-comatose state, ignored by everyone from Antaresian pleasure slaves to carnivorous poly-slugs. Then those two Autobot Pretenders had paid his debts and flown away with him and Sky Lynx, who they had freed from his Mecannibal captors. Now Berko was back!

"Whaddaya want, human?"

"Don't be like that, J'Oh. I'm here to do you a good turn. Meet Mr Johnson. He's a Life-Model Decoy of my new employer - identical except for the lack of beard."

"He's a stinking robot!"

"Yes, a stinking robot who's prepared to write you a cheque in advance for services rendered. You see, we're expanding our space tourism operation - and we want you to be a part of it. Things are changing, pal - the humans are coming."

NEXT: KRANIX'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

4. KRANIX'S TALE

"Like all Lithones, Kranix possesses a high percentage of emotional circuits in his computer brain. But instead of incapacitating him with fear, as it does his friend Arblus, these extra emotional circuits have given him the most complete personality of any robot in existence. In fact, Autobots who have met both Kranix and Earthlings have actually said he seems more human than some of the Earthlings they know... Kranix can transform into a star-spanning space cruiser in .25 of a second. In space cruiser form he can reach speeds of over 1,000 miles a second for short bursts. His neutron-propelled engines give him an almost infinite range as they can use even the smallest atomic particle in space to power them, though because of the scarcity of such particles Kranix's speed is literally slowed to a crawl once his fuel reserves are exhausted."

- Transformers Universe
___

Things changed on Grand Central Space Station following the end of the Autobot-Decepticon war, and the rise in space tourism facilitated by Earth's blossoming three-way alliance with the nearby human worlds of Cameron and Nebulos and the entrepreneuring spirit of the likes of Mr Branson. Grand Central Space Station lay within a dozen light-years of all those human worlds, and was even closer to the wandering robot planet Cybertron, which had, for some centuries now, been slowly drawing near the star system containing the non-aligned planet called Scarvix. Other robot worlds such as Elpasos, Junk and Lithone also lay in this sector of space, and, with the new era of peace heralded by the fall of the Decepticons, began to assert themselves on the Galactic stage.

The anti-robot culture ingrained on Grand Central Space Station rapidly became unsustainable, at least in its overt form. Prominent Transformers such as Astrotrain, Blast Off, Cosmos, Countdown, Gutcruncher and Sky Lynx started visiting in greater frequency and greater numbers, and the Mecannibals were forced to change their official diet and limit it to less formidable robot species such as Chromites. They couldn't risk open hostilities with a newly unified Cybertronian race. And as for the humans, they were now everywhere. A whole new wing had to be added to Grand Central just to accommodate the influx of little people.

In the year 2006, Kranix dropped out of hyperspace and engaged his formidable sub-light engines, approaching the Grand Central Space Station at a velocity that the aforementioned Autobots and Decepticons could only dream about, triggering all kinds of collision warning alarms before he slowed to a more reasonable speed and swept smoothly into the waiting hangar bay, transforming to robot mode more quickly than any Battlecharger or Jumpstarter. There were those who said only war and competition drove advances in technology. The now-peaceful Lithones had comprehensively disproved that hypothesis since leaving Cybertron and colonising the planet that they currently called home.

Kranix strode into Pulsar Plaza and was greeted by cheers from the crowds and a clamour of questions from entertainment pundits. He waved away the adulation and entered the auditorium, taking his place just in time for the Galactic premiere of 'The Transformers: The Movie', a new work of fiction or 'What if?' counterfactual created by the Junkions, allegedly inspired by the tales told by time-travellers and signals picked up from a parallel universe in which Unicron launched his attack in this time period rather than in 1991.

It was a rather dark tale when viewed from a Lithone's perspective, as it saw Kranix's homeworld devoured and his friend Arblus sucked into oblivion before the opening credits even had a chance to roll. However, they had signed agreements permitting their likenesses to be represented on screen, and the whole thing was, after all, fantastical in the extreme. For example, it showed Kranix himself escaping the destruction of his planet, not in his own space cruiser mode, as he would do in reality, but rather at the controls of what appeared to be a Quintesson Trident Attack Craft, which made absolutely no sense, given what happened to him later on in the flick. And the Lithones were portrayed as having male and female genders - and children, for crying out loud. But he understood the reasons for it. Making the characters more relatable to the biological species in the audience, and all that twaddle.

There were, of course, numerous other anomalies that meant less to Kranix. The Creation Matrix was referred to as the 'Matrix of Leadership', there appeared to be a female Autobot running around, implying that the others were all male, and the human Spike Witwicky was brown-haired rather than blond and had a son called Daniel. Crazy, huh?

It appeared to be a big hit with the good people of Grand Central Space Station. Wreck-Gar would no doubt be pleased. Kranix just wondered what the Autobots, Decepticons and humans would make of it.

NEXT: ACTION MASTER THUNDERCRACKER'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

5. ACTION MASTER THUNDERCRACKER'S TALE

Watching, Megadeath ordered Backfire to cut the Autobot down. He intended to delay such sweet reliefs as madness or death for as long as possible.

- Marvel's Transformers UK Annual 1991
___

"You're too late, Autobot!" Backfire ranted. "My creation lives, I tell you. He lives!"

"Two mistakes, Decepticon," Action Master Thundercracker corrected him, calmly. "No, he doesn't live, and I'm no Autobot. I am Action Master Thundercracker."

"And this... this is Action Master Starscream!" cried Backfire, triumphantly. And sure enough, a robot leapt from the shadows, hands clawing for Action Master Thundercracker's eyes, and it looked just like him, except in the colours of the Decepticons' treacherous Air Commander.

But Action Master Thundercracker knew better. The original Decepticon Strike Planes were all dead - Skywarp and Thundercracker salvaged from Scorponok's underground base and terminated by the humans, Starscream killed along with Ratchet, Megatron and Shockwave when the Ark's starboard engine exploded. But all their bodies had been recovered, along with those of Ratbat, Galvatron and many other fallen Decepticons (though Megatron almost made a late comeback on Hydrus Four thanks to Bludgeon), and with every spark of life extinguished, their components were... recycled. Action Master Thundercracker was composed of pieces from all three Strike Planes and given life by the human Matrix-bearer, Katy Witwicky. But there had been parts left over, and in 2019 some of them went missing, 'liberated' by the sadistic Decepticon technician known as Backfire.

Action Master Thundercracker had tracked the thief all the way to Grand Central Space Station - but he appeared to have arrived too late.

The non-sentient 'Action Master Starscream' fired its modified null-ray rifle, which now had the rather impressive effect of binding Action Master Thundercracker in bands of energised steel. Action Master Starscream mounted its Turbo Jet, Backfire climbed up behind his creation, and they took off at speed, wing-mounted missiles blasting through the outer hull and sucking air and civilians out into space. As emergency bulkheads slid into place to seal off the compromised section of Grand Central, Action Master Thundercracker activated Skywarp's circuitry within him and teleported free of his bonds. Summoning his Solo Mission Jet Plane, he set off in hot pursuit.

Watching the space dogfight from the window of his bar, J'Oh radioed Master-Mouth.

"We got ourselves two Decepticon fugitives playing cat-and-mouse along the side of Grand Central's hull - fair game if you can catch them before the bizarrely coloured Space Marine robot currently pursuing them."

"Acknowledged," the Mecannibal responded, giving orders to undock his ship and head Backfire and his creation off at the pass.

"What the blazes?" thought Action Master Thundercracker, as a nightmarish vessel that looked like a cross between a squid and a Swiss army knife rose up from the recesses of Grand Central Space Station and swallowed Action Master Starscream, Backfire and the Turbo Jet whole.

NEXT: MASTER-MOUTH'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

6. MASTER-MOUTH'S TALE

"The Mecannibals are known all over the Galaxy as honest traders. Once we make a deal, we stick to it!"

- Marvel's Transformers #53
___

Backfire was alive, conscious and screaming all the while as the Mecannibals ate him, though they rushed their meal somewhat owing to the real possibility that Action Master Thundercracker might interrupt their feast at any moment with a legal cease-and-desist order and a motion to extradite the Decepticon fugitive back to Cybertron to stand trial for his various crimes.

They needn't have worried. Action Master Thundercracker may have signed up with the Cameron Space Marines, but he was no Autobot, and was content to leave Backfire to his much-deserved fate. Instead, he sat in J'Oh's, watching the Mecannibals' ship and waiting for them to call him.

The Mecannibals moved on to their second course - Action Master Starscream. As the robot had never been Matrixed, it felt neither fear nor pain, which detracted somewhat from their enjoyment. However, the component parts that came from the original Starscream were infused with Nucleon, and this provided a taste sensation the likes of which they had never experienced before.

Watching the ship from Grand Central Space Station, Action Master Thundercracker wondered idly what effect the Nucleon would have on Mecannibals.

Finally, Master-Mouth and his merry band turned their attention to the Turbo Jet, and were soon hopping around the inside of their ship in agony, as a consequence of broken teeth.

"Call for you," J'Oh shouted across the bar to Action Master Thundercracker.

Action Master Thundercracker patched himself through to Master-Mouth.

"Yes, speaking. Yes... Yes... I know... That's quite all right, but- Yes... I know... I know... I know... Allow me to explain. Have you heard of Galvatron? Yes... The one voiced by Leonard Nimoy in 'The Transformers: The Movie'... Yes, that's him. Well, obviously, none of that stuff ever actually happened - in our universe. But it, or something like it, happened in another universe, and Galvatron paid our universe a few visits... It is relevant, I assure you... You see, the last time Galvatron appeared in our timeline, he never left... And the outer shell of that transforming vehicle you're trying to bite into is made from his Unicronian exo-skeleton. It's virtually indestructible, and not at all palatable. Now... Rather than have you knocking yourselves out trying to digest it and convert it into marketable microchips, I am authorised to offer you a very generous price for its return in its present condition, and we'll say no more about the other two robots... Do we have a deal? Good... All right... Pleasure doing business with you, Mister Mouth."

Action Master Thundercracker terminated the call and walked over to the bar.

"Master-Mouth wants me to send payment over to his ship with a courier he's expecting from the planet Femax who is due to deliver a shipment of lead sulphide crystals."

"That's her," J'Oh nodded in the Femaxian's direction. "It's that hideously smooth-skinned pink humanoid with the golden-horned helmet - the one chatting to that gorgeous green-scaled Gilashark."

"Gotcha," said Action Master Thundercracker, tossing him a credit chip for his trouble.

NEXT: SHANDIKAR'S TALE

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

7. SHANDIKAR'S TALE

"I am Shandikar, commander of the Imperial guard... Follow me. The First One shall decide your fate."

- Marvel's Transformers #53
___

The space-faring races criss-crossing the sector of the Galaxy that contains Earth, Cybertron and Grand Central Space Station come in all shapes and sizes. The Mecannibals are among the largest beings you're ever likely to encounter, dwarfing, as they do, most Transformers. Humans are among the smallest beings you're likely to see piloting spaceships, though even they are considered big when compared to some. You must never assume that small means harmless. A thirty-foot Urtuskian would be wise to show respect to a seven-foot Asgardian, a five-foot-five Circuit-Breaker operative or a four-foot talking raccoon packing rocket boots and a laser blaster. Sadly, Urtuskians are not known for their wisdom, which might explain their dwindling numbers.

Anyway, when we talk about humans being among the smallest of the space-faring races, we are, of course, referring to typical humans such as those populating Cameron, Earth, Halfworld and Nebulos, who are similar in stature to other humanoid races such as the Asgardians, Olympians and Titans, who share Earth's Solar System, and the Kree, Shi'Ar and Skrulls who hail from much further afield.

But there are also giant humans. Many different types of giant dwell in the Realm of Asgard, and there are other giants dotted around the Earth - some very old, others quite new, as in the case of humans made giant by virtue of Pym Particles. And there are giant humans on other worlds, who appear very human in all respects, except that they are over twenty feet tall. Miss Fatale, who Nightbeat, Hosehead and Siren met on the planet Pz-Zazz during the Matrix Quest, is one such being, and the slow-ageing inhabitants of the planet Femax also fit that description. No-one knows the origin of these scattered species, or whether they are in any way linked to the humans of Earth and its recently reunited colonies.
___

Shandikar boarded her space pod and piloted it over to Master-Mouth's ship, whose appearance was no less monstrous than those of its occupants. The Femaxian knew she had nothing to fear from them, of course - Mecannibals do not eat meat. But her battle-senses nonetheless went on high alert as she stepped through the airlock and submitted to their full-body scanners. Master-Mouth was paranoid with good reason when it came to robot infiltrators. First those two Nebulans whose ship turned out to be a couple of Decepticon Powermasters, then those two Autobot Pretenders in 1989, and most recently that Matrix-bearer last year who smuggled Machine Man and Jocasta into their midst in the form of spare parts, which she reassembled before their disbelieving eyes. They vowed that no more alien robots would be allowed to trespass on their territory, except for those destined for consumption.

For all they knew, Shandikar might have been another Pretender, or her helmet and other armour might have been robots in disguise. But she wasn't, and they weren't. She was flesh and blood, and came bearing a shipment of rare lead sulphide crystals, those most delicious of condiments available only from the Golden Realm of Femax, useless to humans but a feast for the palate of any discerning Mecannibal. And she also brought gold on behalf of Action Master Thundercracker, to trade for the captured Turbo Jet constructed by the late Backfire from Galvatron's armour, which would be returned to Earth, and put to better use.

Shandikar greeted Master-Mouth with respect, and got down to business. Gold for the Turbo Jet, and lead sulphide crystals for ten million high-quality microchips. The Femaxians didn't want to know where the chips came from, or what manner of sentient being they might have been in a previous life. All they knew was that they needed them, to create robots of their own. Last year's attack on their city by Sharkticon mercenaries had driven home to them the truth that technology was key to their race's future survival. It was not the Femaxian way to depend upon allies such as the Autobots for protection against attack. Next time, they would be ready with mechanical defenders of their own.
___

Back on Grand Central Space Station, Shandikar handed the Turbo Jet over to Action Master Thundercracker.

"And my payment, for acting as your go-between?" she prompted him.

"Of course," said Action Master Thundercracker. "Here you go - blueprints for Robotix and Zoids. Of course, a Femaxian could never fit inside their cockpits..."

"Not a problem," said Shandikar. "We plan to scale them up."

NEXT: BLACKJACK O'HARE'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

8. BLACKJACK O'HARE'S TALE

"I'm the only Black Bunny left!"

- Marvel's Transformers UK #61
___

Across the bar, in a booth designed for smaller customers, Blackjack O'Hare watched Action Master Thundercracker and Shandikar go their separate ways.

"Y'know," he slurred to his companion opposite. "Was a time I'd give my right ear for a job like the one ya offerin' me, but after the last few months I'm wary o' mixin' it up wi' crazy Earth humans. Gimme nice, predictable Loonies any day! See that giant space babe makin' her exit? Now imagine her one fifth the size, black hair like mine and wearin' an even skimpier oufit, an' you got Dani Dareheart, the bane o' my sorry existence."

"What did she do to you?" prodded his companion.

"All I did was take a contract from a few rogue Decep'cons ta blow up a Cameron star-glider parked here at Gran' Central. The girl got wind o' it somehow an' bushwhacked me before I could do the job. Singed my fur an' worse, an' deprived me o' my Tenacious Two. You know how hard it is ta recruit good, cheap hench-beings these days? As luck would have it, the Decep'cons got taken down, so I got ta keep the money despite failin' my mission, but word got out, an' I became a laughin' stock here on Gran' Central f'r a time."

"But you recovered your reputation."

"Yeah, people have short mem'ries 'bout stuff like that. But then I got a job wi' Mumm-Ra, workin' against the Earth humans again. I was one o' a whole mess o' mercenaries recruited ta cause chaos durin' th'invasion. But the fleet got attacked before we reached our target, an' we got boarded an' got our tails handed to us. My employer got wasted - again! An' blow me, that same girl was in the boardin' party, shootin' lightnin' bolts outta her hands if you please. Well, I got outta there, stowed away on the pretty young thing's star-fighter an' got my revenge on her - bushwhacked her like she did me on Gran' Central - drilled her good wi' my trusty death-laser." He patted the blaster pistol strapped to his belt.

"You killed this girl in revenge for her humiliating you and spoiling your contracts with the rebel Decepticons and Mumm-Ra?"

"Nah, I shot her on stun an' sold her ta that mad Mojo f'r a pile o' cash. Figured he'd finish her off f'r me, in an entertainin' way. But she got outta that one too, an' went on ta help the Transformers bring down Skeletor's power base on Cybertron, so I hear."

"She sounds like a very brave and resourceful individual, this girl - and lucky. But why let a few bad experiences with one human end a bounty-hunting career as brilliant as that of the legendary Blackjack O'Hare, the famous Black Bunny Assassin?"

"I didna say I'd let it end my career, pal, just that I dinna want ta cross swords wi' no more crazy Earth humans. Dani Dareheart an' I, we got an understandin' now. We're even, an' I wanna let bygones be bygones, y'know?"

"You mean you don't want to get revenge on the one who humiliated you?"

"Weren't ya listenin'? I got my revenge when I sold her sexy ass to Mojo. No more hard feelin's between us now, see? Call it a draw, ya know?"

"And you won't even consider taking my offer?"

"Nah. 'Sides, it would be a conflic' o' int'rests f'r me to help you capture the newborn Matrix-bearer."

"A conflict of interest? Why's that?"

"Well, ya see, I already got another contrac' on the go. I'm gettin' a nice bounty from the Cameron Space Marines f'r every bad guy I nail plottin' ta abduct the new Matrix-child."

"You're what?!"

"Sorry, pal. Be against my principles ta go back on my word... at least, when there's hard cash at stake."

The metal hand of an Autobot Micromaster fell heavily on the shoulder of the broad-chested, snake-cowled human.

"Let's go, Serpentor - or whatever your name is."

"Unhand me, you-"

Blackjack O'Hare remained alone in the booth to finish his drink, before hopping down and heading off to the bar for a refill.

Across the room, his features made unrecognisable thanks to a little holographic technology from the future, Kang the Conqueror nodded with satisfaction. The resurrected Cobra Emperor had served his tactical purpose - now was the time for that particular piece to be removed from the chess board. One rival fewer for the ultimate prize.

He spoke into his interstellar communicator:

"Kang to all Cobra forces on Earth. Mission successful. Serpentor's command is immediate attack. Repeat: Immediate attack. Kang out."

NEXT: KANG THE CONQUEROR'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

9. KANG THE CONQUEROR'S TALE

Once Kang had sent his coded message out across the spaceways to begin the mass assault on Mount Verona, wipe out the defenders of Optimus Prime's trailer and take Katy Witwicky and her unborn half-Titan, Matrix-bearing child away by force, his part was complete and he had absolutely nothing to do but sit back and twiddle his thumbs. He caught J'Oh's attention and signalled for another beer.

Kang listened with amusement to a couple of inebriated Mil-Walians who had evidently been eavesdropping on Action Master Thundercracker's earlier call to Master-Mouth - as had Kang, naturally - and were now arguing loudly about whether or not it was possible for visitors to travel back in time from a future that may never come to pass.
___

The Red Ninjas deftly evaded the electronic perimeter security a mile out from Optimus Prime's trailer and made their way swiftly and almost silently through the forest, closing on their target. The daring young Thunderian Avenger-in-training called Wildkitten spied them with her exceptional eyesight when they were still some way off, shouted a warning to her human comrade, Hush Job, scampered up the nearest tree and leapt from branch to branch, eager to be first to meet the oncoming foe. Hush Job made a pre-arranged hand signal, alerting Bluestreak to the potential danger. The Autobot gunner extended his sensors to their maximum range, while at the same time radioing Jazz, who was manning the trailer in his six-foot Pretender mode. Jazz consulted Optimus Prime, who confirmed that unidentified vehicles were approaching the perimeter, and a spatial anomaly was detected in the cloudless sky.

"It's happening," said Prime portentously, opening a hatch in his trailer roof in order to extend his missile tower, ready for anti-aircraft combat. Jazz ran down the ramp, phasing into his full-size robot mode and mounting his experimental Turbo Board, and the trailer door closed quickly behind him.

A Decepticon hunter-seeker skyship decloaked and opened its cargo bay doors, releasing a brace of harvester units and three Sharkticons - Gnaw, Gnero and Gnebulox. The skyship itself - Ferak, his offensive and defensive systems upgraded and augmented by the late Backfire - transformed and landed with his five comrades. Cobra's genetically engineered Mega Monsters, unleashed from the unmarked vehicles now parked at the perimeter road, bounded through the trees, snarling and spitting. And the barbarian bird, Screeech, swooped low over the clearing, allowing Spikor, Stinkor and Two Bad to leap down into battle, followed closely by the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, who made their entrance in their own inimitable fashion.
___

Kang drummed his fingers impatiently on the bar. He gave the operation about a fifty-fifty chance of success. That was why he was in disguise on Grand Central Space Station, rather than leading from the front on Earth.

If he had been privy to one little fact, he would have known that failure was an absolute certainty. It could not possibly succeed, because the Matrix-bearer and her child were not in Optimus Prime's trailer, and hadn't been since the moment she first stepped inside, back in Ethan Zachary's complex, to be instantly transported by magic to Illyana Rasputin's pocket dimension Sanctum Sanctorum, where she had been resting comfortably ever since, guarded by the child's father, Starfox, and the Thunderian medic, Pumyra.

Optimus Prime's trailer was a decoy - bait, pure and simple. And Mount Verona was nothing but a trap.
___

The Space Bridge, Spanner, materialised in the sky over the clearing, and Jetfire and the Aerialbots soared forth, putting the lid on the trap. A dimensional portal opened on the slope of the volcano, discharging Iron Man, the Sorceress Supreme, the tech-ninja Laserblade, Swift, the Vision and Brunnhilde the Valkyrie. And half a dozen Circuit-Breaker operatives burst out of the back of Optimus Prime's trailer.
___

"Any breaking interstellar news?" Kang idly asked a fellow patron of the Black Hole Bar and Grill. The response to his question was no more than a grunt and a shrug.

NEXT: SERPENTOR'S TALE

[Grand Moff Muffin]

STORIES FROM GRAND CENTRAL SPACE STATION

10. SERPENTOR'S TALE

The Autobot Micromasters Barrage and Heave, who constituted one third of of the Astro Squad, sat Serpentor down in a store room that they had commandeered to act as a holding cell until Countdown arrived at Grand Central Space Station to pick up their illustrious prisoner and take him back to Earth.

"So," said Heave. "You still refuse to give us your real name."

"I am Serpentor, Cobra Emperor, genetic descendant of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte, and rightful ruler of the Earth. You have no authority to detain me."

"Riiight..." said Barrage. "Let's try a different approach. Your forces on Earth have been routed, Lord Serpentor. Six Decepticons destroyed. Eight Cobra Mega Monsters slain, their Dreadnok handlers taken into custody. Five unmarked Cobra vehicles impounded. Six Red Ninjas captured - knocked out by a seventeen-year-old girl acting alone, I might add. Three Eternian 'Evil Warriors' and five members of the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants also captured. One member of the Brotherhood killed, two escaped. Four Red Ninjas and one barbarian bird escaped - the bird and two of the Red Ninjas with tracking devices securely attached. Aforementioned barbarian bird and Red Ninjas having led SHIELD forces back to their respective bases, all were captured, along with three Crimson Guard Commanders, seven other members of the Crimson Guard and two Techno-Vipers." (He omitted to mention the two Circuit-Breakers killed during the operation, and the wounds sustained by Wildkitten in her solo battle with the Red Ninjas.)

"Your revolution has failed," said Heave.

"They... went without awaiting my orders..." mumbled a shaken Serpentor. "I was going to recruit more mercenaries, and then personally lead my forces to victory. Backfire, Evil-Lyn, Kang - they promised! When they brought me back, they said I would be Emperor of the Earth... They promised!"

Barrage and Heave exchanged looks.

"A sad case," said Heave.

"A few cogs missing, I fear," sighed Barrage. "Let's leave this nut-job for the professionals to sort out."
___

Back at the bar, Kang had just heard about the fiasco on Earth. He controlled his initial desire to lash out in a public display of rage. Right. He'd had just about enough of this time period. Perhaps he'd be more successful working with one of Serpentor's purported ancestors. So thinking, he took his time-jump control unit from his pocket, entered new temporal and spatial co-ordinates, and phased out of existence. The Mil-Walians were so engrossed in their argument about the plausibility of time-travel that they failed to notice his departure from this reality.

THE END