Auto Berserk

by Ragey

The Autobots have made themselves a brand spanking new device that they're testing out in a military zone with support from the humans, and use it to totally vaporise a command tower. This proves that their device, the Negavator, is working beautifully, even though why the Autobots would have built a machine that vaporises things to shit when they're meant to be protecting the universe is beyond me.

The miltiary folks are definitely pleased, but before they go to file their report, they remember to pick up their Decepticon-insignia'd tape recorder. Oh, for God's sake.
 

The Autobots set about praising Wheeljack for creating such a great weapon of mass destruction, though Grapple sure hopes it doesn't target anything he's had a hand in making and Red Alert is none too pleased with its very existence. After all, Megatron's still about, so who knows long it'll be until he shows up and swipes it? Of course, not that long at all, with Soundwave revealing himself.

The Autobots roll out to deal with the Decepticon threat while Red Alert is left to protect the bunker, and he isn't too happy with that job unless Inferno is there to provide back-up. Soundwave's cassettes are ejected to pulverise the Autobots once they make their way out of the bunker...
 

But don't do a good job of that, not even touching them at all, but the Autobots don't even dare moving from their spot for fear of suffering any damage at all. This gives Soundwave an effective opening to get the Negavator! That is, until Red Alert commandeers it via remote control and uses it to vaporise every boulder the Decepticon hides behind, rather than saving them all a lot of trouble by just shooting him.

While Red Alert waits for Soundwave to make his move from behind a bigger boulder that he hasn't bothered to vaporise, Inferno gets tetchy with waiting, while Grapple and Hoist dig their way out from the rubble-filled bunker exit. Just in time to witness the cassettes aiming to take over the Negavator!

Red Alert can't do much good with Negavator thanks to Prime standing in front of it, but Inferno's suggestion to go out and help him is shot down by ol' Red. Of course, it's rather moot as Frenzy shoulders Prime and knocks him to the ground, giving Rumble access to the Negavator!

Before he can use it to blast Optimus, Inferno short-circuits it with a bit of water spraying, and this allows the Autobots to drive off Soundwave and his chums. However, Rumble decides to fire a rocket as he flees, which heads straight inside the bunker and right at the command centre, blasting away the console and knocking Red Alert for a loop in the process!

Red gets buried under rubble and calls to Inferno for help, but Hoist is the one who saves his skin. Inferno and Prime arrive, worried about their security expert, but he isn't too pleased with his buddy abandoning him when he needed him most, and storms off, prompting Prime to have a one-on-one chat.

Red Alert's opinion of his buddy is totally warped by the event: He believes Inferno betrayed him by abandoning him, rather than risking his skin to save the Negavator, and Optimus' suggestion that he return to Autobot HQ where it's safer is interpreted as wanting him out of the picture! Of course, his chance to ramble about this is cut short by an electro-glitch he got from the accident, making his head hurt so bad.
 

The Autobots depart from the bunker and return to the Ark with the Negavator, heading down a valley where Ravage is currently spying and Starscream volunteers to head down and capture the Negavator himself. The Decepticons position themselves there, but Rumble accidentally lets a bit of the cliff crumble off, making it seem that the Autobots will be onto them...
 

Until Red Alert is told to analyse the noise, but claims there was no noise that occurred. Of course, when a few small rocks don't get their attention, Rumble starts a rockslide that forces them to stop and protect themselves, creating a wall between the two halves of the group. The Seekers use this opportunity to strike!

The only guy they hit is Red Alert, curiously enough, as Hoist and Grapple choose to abandon the Negavator and unearth their leader from the rubble. Megatron deems this to be a wonderful time to be a Negavator-wanting villain, only for Smokescreen to step in with the ability he's named after, causing him to crash straight into the device.

The Seekers' sights are clouded over, allowing the Autobot to blast them for a bit, causing them to crash into walls, Starscream getting cut off from the rest of his group. Ramjet considers this a good time to crash down and take somebody out with him, but the victim turns out to be the Negavator-riding Megatron, effectively ruining his plan. The clumsy oaf!

Megatron makes an apt note before the Autobots open fire, prompting him to make a hasty retreat, along with all of the Seekers minus Starscream, who's left behind with minimal fuss coming from Megatron. Hoist, meanwhile, laments how long it'll take to clean up this mess, and Optimus berates Red Alert on why he didn't warm them all, who replies by worrying more so about everyone being out to get him. "You're more damaged than I thought," notes Optimus, and tells Hoist that their security officer would need a complete overhaul.

Of course, when told to follow through on such a touchy subject, he and Inferno set about it by cornering Red Alert against a wall and telling him that he's completely mad and needs fixed up; in more polite words, of course, but it doesn't do much for Red Alert's sanity. He sucker punches the two of them under the belief that they just want him disassembled for spare parts and runs into the wilderness, prompting the others to give chase before his condition worsens.

They track him to a city and start following through the alleyways, even through the mandatory stack of cardboard boxes, but end up losing his trail. Ironhide, however, catches him at the scene of a burning building and comforts him, but can't seem to get him to come out of his vehicular mode, believing him to be in mode lock. Of course, the fire chief shouts at the van robot for messing around with his car. Oh, that Ironhide!

Having shaken his pursuers off his tail, Red is called into an abandoned garage by none other than Starscream! Of course, he doesn't notice this until it's too late, and although prepared to blast his face a new orifice, Starscream notes that he could've done the same thing himself if he so desired, and although he isn't asking him to join the Decepticons, he does have a proposition.

Optimus calls off the search for Red Alert, despite Hoist reminding him that his chum's head will explode if not repaired soon, but Prime notes they're too weak to face another attack and are best returning the Negavator to the bunker.

Starscream tells Red Alert that he was abandoned because Megatron feared he would make a superior leader, and poor Red fears maybe that's why he was abandoned as well. The Seeker plans that with the Negavator, they could reign dominance over both the Autobots and Decepticons, but Red chooses himself as the leader of this two man army.

The Autobots return the Negavator to their top secret multi-floor situated-in-the-middle-of-nowhere double-secret base place, which can't be penetrated at all, whatsoever.

Of course, Red Alert being security officer, he planned a way inside for such an occasion, but what he didn't plan was Ravage spying on the two and alerting Megatron to the fact that his abandoned subordinate is being devious! Meanwhile, Wheeljack and Smokescreen set out looking for Red Alert, though dobtful that they'll succeed in doing so before Red's circuits goes boom.

Red and Scream make their way through the secret tunnel, hoping to make their way to the exit before the tunnel drone arrives. Red explains that the tunnel drone is unstoppable, and even he is powerless against it! Of course, they encounter it just as they reach a dead end, but like all things thrown in just for some cheap excitement, Starscream blasts the wall open and they fall down a hole before the drone atomises them, but setting off the alarms in the process.

Said hole happens to lead straight to the Negavator's chamber, which is just a pretty abysmal design feature, don't you think? The Autobots are alerted to this intrusion and witness the duo blasting their way out of the chamber with the weapon it contained (Red Alert's a bit of a shitty security officer from the looks of things), but upon  hearing that Red has deemed Starscream his partner, they feel reluctant to fire upon any of them for fear of retaliation, which just allows the two to get near the elevator and blow up the bridge to where they stand.

Optimus attempts to soothe his comrade by saying "I know you won't fire on me," which kind of goes against the fact he's aiming his gun quite fiercely as he says this. The situation is kindly interrupted by Megatron firing at him and then mockingly praising Starscream for going through all this trouble to bring the Negavator back to him. Red doesn't take kindly to this and claims the Negavator is all for himself...

Which prompts Starscream to punch him the fuck right out of the cockpit and the two start wrestling, just as Red Alert's circuits are nearing detonation. However, Starscream fires a close-range blast to his chest, which for whatever reason doesn't blow his spark out, but instead cures his logic circuits and renders the poor guy more than a little confuddled regarding the whole situation. Megatron commands him to fire the Negavator to fire upon the Autobots, so he climbs back into it like a good little soldier...

And sets it to self destruct. Megatron sees this as a bluff and calls for an attack, but all of his soldiers are too wary to bother risking their necks, and proceed to am-scray once the Autobots fire back upon them. Megatron lets Prime have the victory for today and makes his own getaway, while Red and the Autobots make good their exit as well while the Negavator explodes.

However, Red Alert is knocked unconscious by the explosion and still inside the building! Ironhide offers to go, only for Prime to take that position himself, but Inferno shafts them aside and heads in, putting out the fires and searching for the buddy he left behind. Red sees his friend but tells him to save his own hide, seeing himself as a failure, though Inferno refuses to accept this and risks his neck yet again as collapsing girders almost fall on Red. What are friends for?

When everyone thinks the pair are little more than smoking rubble, out of the fire and flames comes Inferno, and Red Alert in his arms! Red Alert prepares to apologise for the whole mess, but Prime claims it was his fault for insisting on testing the Negavator that started their problems; he's glad to have them back, and most impressed with their bravery. "With friends like these - real friends," Red says, "it's easy to be brave."

The art in this episode is often pretty dynamic.

You can really tell I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for notes these days, can't you?