The remaining team members were back at Castle Dedede on Mt. Dedede. “So the whole idea behind that Gourmet Race you lot were doing,” said Jamie, “was to eat as much as you can while going as fast as you can?”
“Yeah, it’s been that way since my early years with Kirby,” remarked King Dedede. “And hoo BOY! The guys making antacids make quite a tidy profit!”
“I can imagine,” said Billy Cranston. “That sounds…rough on your stomach.”
“Sire,” said Bandee, “the results of the race came in. Looks like the race was ended early when we all crashed into the TARDIS.”
“Of course,” sighed King Dedede. “All right, Bandee, rip the band-aid off. Say Kirby won.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” said Bandee, “all four of us were the lowest scoring racers. You were last place, Kirby was 15th, Meta Knight was 14th, and I was 13th-.”
“Wait, Kirby lost too?!”
“Yeah, the winner was Rick. He and those clones of his counted as one racer, according to the judges.”
“HOW DO THEY FIGURE THAT?!” protested King Dedede.
“Well, the hive-mind nature of him and the clones,” said Bandee, “made it so that they all could plan more effectively. The judges decided to add up all the totals he and his clones each ate and combine them into one grand total.”
“Okay, I ain’t putting up with this!” snapped King Dedede. “From now on, no more cloning to try and win a Gourmet Race! That’s a Royal Decree!”
“Sounds fair,” remarked Kimberly. As the discussion went on, Sty was working on a computer. Billy looked over.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“The computers on Meta Knight’s ship,” explained Sty, “detected an energy signature at the Doctor’s position. I’m cross-referencing it with the computers in my PAK to see if the Irkens encountered this before.” Just then, the computer beeped. “AHA! There IS a match! Let’s see-!” Her face fell. “…By Tak!”
“That sounds bad,” said Jason.
“My people more than encountered the energy signature…we fought it once!” explained Sty. “Well, at least a faction!”
The Doctor and Zoe were a bit surprised. This didn’t look anything like the room they entered on the Gonds’ homeworld when they last took the test. There were Waddle-Dees everywhere and they seemed to be building something. There was scaffolding surrounding the object in a square fashion. The object was roughly 40 to 41 meters tall, at least by the Doctor’s estimates, but it was covered by some cloth. “Well, at least we know why the Krotons weren’t draining the mental energy of those that passed the test anymore,” remarked Zoe.
“That’s a lot of welding tools,” observed Sailor Mercury.
“Something crystalline Krotons shouldn’t need,” said the Doctor. “Whatever that is, it’s not being grown like the Dynatrope was.”
“Then are we really sure it IS the Krotons?” asked Zoe.
“No, no we’re not,” confirmed the Doctor. She then approached the scaffolding and climbed up. She stopped on the middle walkway and reached for the cloth. She grabbed a bit of it, then pulled as hard as she could. The cloth slid off the object and reached the floor. The Doctor looked up and gasped! It was a humanoid robot with jet parts attached to it! The red-orange trim on the otherwise white and blue body as well as the evil-looking purple face on the wings was all she needed to know. “…He scavenged Kroton technology!” she whispered. “He’s alive and he scavenged Kroton technology to get a slave force to rebuild his body!”
“Doctor?” called Zoe.
“We’re all in great danger!” replied the Doctor. “We have to destroy this thing!”
“Ah ah AH!” cackled a nasally voice. “Naughty naughty! You Time Lords should know better than that!” An orb of pulsating light appeared.
“…Rebuilding your body after it was destroyed?” the Doctor asked the orb. “You know that they’re techno-organic these days, right?”
“Now you see why I’m not eager to go back!” replied the orb.
“Doctor, do you know this energy being?” asked Sailor Mercury.
“It’s not an energy being, not really,” replied the Doctor. “…It’s the Spark of a Transformer.”
“A Transformer?” asked Sailor Mercury. “You mean like those toys of robots turning into vehicles that the Americans made out of the Diaclone and Microman lines?”
“TOYS?!” spluttered the orb. “WE ARE MORE THAN MERE TOYS, GIRL!”
“And their war was VERY real,” continued the Doctor. “…Thankfully, it’s past events in this time.”
“Yes, my beloved metal world is a techno-organic wasteland, thanks to those Maximals!” snarled the Spark.
“You mean paradise,” corrected the Doctor.
“So you’re from Cybertron’s Great War?” asked Zoe.
“Indeed,” replied the Spark. “Permit me to introduce myself. …AIR COMMANDER STARSCREAM OF THE DECEPTICON BATTLEFLEET!”
“How did you come to control Kroton technology?” asked the Doctor. “They won’t like that.”
“The Krotons were long dead by the time I discovered their technology, Doctor,” explained Starscream. “It was just enough to figure out the brightest minds, at least among the Waddle-Dees. I have to admit, they can apply the Energon Refining Formula like no one’s business.”
“So you use the Krotons’ learning machines to suss out the brightest Waddle-Dees to build you a new body. But that must take a phenomenal amount of Energon! I mean, look at the size of it! Your original body was only 5 meters! And how do you solve the shifting of limbs, internal mechanics, and armor rearrangement without a Transformation Cog?”
“Who says I don’t have one? BEHOLD!” A mechanical arm carrying a cog-like device then descended from the ceiling and inserted it into the hip. The Waddle-Dees then quickly adjusted everything and closed the opening.
“T-Cog integration complete, Master,” reported a Waddle-Dee. “The cloned T-Cog works well.”
“Excellent!” praised Starscream as his Spark pulsed with pride.
“Starscream, you need to come with me and be returned to your own time!” insisted the Doctor.
“Actually, Doctor, I AM in my own time,” corrected Starscream. “That chronal surge brought me back from Earth’s prehistoric past and put me back here, where and when I belong.”
“I don’t think I understand why you need to build a body in the first place,” said Sailor Mercury. “What happened to the original?”
“Glad you asked,” replied Starscream. “I always like recounting this thrilling tale. Tell me, what time do YOU come from?”
“…From the 1990’s.”
“Ah, so us Decepticons restarted our war with the Autobots a decade before your time! This happens in your future and led to the downfall of the Decepticons, so for me, it’s ancient history. I fell defending my leader, Galvatron, against the most powerful enemy of all; the planet-sized Transformer and Dark God of our pantheon, UNICRON! My original body was destroyed, but, miraculously, my Spark endured! Drifting helplessly through the depths of space, beyond the reach of time itself! It was maddening, seeing the Decepticons lose the Great War and the Autobots claiming Cybertron! Even when both factions evolved into the respective Predacons and Maximals, it still went nowhere! Not even the transwarp aperture the Darksyde opened could bring victory! I followed the ship and the pursuing Axalon and participated in the Beast Wars during Earth’s prehistoric past, but it was all for naught and I was stuck! …At least, until a chronal surge brought me back to this time.”
“That is all a lie!” called a voice with a Hispanic accent! The Doctor, Zoe, and Sailor Mercury turned to see Kirby, Meta Knight, and the rest of the Sailor Senshi in the room!
“Get out of here!” protested the Doctor.
“SECURITY!” shrieked Starscream. “DON’T YOU WADDLE-DEES PRACTICE IT?!”
“My apologies, Doctor,” said Meta Knight, “but we needed to get inside and help you defeat this Decepticon while he lied!”
“Not everything he said was a lie,” replied the Doctor. “Galvatron and Unicron were involved, yes, but here’s the truth; Galvatron was the reconstruction and warping of the original Decepticon leader, Megatron, through Unicron’s efforts. Megatron was tossed out of an airlock by Starscream after being brutally wounded. When he was rebuilt into Galvatron, he returned to Cybertron and shot his treacherous second in command here, turning his body to brittle metal that fell apart.”
“WHETHER HE’S GALVATRON OR MEGATRON, HE WAS STILL A FOOL!” shrieked Starscream. “THE AUTOBOTS WOULD HAVE LOST EONS AGO HAD I BEEN THE ONE CALLING THE SHOTS! CYBERTRON WOULD HAVE REMAINED A METAL WORLD!”
“Master!” called a Waddle-Dee. “We have integrated your royal attachments to your body! They will attach themselves when you assume robot mode and detach and follow you when in alt-mode!”
“Excellent!” praised Starscream. “Begin Spark Integration!” The body’s Spark Chamber opened and Starscream’s Spark flew into it. The chamber closed, then the optics switched on to shine blood-red! A smirk crossed the face as Starscream examined himself. “A perfect fit!” Shoulder armor then attached itself to his shoulders as a gold crown with red gemstones fitted itself onto his head and a cape was attached to his back. The Doctor then addressed the team.
“No arguments now,” she said. “When I tell you to run…”
“We run,” confirmed Zoe. “I see that hasn’t changed.”
“Unfortunately,” sighed the Doctor. Starscream then addressed the Waddle-Dees.
“Thank you all for your dedication and wonderful service. But I am more suited to the exclusive company…of TITANS!” He aimed his new Null Ray at the Waddle-Dees. Sailor Mercury then summoned a harp.
“MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!” she announced. Streams of water then sailed through the air and struck Starscream. Ordinarily, it would have knocked someone over, but for someone of Starscream’s current size…he just blinked as he looked at his now wet foot.
“…You realize that it would take a long time for water to do any damage to me?” he scoffed.
“I don’t know, it served as the perfect distraction,” replied Sailor Mercury.
“Distraction for what?” asked Starscream.
“MOON TIARA ACTION!” called Sailor Moon’s voice. Starscream looked to see Sailor Moon fling her tiara like a frisbee as it turned into a white energy crescent. The attack struck him in his left optic!
“ARGH!” he cried aloud as he covered his optic. He then snarled. “Why you platinum-furred ape! PREPARE FOR OBLIVION!” He then raised his fist!
“RUN!” shouted the Doctor. Everyone dashed for the TARDIS. It took off quickly as the Waddle-Dees ran from the facility. Starscream snarled.
“Running away won’t help you, Doctor!” he promised. His cape, shoulder armor, and crown flew off as he transformed and burst out through the facility’s roof, his garb following close behind. He set a course for Mt. Dedede.