Sorry Isn’t Good Enough

"GGGAAAa….HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Cheetor then bolted straight up from a sick bay bed, screaming, as his eyes tried to readjust to his surroundings. "AHhh….GLUpphhmmm?" Then suddenly, someone with a big green hand grabs and pushes the shock Cheetor back down on some lounge bed while the cat takes a breather, we hear some electric sparks and other tech being used. "Haah...Haah…Haagh?" Cheetor was about done catching his breath, when he looks over to see Rhinox on the right side of him, as he seem to have been repairing him from some battle damage.

"There, good as new." Rhinox grins and spoke to Cheetor with calm nerves to see the young cadet is alright and safe with them.

Then Rattrap in Beast Mode pops up from above Rhinox's shoulder which the latter notices before the rat made this remark. "Tehah, and Twice as loud? Ow…?" Rattrap rubbed his finger in his right ear like that scream the cat-bot did really got to his circuits.

"That musta been some dream you had?" Suddenly, coming from Rhinox and Rattrap's side was Ulrich and Jeremie who the latter who spoke in concern for his friend.

"More like a nightmare, I'll bet?" Ulrich exclaimed from thinking Cheetor musta relived that scary moment where he got shot by Preds.

Soon Cheetor turns to the left side to see Optimis, who looked in relief, but at the same time not happy. Cheetor got a good look around and saw that he's in the Repair Module of the Axelon.

Cheetor slowly gets up and turned to Optimis, who was still ticked off while trying to act calm and act like things are the same before the whole thing with what he did even happened. "Hey Big-Bot. Uh, wha-what happened out there?" The young cadet was not sure what happened when he was out for a moment?

"Phh!" Rattrap spit off a chew piece of an apple while remarking what happened to the kid himself. "Yah took a Predacon missile right in the chest plate." That explained enough on what happened to Cheetor that he was in this Repair Module area.

"Luckily, Ulrich and me were going to do some Energon search at the base's mountain when we got the news." Jeremie explains about him and Ulrich being around, as he puts away some of the repair equipment.

"Luckily, Optimis and Armordillo found you, and brought you back here, for Einstein to hel Rhinox fix you, or it would been worst." Ulrich exclaimed what they were going to be doing when they heard the news of Cheetor's condition.

"Ugh, how worse?" Cheetor asked almost slightly worried to hear the answer?

"Woulda gone offline…permanently from how you guys function?" Jeremie slowly exclaimed in a deep and worried tone for the cat-bot's life.

Cheetor could tell that there was a lot of distress in his friend's voice; meaning he was generally worried. "Wooh, that's almost as scary from seeing you guys getting slag from….?" The cadet still vaguely recalls his dream about what almost happened to him and the human allies.

"Hugh?" The human teen boys replied puzzled, as to wondering what Cheetor was talking about?

"Ugh, nothing?" Cheetor quickly covered up, not wanting to tell his pals of that scary dream he had, no need to say something that terrible.

Rattrap then looks back at Cheetor while exclaiming this remark. "Guess you ain't as fast as ya' thought, eh kiddo." After all, Cheetor bragged about being fast to not get caught, and what goes and happens…he gets caught & injured.

"And you got the Com-Link trashed!" Rhinox said deciding to claim in his two cents with a stern face from recalling what Cheetor did, the busted new com-link to help in their communication problems.

Cheetor tried to calm the bots here down by telling them he proved that it worked with shrug off his shoulders. "He-Hey, at less I proved it worked?" That's gotta count for something, now they know about how far the new com-link would reach out before losing a signal from Energon Interference.

"Well, that is true? And it was just the prototype?" Jeremie shrug off to agree that it wasn't a 'total' failure to test the com-link system.

"And knowing you Jeremie, you'll have to help Rhinox think up more ways to make an advance com-link." Ulrich exclaimed from knowing his friend would probably try something like that to aid the Maximals.

Optimis was too steamed to listen and just asked Cheetor dead-seriously of what he was told when he return the young cadet back to base. "Rhinox said that you reported something about a mega-cannon." He wants some detail about what the trouble cadet saw out there.

Cheetor then remembered that, and turns to Optimis to report in on what he discovered. "Oh yeah, that's right. It must have blown off their ship in the crash." He turns over to the other side opposite to Optimis to tell his friends of what and who he saw there. "Scorponok and Razorclaw found it, so I 'Cat-it-in' and got the drop on both of them." He remarks in trying to make himself sound good on what work he did to make it seem like he had everything under control.

"Pethh…" Cheetor turn his head, as Rattrap was making a remark and pointed to state of the actually resolve thing of what had happened. "I'd..dugh….say that 'you' where the one that got dropped." Rattrap finished the apple by putting it in his whole mouth to eat off.

"Augh, Tarantulas was there too!?" Cheetor got defensive that time while Optimis looked on which the cat-bot turns around to explain a bit more. "H-He got behind me an-an-and…" Cheetor tries to make a recovery to explain what happen afterwards while he turns from Optimis to explain a bit more towards the others. "And when I tried to take him out…." He was gonna go on until he was cut off around there.

"Scorponok and Razorclaw capitalized your mistake." Optimis spoke out in interrupting Cheetor who turns around to notice the stern face his commander was giving him.

Cheetor hung his head in shame of his failure while slowly accepting the truth. "Yeah,….I guess so?" The cat-bot was feeling pretty low that from his mistake, he got shot in the first place.

Optimis added in this next thing to say while sounding very angry and very upset at what Cheetor has done, mostly from what the young cadet did to their new com-link. "Rhinox and Jeremie worked hard on that com-link for about a near month? And they don't have the components to build another." Optimis stares angrily at Cheetor for not only damaging an important device, but something to help the Maximals in their war against the Predacons. "You've cost us an advantage." This crew could have had an advantage to stay in touch, but one young cadet made a mistake by not listening and it cost them.

"But Optimis…" Jeremie was about to say until the Gorilla gave him a look that told him to 'be quiet' and he did without arguing anymore.

Cheetor protested to look up at his leader to understand that he did what he had to do to stop the enemy. "I couldn't just let them get away with the cannon." If he stood back to play safe, the enemy would have gotten away while he did nothing.

"Oh Yeah?" Rattrap just quipped which Cheetor turns to stare at the rat going on to make sarcasm of the kid's work in stopping the enemy. "You took care of dat' 'reeeeal' good, kiddo? Geheheheheh." He lets off a chuckle of humor to Cheetor from trying to do things on his own.

"Back off, Rat-Face!" Cheetor snaps with a glare before he then lost his temper, as he transformed into Beast Mode. "Reowhmm…." Soon he came close to Rattrap's face to nearly bite it off while snapping in lost of his temper. "Or I'll have a vermin-on-a-stick for lunch! Groowwlllnnnrgh!" He growls and almost gets ready to pounce, but Rattrap smiles, and because he see's Optimis' hand grabbing the back of Cheetor's furry neck and brought the cadet to his face.

"You back off. NOW!" Optimis snaps in a serious tone with his narrow eyes at the young-bot's lost of temper for nearly starting a fight.

Cheetor calms down as he realizes what he did, and tries to apologize after Optimis lets go of him to land on the ground. "Sorry Optimis I…" He was gonna make another apology excuse, but got cut again.

"Sorry isn't good enough." Optimis snaps off to tell Cheetor that just apologizing isn't enough for in this case. The gorilla shows a concerning face to explain things before making it become a deep serious upset tone expression. "We're in a war for survival and you treat it like it's a game." With the Maximals fighting to survive against the Predacon enemy, one member treats it like no big deal, but it's a very BIG deal.

Everyone was listening, including the teenaged members who were present: Jeremie, Ulrich and Cheetor,

"If you had obeyed orders, all of this could have been avoided." Optimis sternly scolded Cheetor, who was now downcast and lowered his head to stare at the floor in shame. Optimis looks other to the others, as he states his next decision out to the others. "I'm going to call in Dinobot from the permitter. We'll need his knowledge of the location of the Predacon base to do something about that mega-cannon." Optimis turns around after making this important issue, preparing to leave the scene.

Cheetor turns to Optimis, wanting to earn back his leader's 'trust' by offering a chance to help out. "I can get inside their base! Let me do it, Optimis?" He waits with a little chance of a smile in hoping this could help make up for things, but...

"You've done enough." Optimis said coldly, as he was not in the mood. And with that, he exited from the room's slide doors, leaving Cheetor crushed in being shot-down like that.

Jeremie walked up to Cheetor and put his hand on the cat-bot's head to help speak easy for the down bot. "Hey don't take it so badly, Cheetor. He was just worried about you. Everyone was when they brought you in?" Many here are just concern from what could have happened to Cheetor if he wasn't careful.

Cheetor just sulk still while looking over to the human boy and his friend, looking depressed while trying to be a bit cheered up for the self-confidence for their Maximal friend. "Maybe if I didn't choke when the spider showed up? I wouldn't have messed things up and gotten the com-link broke." Cheetor blames himself for not being more careful, just cause Tarantulas was in the neighborhood.

The boys looked at Cheetor, wanting to tell him it wasn't his fault; the truth was, it was his fault.

"Well we wish to help, but now Einstein and I have some work to find any Energon you guys have to help power that Warp Gate." Ulrich spoke to tap Jeremie on the shoulder, reminding the boy genius of their job to help the Maximals, as Ulrich was preparing to head out, he looks back at Jeremie still by Cheetor's side. "Come on Jer, we need to finish up before heading back to meet with your dad, William and Aelita by the end of the day." They have their own schedule to keep and other people awaiting them.

"He's right, we'll talk later Cheetor." Jeremie states out to pat Cheetor on the back in feeling a bit regretful before him and Ulrich leave the scene, leaving the Maximal trio for more silence that they were almost getting accustom too.

Rhinox broke the silence, as he spoke to Rattrap and Cheetor who both looked towards his way. "I better come up with a plan." The Maximal scientist soon started to exclaim of what he knows Optimis will soon be wanting to plan out once he finds Dinobot. "If I know Optimis, he'll want to move fast. Especially once we get the Trans-Warp Gate operational for a planet wide usage." They'll most likely chat about the mega-cannon and how to approach the Preds base to stop them.

"Yeah, with me up front." Rattrap muttered and whined while pressing his hands to his chest, knowing he'll be going into enemy territory. "Heh! No 'danks partner; da' pussy cat got us inta' hot oil, let him dance into Pred HQ." The rat looks over to points out in blaming Cheetor for the mess and rhetorically stating for the cat-bot to go instead of him to fix this mess of his.

"Well at least I'm not 'afraid' to do it!" Cheetor snaps back with a upset gaze at the rat who was making fun of him.

"You know? Dat's why you mess up, kiddo!" Rattrap pointed his finger to Cheetor while exclaiming this matter of what Cheetor seems to lack. "You don't have the sense to 'BE' afraid!" If Cheetor knew what to be afraid of instead of being reckless, then he think before acting.

"Oh Yeah!" Cheetor snaps back with an angry face to remark what the rat just went off and said to him. "I'll show you what I have the sense to do, moterhead!" Cheetor made one last remark out loud to state out his worth. "You And Big-Bot!" Cheetor looked back at Rhinox before he jumps off the table and out of the room by a different way.

Cheetor just ran out of a slide door on the other side of the room, as the two Maximals watched.