Young Predator

Instincts

As the cycles slowly passed Abominus felt that he was gaining a better grasp on how the world worked. His pack leader was not the pack leader, but rather a powerful beta member. The true pack leader seemed to be the large flying red and blue other. So, if his leader wasn't leader, then what was he? Questions like these would burn inside Abominus in between food and recharge.

He also noticed that his pack members had many differences from him as well as each other. Four pack members were tiny and made of meat and fluids, while eight of his pack members were larger than the other four and made of metal like he was. Every member shared one thing in common with each other that he lacked, however; they were all bipedal. He wanted to walk on only two legs as well, and there was a piece of him that told him he could. He was just missing something.

The blue and pink other returned home after being away for a long time. Abominus still had trouble reading his chronometer, so all he knew was that it felt like she had been gone for three or four forevers. She transformed from her wheeled self into her walking self, and that was when it finally clicked for Abominus.

Transformation.

That was how he was supposed to walk like everyone else! He needed to learn how to transform.

"Ersi!" The tall male flesh other called out to the blue and pink other.

"Ey, Jak," The blue other called back to the smaller pack member, "Coolesi e glob desecahn gala. Okaa ju heh."

Abominus listened intently to them even though he couldn't understand yet what they were saying. He knew deep inside that he would learn how to speak like them if he just listened long enough. He already figured out that the little pack member was called Jak. Jak was very calm and the red and blue pack leader seemed to like him. He was also very close to the blue and pink pack member.

"No way!" Jak exclaimed, and Abominus tried to remember if that was a good phrase or a bad one, "Thks, Ersi!"

Ersi...Arsi...that was probably the other's name. She was Arsi. Abominus was proud of himself for having figured it out, but he needed a way to see if his language skills were truly improving. He needed a name he was absolutely certain about.

He turned at the sound of pede steps, and saw that his leader, as well as the three givers of food and fun were approaching. Okay, he had to think. What did they call each other? How could he prove that he knew what he was doing?

"Abominus, ertrio do stele nao. Weeljak isigan yu nao," His leader spoke to him, and he realized that he understood his own name as well as that of the white and grey other.

This was his chance!

Ratchet had insisted that they re-scan Abominus' spark and fuel pump to ensure that none of the garbage he had eaten lately was destroying his fuel lines. Ultra Magnus spoke softly and calmly to Abominus so that Wheeljack could take the scans without the Predacon freaking out on them. Bulkhead and Miko had followed them because they wanted to spend more time with Abominus, but Ultra Magnus really wished he didn't have to worry about them underfoot while he and Wheeljack were working. Miko snapping pictures of the Predacon was certainly not helping anyone complete their task.

Wheeljack scanned the spark, and they noticed that Abominus was growling in a low rumble. Ultra Magnus worried that might be the precursor to an attack, so he grabbed the creature's snout and began to pet him to keep him calm. Normally that worked, but this time Abominus jerked his nose away and started to growl louder.

"Uh oh, is he gonna go all Hulk on us again?" Miko asked bluntly.

"Whee!" Abominus roared.