I suppose I should have seen it coming. With Renkotsu having died again in the battle of Babylon Palace, it was only a matter of time before Naraku found himself a new henchman, other than his last two offspring Kanna and Byakuya. Then again, he’s been holding them both in reserve since before Babylon Palace. My team still doesn’t know exactly where they are now, but with Naraku and his twisted mind, anything’s possible.

But I digress. The new villain.

As you may or may not know, I tend to be something of a night owl, usually falling asleep about sunrise. I typically stay in at night, especially after the events of the past few months. But last night, I was feeling restless and went out for a late-night stroll. I really shouldn’t have, especially on my own. Fortunately, nothing bad happened on the way out. The return trip is another story. For it was then that I met her... and saw the look on her face. It’s burned into my brain, but the words to describe it just aren’t there.

Her name is Antagony, and her father was a version of Tarantulas (from the Beast Wars series). Apparently, he was a descendent of Unicron himself. This version accidentally blew himself up while trying to absorb a pair of Vok, and was killed in the explosion. Before his death though, he created a daughter (I’m not entirely sure how this happened, and she didn’t want to explain that part), giving her the beast mode of a gigantic black ant. She possesses the ability to project hard-light holograms, and her primary weapon fires bolts of corrosive acid. She also has the minor gift of clairvoyance, acting as more of a danger sense than anything.

After the Maximals and Predacons left Prehistoric Earth, Antagony woke from stasis and found a way to leave the planet: several months back when the Vok were going to destroy their “experiment”, Tarantulas had planned to leave Earth in a reprogrammed stasis pod, which would ultimately be used to destroy the Vok’s Planetbuster weapon. Before his death, he had prepared an identical pod for his daughter, but the transwarp drive malfunctioned and exploded partway through the trip. Due to her ancestry, Antagony survived the blast and found that she could now move between dimensions at will. She has been doing so ever since, and finally jumped into our world where she met Naraku. He shared a great deal of information with her, such as the fact that his current servants Byakuya and Kanna aren’t the originals, who are long dead. He created newer versions after he returned from Hell.

Now here’s the really bad news: Naraku’s looking for Keily’s heart shards as well, and he knows there’s one in our area. And he wants it. Seems to think it might make him stronger, or maybe get him control of the Heartless. At least, that’s what he told Antagony. (Considering this is Naraku, I wouldn’t believe for a moment that he’s telling the complete truth.) Fortunately, he hasn’t been able to find it yet, even with his new Kanna and her mirror. So he sent Antagony to scout around. And if she could eliminate some of my group (or me), or at least make us nervous, so much the better. And believe me, I’m plenty nervous because of her. Then again, when you’re unarmed and somebody’s holding you at gunpoint, anyone would be nervous. Especially since I saw her finger moving on the trigger.

Fortunately, it was about that point when reinforcements arrived.

“Me Grimlock not like nasty ant-bot threatening man-friend! Me Grimlock munch metal!”

If he could have moved a little faster, I’m sure Antagony would be in a lot of pain right now. But that little danger sense of hers kicked in, and she dodged him, causing him to take out an innocent chunk of sidewalk instead. I heard her laughing as she hovered over us, well out of reach.

“We’ll meet again some other time, boy! And next time, you won’t have your little friend near to help you!”

Okay. Now I’m really worried. (And annoyed that she called me boy. I’m 21, for crying out loud!)

I also confirmed one important thing: she’s not trying to bring back Unicron again. Apparently, she’s run into him a few times, and isn’t interested in his plans for galactic conquest. She has her own agenda... much like Naraku (and Tarantulas before he died). We know what it isn’t... but we also don’t know what it is. And that worries me.

After that encounter, I was in no condition to walk back to my place, so Grimlock called Slag over - apparently the Dinobots were all out patrolling for the night - and had him give me a ride home on his back. After I got back, I conked out. But the entire time I was asleep, I saw that look of hers in my dreams. And it was terrifying. (And coming from the guy who has literally been to Hell and back, that’s saying something.)

But I can’t let that stop me. Antagony or no Antagony, I’ve been part of the Resistance since the beginning, and I’m not about to quit now. Especially when there’s so much at stake. We’ve stepped up our efforts to find that heart shard, and once we’ve found it, we’ll be one step closer to victory.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.