Nightscream's History
Nightscream was a survivor of Megatron's initial assault upon Cybertron. He went on to join up with the Maximal resistance.
When the Vehicons and their virus struck, Nightscream ran and panicked like many Maximals. Fleeing underground, he fell down a hole during the attack, and everything went dark. Though he would not recall the details later, somehow he wandered into a cave containing the fossils of a prehistoric bat-like creature. His internal DNA scanners used them to reformat him into an organic beast form and save him, at least temporarily, from the virus. Nightscream's mental state at this point is unknown, but he seems to have spent the next period trapped in his bat form, hiding and feeding off a strange fruit tree he found growing below the planet's surface. Eventually, Optimus Primal and company arrived and, distrustful, he began to spy on their activities, hoping to work out how to transform.
Nightscream fled when they spotted him, flying through the tunnels until they managed to corner him. When Jetstorm turned up, Nightscream accused them of leading the Vehicons to him, but after they began fighting the aero drones, he realised his mistake and used a sonic cry to disorientate the Vehicons. He subsequently lead the other Maximals to his tree. Cheetor suspected a trap on the part of Megatron, more so when the other Maximals ate the fruit and reverted to their beast instincts, but Nightscream objected loudly to the accusation. They were shortly found by Jetstorm again, forcing Cheetor to destroy the fruit tree to restore his friends, but to Nightscream's anguish. The young Maximal was injured by the Vehicons during the battle, and Primal reformatted him into a technorganic bat. Reveling in his new form, Nightscream used a Sonic Scream to destroy the aero drones and drained energon from Jetstorm. Afterward, he accepted Cheetor's invitation to join the Maximal team.
With Primal weakened by the reformatting, Cheetor, Nightscream and Rattrap went on a mission to gather information from a Vehicon factory. Nightscream discovered that disabling the Vehicon generals disabled all of the drones they controlled. However, the plan they developed was inadvertently ruined by Rattrap, who'd thought that Nightscream was in trouble. Annoyed at Rattrap's foul-ups, Nightscream suggested they get rid of him, but Cheetor angrily turned down the idea, saying that they should cover for their friend. Unknown to them, the discussion led Rattrap to join Megatron, albeit temporarily, and the Maximals later found themselves confronting their comrade. It was only when Primal interceded that Rattrap rejoined them.
After another encounter with Thrust, Nightscream became dissatisfied with Primal's ability to lead and suggested Cheetor take command, though his suggestion was rebuffed. They later discovered a factory of corpses with evidence of spark removal. The factory was destroyed in another battle, and Nightscream was saddened at the loss, though Rattrap pointed out they could build new bodies when they found the sparks. With Cheetor in command, the Maximals set about trying to access Tankor's memories so they could find out what happened. Nightscream and Blackarachnia were assigned to keep Thrust and Jetstorm busy, but Blackarachnia's belief that Thrust housed the spark of her lover, Silverbolt, resulted in her being overpowered by the two generals. Nightscream attempted to help, but was unable to stop Thrust extracting Blackarachnia's spark. Nightscream pursued the two generals, retrieving Blackarachnia's spark from Jetstorm before dropping an elevator on the Vehicon. After then defeating Thrust, he was able to restore the spark to Blackarachnia's body, and the pair joined Cheetor and Rattrap, who had discovered that Tankor was their old friend Rhinox. Rhinox, unfortunately, was siding with Megatron's view of a technological Cybertron, and Primal insisted they let him go.
Rattrap's attempts at accessing Nightscream's memories turned up the fact that he had a built-in DNA scanner, providing a vital clue. He clashed with the other Maximals over their losing of the Beast Wars, however, and was reminded that they'd lost friends during that war. The Maximals headed for the cave which had housed Nightscream's fruit tree, only to find it had been sealed off. As Nightscream tried to use his Sonic Scream to break through, they were attacked by Vehicons, and Nightscream was abducted. The Diagnostic Drone attempted to analyse Nightscream's physiology, but the young Maximal was able to escape, pursued through the underground corridors by the Vehicons. With the help of the other Maximals, he eluded his captors, eventually ending up in a cave full of fossils. The realisation that, had he not been caught up in himself, he could have saved other Transformers, caused Nightscream great anguish. Optimus commiserated with him, and the Maximals took up residence in the cave.
After Tankor found the Key to Vector Sigma and confronted the Maximals, Nightscream threw himself between the Vehicon and Optimus, taking a blast from the key and being turned into technomatter. Losing his sanity, Nightscream passed the technomatter sickness on to Blackarachnia before the other Maximals were able to use the organic goop they'd discovered to cure them both. Nightscream, Optimus and Cheetor rescued Rattrap from some overgrowing vines after Rattrap discovered a catalyst to improve the goo. Though Optimus forbade them from using the catalyst in combat, the other three used it to rescue Blackarachnia from the Vehicons, which almost spelled doom for the Maximal orchard.
After Primal discovered the location of the Plasma Energy Chamber, the other Maximals persuaded him to try it their way first, and, while Rattrap attempted to tap into Megatron's computer, the other Maximals fought against the Vehicons. Unfortunately, they were overpowered and converted into technomatter by the Vehicon drones. The clashing energies of the Key and the Plasma Energy Chamber cancelled each other out, restoring the four Maximals, who discovered that Optimus, Megatron and Tankor had all perished during the final battle. Finding no answers above ground, they traveled down to see the Oracle, and, finding Primal floating within, persuaded him to choose life and rejoin them.
On discovering a giant floating head with the likeness of Megatron, Blackarachnia and Nightscream attempted to infiltrate it, only to be repelled by its defences. The Maximals soon encountered a dragon-like beast dubbed Savage by the Vehicons, and shortly after, a wolf Maximal named Noble, whom Nightscream regarded as a kindred spirit and quickly befriended. When Noble went missing, Nightscream worried that Savage had killed their new friend. However, once they cornered Savage, Nightscream was able to talk to the beast, and it transpired that Savage and Noble were one and the same, a completely organic Transformer. Nightscream valued his new friendship, even rebuking the other Maximals over their treatment of Noble. When the other Maximals infiltrated the Council Citadel, Noble dashed in after them, and Nightscream followed. During their attempt to access Megatron's computer, Noble ripped Rattrap from the control harness and attempted to use it himself. Failing, he used a spark extractor to rip his own spark out and took over the giant flying head. In reality, Noble had been Megatron, trapped in his own organic half, and had taken advantage of Nightscream's compassion. Nightscream was shattered by the betrayal.
Noble himself lived on, though sparkless and lacking in intelligence. Nightscream didn't give up on his friend, and he searched Cybertropolis at length. During a battle with Vehicons, Nightscream was knocked out by Thrust but rescued by Savage, who dragged him off. Nightscream recovered to find himself in Noble's lair, being offered metallic fruit. An ill-advised rescue attempt on Rattrap's part caused Noble to revert to Savage and chase the pair. They were able to divert his attention to Thrust, and Nightscream insisted that they should try to help Noble, but Primal said he would come to them when he was ready.
Megatron's re-engineered Hate Plague virus infected all of the Maximals, causing them to fight amongst themselves until Optimus was able to help them overcome it. Despite this, Nightscream blamed Silverbolt for the virus's spread. After a spaceship crashed, the Maximals headed for the site. Nightscream and Silverbolt took the option of going by air, though Nightscream made it obvious he wasn't enthusiastic about being partnered with the new Maximal. After encountering a strange plant creature, the Maximals were surprised to discover it was a Maximal named Botanica. Once again, they found themselves fighting tank drones, and at one point Silverbolt saved Nightscream's life, finally turning the young Maximal's opinion of him.
Nightscream's attempts to persuade Silverbolt to be nicer to Blackarachnia were interrupted when the pair encountered two new Vehicon generals, Obsidian and Strika. The other Maximals joined the fight, but were outclassed and trapped by the new generals until Botanica rescued them. In search of the missing sparks, Optimus and Nightscream ventured underground, finding the ancient city of Iacon. While Primal was conferring with a hologram of Optimus Prime, Nightscream found himself being overwhelmed by Cycle Drones and was only rescued by the arrival of Savage. Later, Optimus revealed that he'd discovered the location of the missing sparks.
Nightscream, Cheetor and Silverbolt fought the Vehicons while the others infiltrated the giant floating head. However, they were too late to prevent Megatron's attempt at ascension, fueled by the captured sparks. As Megatron attempted to remove Nightscream's spark, Savage came to their aid and attempted to attack Megatron, only to be blasted by the evil spark. Savage fell to the ground and reverted to Noble, who died in Nightscream's arms. Enraged, Nightscream used his Sonic Scream to blast Megatron, apparently destroying the evil spark. The Maximals later held a funeral service for Noble. Though the Maximals celebrated Megatron's demise, their enemy lived on as a disembodied spark. Megatron was unable to maintain the use of a single body for long, and Nightscream and Cheetor tangled with him in the body of a deceased aero drone. Megatron eventually became stuck in the form of a Diagnostic Drone.
With the Maximals besieged on the giant head, Nightscream, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia attempted to keep the Vehicons busy. They were able to find a Vehicon factory, where Nightscream tricked Megatron and managed to blow up the facility. Though the trio was able to catch Botanica's pod when Rattrap ejected her from the head, they were unable to do anything when the Vehicons brought the giant head itself crashing to the ground. As the Maximals prepared for the Vehicon assault, Optimus consulted the Oracle, and they were bestowed with extra spark power. During the battle, Botanica became aware that the Vehicons were attacking the technorganic orchard, and she went to save it with Rattrap and Nightscream. Nightscream attempted to defend the fossil chamber, but was overwhelmed and, like the other Maximals, had his spark ripped out. Though unable to help physically, the Maximals offered Primal moral support during his one-on-one battle with Megatron. After the reformatting of Cybertron, Nightscream's spark was restored to his body, and he and the other Maximals found themselves in a technorganic paradise.
