Do you know about âGEATSâ?
While Iâve never had reason to spend much time among that ancient Germanic tribe, one night aboard the Atlantis Crosswise recounted to me a tale of those days. As a âmonster hunterâ, Crosswise has always approached his career with a certain degree of skepticism, which meant that the grim frankness with which he told me this story shocked me all the more. Iâll tell it to you now, and you can decide for yourself if it is true or not.
In those old days Crosswise had taken on a beast mode, a bear form that was better suited to stalking the wilds of Europe than his Cybertronian vehicle mode. One night while tracking some prey across modern day Scandinavia, he was alerted to the sound of battle from a local kingâs hall. Bursting through the doors, Crosswise was shocked to see his target, the hideous Skullgrin, doing battle with a human warrior. Whatâs more, the warrior had been holding his own!
Thinking quickly, Crosswise transformed and shot at Skullgrinâs arm joint, stopping what would have been a deadly swipe. With a battle sense as sharp as any Autobotâs, the warrior followed up by grabbing Skullgrinâs arm and tearing it clean from his body.
Critically wounded, Skullgrin loped off to his cave, where he perished. Meanwhile, the human warrior introduced himself as Beowulf, and declared Crosswise to be his bear-brother. Now, Crosswiseâs mission had been a lonely one, so he allowed the sense of kinship with the humans he had sworn to protect to wash over him, and he joined Beowulf and the kingâs subjects in their revels.
It was the noise of these revels that lured Skullgrinâs elderly Mini-Con partner Icepick to the hall the following night, and once again Crosswise and Beowulf did her battle. Chasing her back to the cave, Beowulf was able to use his impossible strength to steal Skullgrinâs sword and use it to slay Icepick with the help of Crosswise. Both were celebrated by the Geats, and with Crosswise happy to play the role of simple warrior, Beowulf rode a tide of goodwill to become king of Geatland.
Over the years Crosswise would focus on his hunt in Geatsland, keeping the kingdom of his new friend safe. Many a âtrollâ and âgoblinâ fell before him, and Crosswise was celebrated as Bodvar Bjarki, the âshapeshifting little bearâ. One day, at the height of Beowulfâs kingdom, word came that a dragon had been menacing the land. Corroborating the descriptions of the survivors with his internal logs, Crosswise knew this dragon to be Grotusque, one of his many targets. With the kingdom in a panic, only Crosswise, Beowulf and his nephew Wiglaf were brave enough to face the monster.
With Crosswise having focused his hunts on Geatland for so long, Grotusque had been able to scavenge the remains of his slain brethren, and when the three warriors met, he was far stronger than Crosswise had anticipated. The three fought bravely and soon the dragon had been defeated, but at the cost of Beowulfâs life. Already distraught, Crosswise was stricken with grief when Wiglaf furiously blamed him for the death of his uncle. Crosswise was banished from the kingdom, and it was ordered that Crosswiseâs deeds be erased from the records and the stories. Soon, Bodvar Bjarki was thought to have been a magical human, or even Beowulf himself in another guise.
Crosswise returned to Evacâs side aboard the Atlantis, and from that day on did not dally with the humans, until the Autobot-Decepticon war reached his gates. Even then, I can tell he still blames himself for the death of Beowulf, and perhaps the vigor with which he serves his commander is a remnant of the same verve he once carried in the cold north. Now, I do not believe that ancient humans were ever that strong, and perhaps time has dulled his memory. But I know this: Crosswiseâs feelings are real, and perhaps that is enough.