During the end of Rock Bottom in Transformers Prime, I noticed that the pede structure and strength of sound didn't really match Arcee's. Upon a closer look, it was hers illumined to appear like Megatron's but the sound of the stomping pede didn't work right. Then I noticed Miko's expression of alarm; Arcee would have been immediately recognizable and the cave wasn't extremely dark especially with the lights on the drill so why did she react the way she did? Simple, Megatron may have been close by. It didn't take him long apparently to get out and he seemed to have acknowledged Arcee and Bulkhead escaping as a bit of light suddenly appeared right as Megatron presented himself to Starscream so why didn't he do anything? He was after Starscream, not any of the Autobots because he knew there would be no benefit to risking another cave in had he gotten into a fight with them again so I thought how exactly would that work? Well, I'm about to tell you…
She remembered tumbling down as the rocks caved from under their feet and only heard a brief cry of surprise from Jack before everything went dark. When she came to, nobody was in sight. Not Jack, nor Starscream, or even Megatron was present; they had been scattered from the collapse. Hopefully, her human was still alive but when she called his name, no response was heard.
"Jack!?" She breathed erratically. Cleaning off some of the dirt, she limped slightly through barely opened tunnels hoping they wouldn't break again.
She didn't mean to cause Megatron's cannon to blast the ceiling unstable. It was just to prevent him from targeting Jack, that's all. Apparently, the outcome did not tip in anybody's favor because of it. Now, there was only hoping Bulkhead and Miko were safe and Jack was close by. He was pretty resilient for a human teen, she knew there was a very good chance he was alright…just a bit misplaced at the moment.
She continued on until a sudden whirring sound echoed. A drill? Jack? Bulkhead? Miko? One of them had to be operating it. As far as she was concerned, Megatron or Starscream couldn't operate one in close quarters without brushing against the ceiling and that would have been audible as well. It had to be one of her friends.
Arcee ran as fast as her strained limb allowed but the closer she thought the original sound emitted from, the farther the drill was leaving her so it was obviously on the move. When she ran into a clearing, two tunnels both drill-made were visible but there was also a red glow to the side of her vision. Turning towards it, her thought process hitched in fear but her blasters were out and loaded in seconds.
A rock was pushed away with such force, it shattered when it hit a bump on the cavern floor. Claws sliced another piece off revealing the purple of his waist before it paused and those blood red optics focused on her. Megatron was lying on his side with one arm supporting his weight while the other worked hard to free himself. To say he didn't look too pleased was the understatement of this wreck of a day. But his anger towards her didn't seem to last as he went back to breaking more rock swiftly. His fusion cannon was free so why wasn't he firing?
"Well?" Arcee urged, "Aren't you going to get a shot off me for what I did?"
He gave a small glance as he threw another rock piece towards the wall unearthing his upper thigh and part of his interface panel. "You are not my concern at the moment, femme. The one who has my undivided attention is Starscream who I will tear the wings off his back the instant I get my servos on that serpent."
Her blasters disengaged before she nodded shortly, preparing to leave his sights, "Have fun with that then."
"You missed your pet, by the way. He helped set me free from this boulder by accident trying to tunnel for you and after a brief chat, he scampered away leaving me to my devices. He had the chance to kill me, didn't take it unfortunately."
Arcee turned so fast, it made Megatron blink a bit from her movement which slowed his progress by a nanoclick. "Jack was here!? Where did he go!?"
The warlord actually smiled humorously, "And why would I tell the femme who dropped a ten ton boulder on my helm a detail such as that?"
The motorcycle rolled her eyes but slightly smirked as an idea formed. She peered at him intensely, "How about a deal?"
His struggling ceased, "And what exactly could you offer me at this time?"
"You want Starscream, I want to find Jack and our friends. For the time being, we can figure out a way to escape while search for them. If we find Starscream, I'll leave him to you. If we find any of my team, you'll leave them to me. Deal?"
Clicking his claws against the rock in thought, he gave the femme an odd expression of consideration before a toothy grin appeared. "We have an accord, my dear. Now if you would be so kind and help me like 'Jack' did, I would be most appreciative and trust me, I'm not very forgiving for the most part. To stay on my good side, I suggest you oblige."
With a huff, she kneeled to examine the rock before placing a well-aimed kick to the area where Megatron's legs were trapped. Several cracks formed and when he tried to push his legs through, the rock almost appeared to be breathing. She pranced slightly like a kickboxer squaring off with an opponent before landing another good blow. The rock busted in multiple places revealing silver but the color suddenly streaked to a blur as Megatron swung them to break the remainder of his prison. With all the rock blocking his escape gone, he crawled on his front before reaching the open area where he was finally able to stretch his legs.
Cracking his neck and raising intertwined servos above his helm to pop any sore plating, he purred, "Always stronger than you appear, Arcee."
Grabbing her waist suddenly, he pointed his cannon at her chest with a snarl. She growled back as he gave a harsh laugh, "Then again, why should I help you and your team? I could just kill you now and search myself, killing each and every one of them. I have plenty of time to find Starscream and after our little brawl the floor above, you are definitely not getting off scar free."
"You promised me you would help. I helped you now you help me! Are you really so above everything that you would break a promise for me to do your dirty work, delivering Starscream for you to kill? You know as well as I that Optimus would not approve of sending a bot to die at the hands of enemy yet here I am," Arcee narrowed her optics. "If you're so confident and willing to waste time that can be used elsewhere, then be my guest and shoot me."
Megatron looked solemn but his cannon drifted down until it was facing the rocky ground. A brief nod and he let go of her, watching as she landed the drop perfectly. "Then you shall live to die another day as will your friends. Don't think I won't remember that you betrayed one ethic of Optimus' for this."
"Duly noted," the Autobot clicked her glossa.
"Since you wish to take point, lead the way, my dear." The warlord smirked, bowing in a gentle manner and gesturing towards the tunnel she assumed was the direction Jack took. She didn't hesitate to run in front of him but kept a good amount of distance as they began to walk. Unfortunately for her, Megatron had long strides so he was side by side with her small form in less than a minute. To keep her lead, she walked a bit faster in frustration to the humor of the silver mech.
Arcee then slowed when she instantly spoke, "Why do you want to execute Starscream? I mean I get he's a bit of an aft but doesn't he hold like most information on the Decepticon cause that no one really knows?"
"Data is hardly a reason to keep someone alive anymore unless they are the enemy but well, everyone has their limits of usefulness," Megatron chuckled. "I wonder what I would find if I had you."
The femme roared, "Don't you dare! I'll die before I'll reveal anything to you!"
A grin still grew on his faceplates, "Well to your discretion, there are so many ways to contradict that. One being a method you had familiarized yourself with not too long ago. A cortical psychic patch perhaps?"
Arcee froze in her tracks and a sad expression of uncertainty dominated her. Megatron halted just in front of her, his grin fading to a neutral frown when he bent around to see why she had stopped. The femme shook her helm before gazing at the larger bot with distraught optics, "Please don't make me use that. I…can't handle it a second time, not after Shockwave."
No retort came from the mech as she continued in a brutally faster pace than prior. He glanced to the side before joining her. It eventually felt as though they had been walking in circles and surprisingly, Megatron made no complaints. They were both a bit fatigued but now all they wanted was to escape this labyrinth of hell.
"You didn't answer my question, Megatron. Why are you planning to kill Starscream?" She mumbled rather despondently. That didn't match her personality at all as far as he had known her.
Megatron sympathetically announced, "Predictability is a trait we Decepticons should never be known for. It seems Starscream lost his touch reviving Skyquake and finding that he has hoarded Energon from this very mine behind my back has yielded very unsatisfying results. As the humans would say, 'it's about time to put the old dog out of its misery', wouldn't you agree?"
Arcee let out a slight giggle, "Yeah, I've noticed that too but I don't recall him being that old."
"I said it was a human saying, not a very accurate one at that. He's become so bad that I have to resort to using human phrases because Cybertronian ones just don't fit anymore. What else can I say about him? He's very noisy, has such an ego at times he makes me look good, crass, stupid in terms of common sense and his dominance really doesn't impress. I would honestly hate to see how he does in berth if what his trine once told me is true. Take your pick, I have much more."
By this time, the femme was bending laughing and Megatron broke a smile as well. As annoying as the femme and her blasters can be in the battlefield, she certainly shared his sense of humor. Not many Decepticons or Autobots did surprisingly. It was also quite obvious she had many traits of his which made him wish she was a Decepticon instead. Oh how she would rip his crew a new one and he would just sit back and laugh the entire time.
Arcee snorted, "Oh no, I believe you like he is the least impressive mech or your team."
Both of them were chatting about Starscream's flaws until…
*BZZZZZZT* *BZZZZZZZT*
Arcee's helm perked up as the sound of the drill cutting through rock. She quickly looked back at Megatron who seemed to be sniffing the air before jolting towards the sound. With large footsteps running behind her, she quickly yelled, "Jack!"
But like last time, the drill's sound veered farther and soon faded. "Scrap, we can't track it when it can go places we can't."
Megatron slowed to a normal pace, "No, but-"
"MEGATRON!" A shrilled voice called. Starscream…of course he would return to "repay" his treachery. The both knew better.
In the corner of the visible cave, he appeared covered in dirt but before he was completely visible, he turned in the opposite direction of them and pressed a servo to the rock wall beside him as if he was listening for something. With a brief scowl, he slammed hide into the rock over and over again.
The femme lowered herself to the ground preparing to sneak close to attack the Seeker when a servo caught her shoulder.
"I thought you said I get to have him?" Megatron sneered.
"And I thought I told you that I planned on setting him up for you to punish. Don't worry, I won't take your fun, I'll just add a bit of humiliation to it," Arcee whispered impishly.
A soft growl of approval reverberated in her audio receptors but she paused when Starscream breached the wall only to see-Bulkhead! Her teammate looked weakened, holding a giant boulder that was surely draining his energy to a dangerously low level. When Starscream spoke, mocking Bulkhead, Miko was going in circles too countering the Seeker to avoid capture but she appeared a bit pale and slower than her usual bouncy self. When Starscream went for a grab of her, Bulkhead immediately kicked him back with a bark of words.
As Starscream lifted himself back onto his feet, rumbling of the drill Jack was supposedly driving shattered the tunnel walls before diving straight into the wall where Starscream stood knocking the Seeker down but missing Bulkhead by a few inches. Arcee smiled brightly as Jack helped Miko onto the drill but Bulkhead still remained entrapped with the Decepticon scum that was.
Her smile didn't cease as the drill pointed towards them and froze as the two humans glanced in both amazement and worry. They had every right to be on edge but Megatron stood there with his arms crossed, not even preparing to fire on the kids which Arcee appreciated greatly.
"Arcee!" They cried happily in unison.
The femme ran to the side of the drill and brought Jack into a two-second hug. The teen blushed a little but patted her shoulder. "I was looking for you but I kind of lost my way, if you can believe that. These drills aren't so easy to operate when it comes to using the navigation system for living entities."
"Can we also ask what's King Con doing here too?" Miko gulped.
Arcee glanced from the humans to Megatron and back before bringing her attention to the hole where Bulkhead was enduring Starscream's speeches. She gave a light frown, "I'll explain later and when I do, no telling Optimus or Bulkhead or the others alright?"
Both kids nodded in ambiguity. The femme then began to crawl stealthily towards Starscream and Bulkhead's position. "Stay here while I go save Bulkhead, and Megatron, play nice won't you?"
"Can't guarantee anything," the warlord huffed with amusement.
Miko peered up as Megatron leaned against the cavern walls to enjoy the show, occasionally glancing down with a predatory smile which made the girl cringe and turn her head slowly away. Jack, however, was far from afraid or at least he did a good job hiding his fear as far as the mech could tell. The boy did nothing but check on the other human, trying to ignore the large Decepticon as best he could.
Arcee was a trained assassin at one point in time. It was rare anybody heard her coming except those who had extremely sensitive audio receptors. The chance Starscream would hear her? Practically not even though a cave with virtually no sound could echo pretty easily. When she maneuvered her way directly behind him, she pulled out her blaster and let the noise do its magic. Sure enough, Starscream was shocked beyond comprehension with that brief moment quickly turning into despair as the gun moved closer. He whined in defeat like a puppy that lost its toy.
"How about you give Bulkhead a servo there and help him keep the ceiling up, would be much appreciated."
"B-but I'm not strong enough to hold it!" The Seeker cried.
Arcee narrowed her optics, "I'll give you to the count of three. One…two…"
The slim Decepticon shot his arms up immediately and Bulkhead lowered his, putting instant pressure on the flyer that made him smirk gleefully at the relief. "Thanks 'Cee! I was getting kind of worried there."
The femme clapped Bulkhead's arm in comfort, "No problem. See you around, Starscream."
"You're just going to leave me here!?"
"Um, yeah, I kind of think you deserve it. Don't worry though, I'm sure someone will come looking for you eventually," she laughed.
The Seeker gave another whimper of pain as the two Autobots stepped out of the room into the main junction of tunnels. Noticing to the right the glimmer of sunlight, they both glanced at one another before Bulkhead suddenly ran to Miko, picking her up excitedly.
"I'm sorry we missed Slash Monkey. Maybe next time?"
The human girl giggled, "Eh, we could always just bug Ratchet to Ground Bridge us to one of their foreign tour dates."
Arcee shook her helm as she approached Jack, a servo on her hip. "Well what did you think, Jack? Did you get your fair share of mining life?"
"Oh yeah," the teen coughed. "I think once is good for a lifetime. We should really think about getting Miko a harness too."
"We'll see. Bulkhead?"
The Wrecker turned his attention towards her, cradling Miko in his palm.
"Take the kids outside and if you need to beat some rocks in order to dig a big enough hole, just be careful. I…need to address something."
Bulkhead motioned for Jack to follow and all three disappeared around the corner in the direction of the supposed exit while Arcee turned away, striding towards the rock pile where Megatron ducked behind to prevent irritating the rescued green mech with his presence. He revealed himself as the cries of Starscream continued in the background.
She smiled, "He's all yours. Give him hell."
Megatron raised a brow with his own grin growing, "I'll send him your regards, femme. And let's keep this encounter between us, shall we? After all, I don't think the news of an Autobot rescuing me is going to fair well neither will your fellow Autobots approve of making such a deal that could almost have you tried for treason."
"Fair enough and Megatron?"
The warlord stared at her with utmost interest. She then looked to the ground almost shyly, "Thank you for keeping your word."
The statement was one he did not expect to hear but he simply nodded with respect and watched her run down the tunnel that led to the surface. That femme was an odd one. He found her willingness to make such a condemning deal very shocking, not that he would admit it. No Autobot had ever sunken so low like that for a shared enemy. Well played, Arcee. Perhaps they were indeed a bit too alike.
Arcee found Jack and Miko as Bulkhead finished creating a sizable hole to the outside world and let her human partner hop on. Both Autobots drove out to a considerable distance before regaining their natural forms. "We could finish them, here and now."
"Shame you didn't bring any grenades," Bulkhead snarled, punching his fists together.
"Would Optimus…finish them?" Jack hesitated.
Arcee's optics softened slightly but she refrained from revealing too much, "No, he probably wouldn't. Not like this."
Miko gestured at the cave, "But Optimus wouldn't rescue them either, right?"
"Let's go home," the green mech huffed.
As the two humans and Bulkhead began walking away, Arcee glanced back at the caves with solemn face but sighed before joining the others. Optimus wouldn't have saved them, especially not Megatron if there was a chance both were still able to escape on their own. She had crossed a huge line giving Starscream to Megatron but the Seeker was not her problem as far as she was concerned. He deserved to die but Megatron? It was weird to say she had a lot of respect for the Decepticon Leader more so than any other follower of his. He earned her respect enough times for her to doubt him unworthy otherwise.
It was their secret, a secret that wouldn't leave that cave even again…or in the case of Jack and Miko, would not leave that cave without some twists and modifications to the story. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
AN: I had begun noticing how similar Arcee is to most of the Decepticons unlike all the other Autobots and this raised some questions for me. Would she really do something like this? That scene at the end of Rock Bottom before Megatron and Starscream has Arcee looking back with an unknown expression which tells me something else happened in there and Megatron and Arcee were the only two we technically kept no tabs on with a brief scene between Jack and the former. What happened? The world may never know.