You know I keep a doc of all the bits I cut out of my stories and seven pages of that are from this chapter alone I hope all that work is worth it.
Arcee snuck along the corridors quietly, carefully avoiding the occasional camera in each hall. Luckily they were few and far between, as only a select few even knew about where they kept the stasis pods. Even fewer were foolish enough to free whoever may be trapped inside, risking being imprisoned in one themselves.
But for the sake of someone who didn't deserve it, Arcee would be taking that risk.
She made it back to where Knock Out's pod was, wiping a bit of frost off the glass to see his stasis locked form inside. He looked almost peaceful, like he was just in recharge. But really, it was nothing more than a deathless sleep.
She had wondered where he had gone, none of the others knew. They had grown to be hesitant friends, working together to rebuild Cybertron. Both had lost someone they were close to, and Knock Out had found comfort in just having someone else to talk to. She thought he'd abandoned her, and she had been angry. She had opened up to someone again only for them to leave. But she was wrong.
She extended the blade on her arm, backing up and poised to strike when she noticed the pod beside him. Sunstreaker. Another bot that had gone missing. Another Autobot. Knock Out's assistant and the closest thing he had to a family. She couldn't let him stay in here too.
With a quick motion, she cut the lock on each pod, the doors cracking open and letting out a hiss as they released the Cryogas inside. Sunstreaker stumbled out first, rubbing his head in confusion. Knock Out stumbled out a moment later, and Arcee suppressed a gasp upon seeing him. Sunstreaker looked at him shocked as well.
No longer was he the well polished sportscar she'd known. Various bits of his frame had been replaced, and not at all professionally. His doors had been removed, leaving his arms bare. The wheels on his back were all but gone, obviously torn away and now replaced by a crude set of seeker wings. And though he'd never worn one before, a Decepticon badge was scratched into his chest, deep enough to be crusted with dried Energon.
"Knock Out… Are you alright?"
"Arcee?" Knock Out muttered in confusion, flinching back as she reached for his arm. It took him a moment to even notice his own ruined body, but when he did his optics widened and he looked down at himself in horror before looking back to Arcee fearfully.
"What happened to me?"
Thunderhoof awoke sore, confused, and with an awful taste in his mouth. He remembered talking with the human child and then being hit with a sudden and agonizing surge of pain. Most everything after that was pretty fuzzy, but he was sure someone was yelling somewhere. All he knew is that he was now in a dark room, lying awkwardly on his side with a monitor attached to him.
Great. Back to being mostly helpless.
He shifted onto his back, not entirely comfortable with having been positioned on his side, one antler hanging off the top of the berth. The movement was painful, but for the most part, tolerable. Giving himself a moment to rest again, he eventually forced himself to sit up, disturbing his ailing body enough to throw him into a fit of coughing. It was only worsened as he realized he was coughing something up, and upon wiping his mouth with his hand did he realize he was hacking up his own Energon.
Cursing silently to himself in annoyance, he shook his hand to get the offending liquid off. This was not a predicament he would've ever wanted to be in, especially not twice.
"I, uhh, don't think you're supposed to be up yet."
Thunderhoof jolted in surprise at the sudden voice, before doubling in again at the sudden movement and coughing again. Primus did everything hurt. He sat there a moment to calm himself before glancing up to see who had spoken.
The human boy. Nothing to be worried about.
"Nothing's gonna keep me down for long kid." He said between intakes. His body was overheating from stress already, and it was desperately trying to put his temperature back to normal. Still confused about what had exactly happened to him, he asked the boy, "How'd I end up back in here anyway?"
"I…" The boy, Russell he believed, faltered, likely a bit scared at being in the same room as Thunderhoof, before responding, "I guess the Predacon that attacked you was venomous?"
"Of course it was." He grumbled, sitting back up. He looked around the room somewhat curiously before carefully swinging his legs over the side of the berth. No one else was around, and it was a bit strange that the boy would be around without any Autobots. Taking a moment to stretch his injured leg, he asked, "Where's the doc?"
Russell didn't answer, and a quick glance at him showed Thunderhoof that he was obviously nervous. He took that as a sign the kid was probably here on his own, a surprisingly stupid move for the Autobots, but one that didn't bother Thunderhoof in the least. He considered leaving the place, but a casual roll of his wheels reminded him he was still booted. Though, there were always other ways to escape…
And then much to the tiny human's fear, the large bot slowly slipped off the berth and onto the ground, gently and with uninjured leg first. He could stand, but only if he kept most of his weight on his uninjured leg, though he still leaned against the berth.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Russell asked nervously, slowly backing away.
"Same thing any self respecting bot would do when captured by the enemy, escaping." Thunderhoof replied, not even bothering to look at the boy as he started working on removing the monitor lines attached to him.
"What? You can't do that!" Russell shouted, doing his best to hide his fear. This time Thunderhoof bothered to look down at him as he continued, "You're still sick. The Autobots will find you before you even make it out of the woods!"
Finally removing one of the lines from his arms, Thunderhoof responded, "Yeah? Well I'll be scrapped if I don't at least try."
Russell backed away more, considering to run to another part of the ship so he didn't risk getting kidnapped by the injured mech in his escape. Thunderhoof may not have seemed too interested in him at the moment, but he wouldn't put it past him. He had nearly made it to the cracked door when the ship suddenly lurched.
Already unstable, Thunderhoof lost his footing and fell to the ground with a crash at the movement, taking down some of the machines he was still attached to as he fell. Russell just barely managed to keep his own footing, crashing into the wall instead. Thunderhoof sat up slowly, coughing again from the sudden shock to his body, and clutching his arm where one of the lines had been torn from him.
Energon dripped from his mouth, but that didn't seem to bother him as he yelled, "What in The Pit was that?"
Russell hoped it was Sideswipe or Sunstreaker, at least one of them should have the sense to come back and get him right? Arcee had gone on without him, she had raced off and gotten Bob without so much as offering him a ride home. He peeked around the cracked door and saw nothing, but heard a noise he couldn't place.
Thunderhoof on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what it was. He perkered up curiously at the noise, and made an effort to get up, grabbing the medical berth in an attempt to stand. He gave up quickly, opting to kneel instead as the sound, the voice, approached.
The door was pushed open, and Russell stumbled back as another Cybertronian he didn't recognize walked in from above. She resembled a spider, black and purple with six legs clinging to the ceiling. Russell assumed she was another Alchemor prisoner, but from the slight confusion on Thunderhoof's face, he wasn't sure. Then again, what were the chances he'd know them all anyway?
"Seems there really was someone of interest on this ship, just not in our best interest." She said, jumping to the floor and approaching Thunderhoof. She inspected the confused mech, and leaned over him to wipe a bit of Energon from his arm, inspecting it as she continued, "You are looking rather rough though, it'd be a shame to just let you go to waste..."
Thunderhoof pushed her away, doing his best to stand as he growled, "Whatever you're planning, drop it. Wouldn't take long for me to take you out."
"Ohh, feisty one aren't we~" She grinned, but backed away as Thunderhoof finally managed to stand and tower over her. "But if you must know, I'm here for information about the owners of this ship."
Thunderhoof huffed in annoyance at her words, saying, "An' what do you expect me to know? It ain't my ship."
"Maybe not, but you may know its owners, correct?"
The mech in front of her was silent for a moment, before he eventually asked, "What's it matter to you?"
Thunderhoof's hesitance told the spider all she needed, that he knew but didn't want to tell. He avoided looking at her, glancing around a bit, before setting his optics on something in the corner for a moment. The spider glanced over as well, and to her delight saw none other than a little human hiding behind the berth, peeking around the corner. He didn't seem to notice that the spider had seen him, which was all well and good for her. The large mech in front of her on the other hand, showed the slightest bit of concern.
How cute, it seemed the big tough mech had a soft spot for a cowering human.
Needless to say, the boy was certainly uncomfortable with the situation, but also curious, continuing to watch as the Cybertronians eventually went back to talking. He had grown so used to the bots speaking English, it never even occurred to him they'd obviously have a language of their own. It sounded eerie, mechanical and unnatural, and it was hard to believe a species that spoke in such a way could speak English almost instantly. But their facial expressions were still readable, and some of the things the other said seemed to concern Thunderhoof. He eventually said something back aggressively, but the anger quickly faded away as the spider turned her head in Russell's direction and smiled.
"Your human pet is quite the cute one." She said, reaching for Russell and speaking in perfect English. The boy yelped and ran around the berth, trying to avoid the monitors Thunderhoof had knocked down earlier, but stopped as he realized he had nowhere to go. The spider tried to follow, but Thunderhoof slipped a leg in front of her to block her off.
"That ain't yours." He growled.
"It's not really yours either, I'm sure." She huffed, but leaned away. She was silent for a moment, looking around the room and then glancing out of it. There seemed to be no sign of anyone else around, but she still asked, "Are you alone?"
Thunderhoof didn't answer, just staring down at her in annoyance. It seemed he was beginning to think of her as nothing more than a pest, and she felt the need to change the way of things. She approached him again, crawling up his frame a bit, whispering something in their language. Something that disgruntled Thunderhoof, and he tried to push her off again. Seeing how he still wasn't willing to tell her anything, it seemed as good a time as any to do what she had hoped to do in the first place. It was always easier without witnesses.
Leaning up towards Thunderhoof again, the mech let out a growl as she purred, "Now I wonder what you taste like."
And then her face split open.
Thunderhoof yelled out in a mix of fear and disgust, kicking her away as hard as he could with his injured leg and slipping to the ground again. She slammed against the wall, while he landed hard on his back, momentarily stunned as pain coursed through him. He then transformed in a rush of panic, engine revving loudly. He was still blocked by the boot, but did his best to ram her.
To his surprise, the boot broke instantly. It took only a moment of realization to figure out they'd probably just used an Earth contraption on him, and there was no reason for anything strong enough to restrain a Cybertronian to be used on an Earth vehicle.
How ironic. Deceived by Autobots.
He rammed himself against the spiderbot as she made another lunge at him, driving her into the wall. His handling was a bit off, one wheel a bit slower to respond than the others due to being a part of his injured leg, but a much easier way to travel. He transformed back to bot mode a moment, doing his best to kick the spiderbot again for extra measure. He stumbled to the ground, pain from his leg and the discomfort of his stressed frame disorienting him a bit, but he managed to focus long enough to remember the tiny human near him.
"C'mere kid!" He yelled at Russell, the boy was just out of his reach, having watched the fight in a mix of fascination and terror from his hiding place. He looked up at Thunderhoof unsurely, but jumped as the mech transformed back to his vehicle mode and shouted, "It's me or Spider Glitch!"
An obvious choice, Russell scrambled over to Thunderhoof without so much as a second thought, climbing up on one of his seats as the tractor slammed his door and raced out of the room and down the halls. He could only hope the spider would be out long enough to make good distance. Something just wasn't right about her.
"You alright kid?" Thunderhoof asked as he escaped the ship. The boy had curled up on his seat, and made no effort to move or respond. Realizing the boy was probably scared witless, Thunderhoof sighed, "Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you."
The boy said nothing, and Thunderhoof accepted the silence for a moment. He had more important things to focus on than a rightfully distrustworthy human, like not passing out. The short fight with the spider had given him a rush of adrenaline for a quick moment, but it was already wearing off, the pain and dizziness returning worse than before. He just had to make it far enough away and hope the freak wouldn't follow.
Letting out a grunt, Thunderhoof eventually said, "Look, I know you don't like me, and I ain't too fond of you, but I need you to talk to me. I'm tired and dizzy, and it's much easier to keep focus when someone's talkin' to me, alright?"
"Fine, Why'd you do it?" Russell asked after a moment, surprisingly brave enough to question the former Decepticon, "Why'd you save me when you could've gone on your own? Is it so you could take me to your Decepticon friends?"
"What, and spend another century in a stasis pod?" Thunderhoof asked with a huff, "You were right kid, I don't have the strength to make it back to the Decepticons, best I can do is stay on the Autobot's good side, and keeping their pet safe is a good start."
"I'm not their pet!"
"Right, friends." Thunderhoof muttered back sarcastically, "Can't see what the Autobots see in your kind."
"Respect, that's for sure." Russell huffed back, crossing his arms.
"Trust me, if you knew what I knew you'd respect 'em a lot less." Thunderhoof assured. His tires seemed to slip under him and he swerved a bit on the road, but he continued on slower. With any luck the spiderbot had been knocked out by his kicks and hadn't followed them. He was hoping so, because he was beginning to have a harder time focusing. Luckily they had made it to a road, so there was less to run into.
Shifting uncomfortably from the rising heat in Thunderhoof, Russell asked, "What do you know about them?"
"Urgh, nothin' I wanna talk 'bout…" Thunderhoof mumbled, swerving a bit again to keep himself on track as his injured side faltered. He felt Russell grab at his dashboard to steady himself. "Just, keep talkin' t'me alright?
"I think it'd be best if you parked for a minute, you're too warm." Russell said, concerned for both himself and Thunderhoof, "You're hurt and sick. You need to stop."
Thunderhoof just growled back, continuing on a bit smoother. It wasn't until another car finally came down the road and honked its horn did Thunderhoof swerve again, letting out a cry of alarm as he failed to right himself. True to Russell's fears, Thunderhoof seemed to have succumbed to mild delirium, and his engine roared threateningly at the car as it zoomed past and he barely avoided it.
"Thunderhoof, please! Calm down!" Russell cried, grabbing onto the tractor's seat to avoid getting tossed around. Thunderhoof tried to obey, but his current state wasn't allowing him. He attempted to right himself again, but got a little too close to the edge of the road and tumbled into a ditch.
On one hand, a passing Cybertronian ship shouldn't be too big of a deal. Earth was a common stop for Cybertronians due to the Energon stores buried around, and most knew better than to reveal themselves to natives of any planet. It was common sense really. On the other hand, having a huge Decepticon logo on your ship doesn't exactly make you seem trustworthy.
Honestly, all this was making Strongarm somewhat overwhelmed. She was trying her best to focus on the current mission at hand, but too much was on her mind. They already had to deal with an entire Decepticon outbreak, one of which was a chronically ill and aggressive Cervicon they weren't allowed to contain, and now the fact that Autobot war veterans were criminals?
It was unbelievable. Sunstreaker didn't surprise her, Knock Out she knew nothing about, but Arcee? She had looked up to her, and the fact she had possibly been working with them… She didn't know what to think.
Though, she didn't have much time to think as Drift braked suddenly, something catching his attention. They were nearly to the ships, but Strongarm braked as well to see what had distracted him, and was at a bit of a loss of words when she saw.
"Okay, break's over, get up! You can't just lay there forever!"
A familiar blue tractor halfway in a ditch, and an even more familiar child by his side, leaning against him, and banging on his door. Thunderhoof did nothing at the nuisance and just mumbled something incoherently.
"Russell? What're…" Strongarm trailed off, not entirely sure what to say as the boy heard her and turned around. Drift beside her said nothing, and though she couldn't see how he felt in vehicle mode, she could only assume he was just as confused as she was. "What're either of you doing here? Together?"
"Strongarm, Drift!" Russell got up from against Thunderhoof and ran to Strongarm, explaining, "Something came into the ship and attacked us, and I don't know if she might be following!"
Checking if there were any vehicles coming down the road, Strongarm transformed and said, "You ran off with a convicted criminal Russell, do you know how dangerous that is! Thunderhoof could've taken you straight to the Decepticons!"
"But he wasn't going to! Thunderhoof saved me!" Russell explained, looking back to the tractor, who still hadn't moved. "That… Thing tried to grab me before she attacked Thunderhoof. We managed to escape, but we didn't make it too far before Thunderhoof fell in the ditch. I really don't think he should be moving around too much."
This time Drift transformed and walked over to the barely responsive Thunderhoof, one hand at a sword and the other towards the former Decepticon. He only took a few steps before he could already feel the heat radiating from the other.
"Knock Out said many of Thunderhoof's systems have been damaged. His cooling system seems to be among them." Drift said, placing a hand on Thunderhoof's hood, "He's very obviously overheated."
Thunderhoof revved his engine angrily at the touch, but still didn't move or transform. Drift backed away next to Strongarm as she inspected the tractor from afar, thinking of what to do.
Looking up at the bots, Russell asked, "So what are we going to do with him then? He's not going to get anywhere like this."
"No, and he obviously won't listen, either…" Strongarm sighed, thinking, "I could pull him on my trailer, but I'd have to go all the way back to the scrapyard to get it."
"Maybe if we let him sit a while more he'll cool down?" Russell asked, but was quieted by Drift as he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.
The two bots transformed back to their vehicle modes, Russell running to hide beside Strongarm, waiting for the oncoming car to pass by. Hopefully whoever passed would ignore their predicament. Strongarm could make an excuse if needed, but it would be much easier if they just went on their way. In fact, she was already trying to come up with an excuse as to why a tractor would be halfway in a ditch at the edge of the woods.
As luck would have it, she had nothing to explain. But it wasn't good luck on her side, because the vehicle that came by was no other than Steeljaw. He transformed upon recognizing the Autobots, growling to himself as the two transformed yet again to face him, drawing their weapons. Steeljaw was a bit scuffed up and dented, but still ready to fight.
"There's just no escaping you Autobots today, is there?" He asked, taking a fighting stance, "But you two should be much easier to handle than that thing."
"Oh, so now you decide to show up?" Thunderhoof mumbled in irritation, almost incoherently.
Steeljaw's ears perked at the other's words, having not even noticed Thunderhoof's half visible form in the ditch. He had been too distracted by the Autobots, but knowing that a valuable ally was nearby, he grinned and pounced at them. As expected, the Autobots jumped out of the way, their little human friend slow to follow. Steeljaw snatched him up.
Running up to the other, Steeljaw held Russell up in a threatening manner towards the Autobots as he said, "Thunderhoof! I knew what that medic had said was a lie, help me take these Autobots out!"
"Actually, think I got a better idea…" Thunderhoof muttered, finally transforming back to robot mode, stumbling as a wave of dizziness hit. Steeljaw looked to him in slight concern, finally noticing Thunderhoof's rough shape. The bot could hardly stand, one leg constantly trembling under him, and heat radiated off his body. Coughing up a bit of Energon, Thunderhoof saw the other's concern and laughed to himself in bitter amusement.
And then he decked Steeljaw in the face.
Russell fell from his grip as Steeljaw was knocked back, Thunderhoof using his free hand to catch him and lower him to the ground as the Decepticon fell. The boy ran to Drift and Strongarm, both looking on in shock at the sudden turn of events, and even Steeljaw lifted himself up to look at Thunderhoof in utter disbelief and betrayal.
"I don't think you know just how long I've been wanting to do that." Thunderhoof said.
"You traitor!" Steeljaw snarled from his place on the ground, jumping to his feet. Energon leaked from his mouth, and part of his face was cracked. Thunderhoof had hit him hard. "How dare you! I've done nothing but try to help you, you and all the Decepticons on this planet!"
"By taking over some ball of dirt." Thunderhoof sighed, "Is it really that hard to notice most've us just wanna go home?"
"Cybertron doesn't want us, why would we go back?" Steeljaw growled, wiping the leaking Energon from his face, "We have nothing there, neither of us. Anything we may have had before the Autobots destroyed everything is gone, including your empire. I saw the datapads Thunderhoof, and so did you. There's nothing left."
Thunderhoof didn't respond, just standing and thinking to himself. He hadn't read any data on himself, he hadn't thought it important. But even in his current mental fog, Thunderhoof knew Steeljaw was manipulative. He said what he knew would get others on his side, and this could easily have been one of these things. But for once he couldn't have been lying, the Autobot medic had said the same thing, and though he had doubted him then, now he was beginning to believe him.
Everything he'd worked for was gone. Cybertron had nothing for him anymore, what could Earth do to replace it?
Glancing at the ground and then to Russell, Thunderhoof said something that probably surprised himself more than the Autobots or Steeljaw, "Well maybe the Earth don't want us here either."
Steeljaw stared at Thunderhoof in shock, only pulling himself back togetherin time to slap a pair of stasis cuffs out of Strongarm's hands. He growled at both her and the approaching Drift, before transforming and driving off, stopping just a moment in front of Thunderhoof to say, "I do hope you regain your wits back soon, it's be a shame to lose the strongest member of my pack."
He raced off, Strongarm making way to follow but being stopped by Drift. Thunderhoof ignored them both, dropping back to the ground and groaning. He was dizzy and sore, and despite the mark he left on Steeljaw, weak. The Autobots and Russell turned to look at him in concern as he lay there.
He didn't even bother to look up as he said, "Could you hurry up and tell me to follow you to wherever before I decide to just offline here?"
"So what do you want to hear about first?" Arcee asked.
Bumblebee was sitting there, arms crossed and thinking. Fixit was cleaning out Knock Out's damaged optic, and Arcee had been wiping the dust off his wings to keep him from complaining any more than he already was. Knock Out was not happy with having a glitchy Mini-Con take care of him, and had grown even more agitated as his headache from being beaten against the wall seemed to worsen.
"Well for starters, why is Knock Out a jet?" Bumblebee asked, "I don't see how a bot would boast so much about his speed and appearance, and then just give all that up. It doesn't make sense."
"I told you, it was to chase down that blasted Insecticon." Knock Out mumbled, but a look of disappointment from Arcee made the seeker sigh, "Fine. I took on this mode because…"
Knock Out hesitated, the others looking at him intently as he eventually growled,, "I hate this mode. I was forged a flyer, but I had wanted to be a vehicle. I went through too much trouble to find the perfect alt mode, only to be forced to give it up so soon."
Bumblebee looked at the other in confusion as he said, "No one should've forced you to give anything up."
"Oh they shouldn't have." Knock Out growled, pulling away from Fixit, and glaring at Bumblebee with his good eye as he growled, "But the fact is you're precious Autobot council did. I'm a former Decepticon, remember? As far as they care, that's all I've ever been, or ever will be."
Bumblebee just stared at Knock Out incredulously, eventually saying, "No. That's immoral, they wouldn't do that."
Now standing, Knock Out walked up to Bumblebee, pushing Arcee out of the way to say, "Then explain to me the fact that after I was forced into stasis, I awoke to find every piece of my alt mode replaced with that of a flyer's."
Bumblebee seemed to think to say something back, but Knock Out hushed him and continued, "If I had known Autobots experiment on their prisoners while they're in stasis, I wouldn't have even thought to join this faction. In fact, I think I'm beginning to regret it."
"Knock Out!"
Arcee had put herself between Knock Out and Bumblebee, pushing them away from each other. Knock Out growled in irritation, but after a moment sat back down by Fixit, the Mini-Con looking unsurely towards Arcee and Bumblebee as he went back to cleaning the other's injuries. He went ignored, as Bumblebee looked at the ground, Arcee muttering something into her hand.
"He doesn't mean it, You know he doesn't." She said, looking to Bumblebee.
"I can't be so sure Arcee…"
Arcee said nothing back, and Bumblebee turned away, now distracted by the sound of approaching vehicles. Drift and Strongarm pulled up and parked, the latter letting Russell out before transforming. Thunderhoof came rolling after them slowly, and parked against one of the shelves lining the scrapyard. He said nothing.
"What happened?" Bumblebee asked immediately.
"Russell says something attacked him and Thunderhoof." Strongarm replied quickly. Both Knock Out and Fixit stopped what they were doing and got up to check on the aforementioned mech as she continued, "Drift and I found them at the side of the road, Thunderhoof overheated and a bit delirious. Russell was with him."
"Thunderhoof kidnapped Russell?"
Running over to Bumblebee, Russell defended the other, saying, "No, he saved me, Bee! Twice."
"Good luck explaining that one to your dad, kid." Knock Out muttered, putting a hand on Thunderhoof's hood. He was definitely overheated, and uncomfortably so. There wasn't much to cool him off here as far as Knock Out knew, he'd have to ask Fixit. But until then, Thunderhoof would have to resort to cooling down slowly.
But it seemed Thunderhoof wasn't having it, and upon an attempted scan from Knock Out, he finally transformed, managing to stand for a moment before he collapsed back to the ground in a fit of coughing. Energon still dripped from his mouth, and he was noticeably dizzy and exhausted, but he still stared at Knock Out in an accusing way as best he could.
"Now what else are you hiding?" He asked between intakes, trying to cool himself, "That spider said she was lookin' for both of you."
"Spider?" Fixit questioned, looking to the larger medic beside him. But Knock Out said nothing, and Arcee walked up next to him, looking the slightest bit irritated.
Ignoring Fixit, Thunderhoof continued to stare at Knock Out and say, "Shoulda known you weren't always an Autobot. You're different, much more agreeable."
Arcee spoke in place of Knock Out, demanding, "Thunderhoof, who did you talk to?"
"Some Spider Glitch whose face split open like some sorta freak." Thunderhoof laughed bitterly, his current delirium making the whole situation somewhat funny to him. Knock Out seemed unnerved at his words though, and it seemed to amuse Thunderhoof more as he said, "Asked if I knew a Decepticon traitor named Knock Out, or his 'pretty little femme friend'."
He said that last part mockingly, not so much as to make fun of Arcee as to mimic the tone the Spider he'd encountered earlier had used. It made Arcee angry though, and Knock Out slightly panicked. Bumblebee knew immediately who Thunderhoof seemed to be referring to, but everyone else was clueless and concerned. This concern only grew as Knock Out's hand suddenly transformed into a saw.
"Did she bite you?" He asked, surprisingly calm despite the rigidness of his body. He backed away and inspected Thunderhoof from afar, confusing everyone further.
"No?" Thunderhoof said, eyeing Knock Out's saw unsurely. Though he was still cautious, it seemed to be enough for the medbot, and his saw turned back into a hand. He stayed silent though, and no one else was sure what to say.
Seeing as how no one else seemed willing to break the silence, Arcee was the one to finally ask, in a surprisingly calm voice, "Thunderhoof, did you tell her anything, or did she tell you her name? Do you remember?"
"Why would I tell her? She's just 'nother con out to kill me, where you bots have saved my tail more than once now. I know who to trust." He spat, his earlier amusement turning to disgust. "The name Airachnid familiar to you?"
Come to Cybertron we got vampire spiders, dragons, and corrupt justice system
