Disclaimer: Still the same.
Reminder...
:blah: is comm speech
[blah] is Bee speech
"blah" is thoughts
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Chapter 12: Oops
Lowering it's head, the unicorn fired.
A bolt of electricity shot forth from the tip of it's horn. Smokescreen didn't have time to run or duck, but he did have time to fall. Jerking away when the Unicorn Pred had started to aim, Smokscreen lost traction and fell backwards. The energy flashed past his head and struck the tree several feet behind him. With a loud crack, the tree exploded, showering Smokescreen with bark and slivers of wood.
Stunned, Smokey lay there on his back for a moment, just long enough for the unicorn to attack again. With an angry shriek, the Pred reared up, large cloven hooves aiming for the Autobot's head. Running on instinct alone, Smokescreen rolled away just before the pale blue hoof slammed into the ground where his face had been.
"Scrap!" He gasped as he was forced to roll again as the unicorn stomped the ground with it's forelegs, determined to crush his head for insulting it. It was like some ridiculous game; first roll one way, then the other and try not to get stomped to death.
Thank Primus no one else was there to see this. Smokescreen knew he'd never live this down if the other Autobots saw him rolling around in the dirt. Managing to get enough distance between him and the pissed off Pred, Smokescreen got to his feet.
Only to face the beast head on.
"Ahhh!" He screamed as the unicorn sank it's teeth into his arm. And what teeth they were, "Wha... what the Pit? Are you part Sharkticon?"
The unicorn didn't sport normal, short, peg-like teeth used by herbivores to chop and grind plants. No, this beast had a mouth full of sharp, serrated knives that sliced into Smokey's armor plating like tin foil. It shook it's head back and forth, farther slicing through the metal and into wires below. Smokescreen did the only thing he could think of. He hauled back and punched the unicorn in the cheekplate.
With a pained squeal it let go, some of Smokescreen's energon dripping from it's chin. Taking the opportunity, Smokescreen beat a hasty retreat.
:Smokescreen to base. Ratchet, come in!:
It took several agonizing seconds before.. :Ratchet here, what do you want Smokescreen? We have a big problem on our hands here:
A bolt of energy struck the tree right next to him, exploding and showering Smokescreen with more splinters. He was sure he'd be picking wood out from under his plating for days, :I have a pretty big problem too, Ratchet. I could really use some back up.:
:What do you mean you need back up?:
Behind him, the enraged whinny of the unicorn signaled the Pred wasn't far behind, :Well, I'm being chased by a Predacon that's shooting lightning at me!:
:What do you mean you've got a Predacon shooting lightning at you?:
:Just that, this Chaos Bringer Spawn is trying to fry me!: Stumbling over some loose rocks, Smokescreen flailed his arms trying not to fall of his aft.
:Alright, hang on.: The line went dead.
Arms pinwheeling, Smokescreen grabbed onto something with his good arm.
ZAP!
Yelping, Smokescreen realized what he had grabbed hold of. The Primus Damned beast's horn!
Still wobbling on his peds and with a Pred in hand, Smokescreen let go and backed away... right over the side of a small cliff. And small it was, luckily for him. Only a few feet high, he landed with a splash into the small stream that had cut into the ground to form the cliff.
Stunned, he lay there, head on one side of the waterway, peds on the other and cold mountain water flowing into his backplates. "Scrap!" he yelped, back arching in a futile attempt to stop the icy liquid from drenching more of his internals.
Above him, on the stream's bank, stood the unicorn.
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Bumblebee jogged quickly over the rough terrain towards Smokescreen's signal. He'd been minding his own business, watching his assigned mine when Ratchet had barked at him.
:Bumblebee, I'm sending a groundbridge. Help Smokescreen before the Pred he's fighting fries his aft.:
And the line went dead. Ratchet wasn't one for pleasantries, but that had been down right rude. Shaking his head Bee moved swiftly towards the moving signal. [Slag it, he's moving away] beeped Bumblebee, picking up the pace to catch up. Rounding a mossy rock pile, the scout ran into them.
Literally.
Not the pair he was tailing, but a trio of Eradacons.
Slamming hard into the back of one, the two of them tumbled to the ground. Bee couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd been so intent on tracking Smokey he'd hadn't noticed the Decepticon signals on his HUD. Fortunately, they hadn't noticed him coming up behind them either.
Landing on top of the stunned Eradacon, Bumblebee laid there a moment. The other two Cons were just as stunned and for a long few seconds, no one moved.
Snapping out of it, the Eradacons raised their blasters. Thinking quickly, Bee rolled away from the two Cons, pulling their downed comrade with him. Their first shots hit the Con-turned-shield, piercing his chestplates, before they realized what they'd done. When they paused Bee took his chance. His first shot caught one Con in the neck, blowing a hole threw it and offlining him quickly. The other proved harder to stop, as he opened fire again. It took several shots before Bee caught him in the shoulder, disabling his blaster arm. Another shot to the chest and the Eradacon was down.
Pushing away his offlined shield, Bumblebee climbed to his peds. [Scrap] moaned Bee. He'd bet anything these Cons weren't out here just for the fun of it. They were tracking the Pred and now more Cons would be sent out when these ones didn't report in.
Checking his scanner, Bumblebee found Smokescreen's signal had finally stopped moving. That was either a good thing or a bad thing.
As Bee resumed his fast jog, he had a feeling it was a bad thing.
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"Oooof!" grunted Bulkhead as he caught the boulder thrown at him. The weight of the rock made him slide backwards several feet.
Some distance away, the minotaur bellowed, holding it's arms out is such a way as to say "Bring it on!"
Groaning, Bulkhead didn't know how much more he could take. He was dented, scratched and punctured in several places. He had taken a shot to the head and his processor was still ringing. Frustrated, Bulkhead growled, "Stop throwing things at me!" before tossing the boulder back at the Pred.
Surprised by this new tactic, the minotaur did the only thing it could. It caught the boulder. Sliding back several feet, it bellowed in shock when it backed into a tree. The old pine, having been damaged earlier during their fight, gave in to gravity and fell with a crash.
Standing there for a moment, the Pred looked at the boulder in it's hands before tossing it back at Bulkhead. With a snarl, Bulkhead caught it and promptly tossed it back, "Cut it out!"
Catching the boulder, the minotaur stared at it before making a hiccuping sound. Bulkhead wondered what it was doing. The Pred's whole body seemed to shake, it's red optics closed and it kept making that sound. Then it threw it's head back and the sound got louder. It jumped in the air once then stomped it's hooves on the ground. With a jolt, Bulkhead realized what was happening.
It was laughing!
Opening it's optics, the minotaur threw the boulder back at Bulkhead. The Wrecker almost didn't catch it, so shocked was he. Standing there, jaw hanging open, he watched as the Pred made a motion with it's arms as if to say, "Come on, throw it!"
Not knowing what else to do, Bulkhead tossed it back. Catching it, the Pred made that same hiccup-laugh sound again and threw it back to Bulkhead. Tossing it back yet again, Bulkhead couldn't believe this was happening. He was playing with a Predacon. Readying himself for the next catch, he was shocked to hear a familiar voice.
"You know, I thought I was coming to save your aft, not watch you teach a Pred to Lob!"
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"Let's get you on your feet and moving."
"Easier said then done." the griffin thought. One wing was hanging limply, pain signals swamping it's processor. It's back leg was throbbing and trickling energon. There was something very wrong with it's front leg. Though it looked fine on the outside, inside something was definitely broken.
The strange blue femme got up from her crouch slowly. She seemed to be in a lot of pain as well. Moving stiffly, she walked around to the griffin's left side, laying her hands on it's shoulder. The griffin hissed.
WACK!
"Did...did she just hit me?" The griffin was stunned, less by the smack to it's beak and more by the audacity of it.
"Don't you hiss at me! I'm trying to help you." Laying her hand on it's shoulder again, the griffin held it's tongue but could not stop the momentary shiver of it's plating. From it's earliest memories, touch was a bad thing. Thought the memories were fuzzy and corrupted, it still remembered being pulled from the warm, wet comfort and laid on the cold, hard surface. It still felt long, sharp fingers probing it's armor, it's internals. A bright light shining in it's underdeveloped optics and sharp things stabbing into it's fuel lines.
It wasn't until after their escape that touch started to be something good. Being touched by it's kin meant safety. Touches reassured each other that they were undamaged, that they were going to be OK.
The femme held still, waiting for the tremors to stop. Once they did, she moved slowly, crouching next to the griffin and running her hands down the feathered plating. From shoulder to elbow, where the feathers stopped, she paused, "Alright, I'm going to help you up. Try not to use this leg, I can tell it's worse off then your back leg."
The griffin tapped it's beak on it's injured left leg, "OK."
"When I say go, stand up. I'll support this side." Reaching around the foreleg, she grasped her injured arm with her good hand. Supporting it's "armpit", the femme tensed her legs, "Ready, set, GO!"
With a deep groan, the griffin pushed up. It's two good legs and one wobbly leg forced themselves to move. The femme groaned as well, her own legs straining to left herself and the Predacon's greater weight. After several long seconds, the griffin found it's footing.
Slowly letting go, the femme kept her hands on the griffin, ready to help if it started to collapse. Moving with great care, the griffin lowered it's bad leg, letting it rest lightly on the ground. With a yelp, it pulled it's leg back up. "Definitely broken." it thought as it tucked the injured leg into it's body.
The blue femme was still touching it, but had moved to the injured wingjoint just behind it's shoulderblade. Her touch was careful and soft as she inspected the damage. "Looks like it's dislocated. Should be an easy fix but we need to get moving now. We've stayed here too long. Can you walk?"
The Pred grunted before moving forward. It was ungainly at best, undignified at worst. It had to hop with it's front leg and shuffle with it's back. Each movement jostled it's wing but it powered through. Stopping, the griffin looked back over it's shoulder at the femme. It jerked it's head to say "Come on." and started moving again.
The femme fell in behind it and together the odd pair moved on.
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:Ratchet to Ultra Magnus.:
:Magnus here.:
:We have a situation. One of the Predacons has been spotted in a major city. Optimus is at the scene but he may require back up. I'm sending a groundbridge for you.:
:Negative Ratchet, I won't be able to help:
:Why not?:
:I'm a bit... tied up at the moment.:
Laid out on the ground, Ultra Magnus looked up at the very angry Predacon he had in hand. The massive serpent was hissing and spitting at him but could do nothing. Magnus' clawed hand had a tight grip on the beast, just below it's jaw. The snake had it's long, dark green and acid yellow body coiled around his legs. Every few minutes it would try to tighten it's coils only for Ultra Magnus to tighten his grip on it's throat. The snake would loosen it's body and Magnus would loosen his grip just enough not to crush it's neck.
It was a standoff with neither one willing to give in. Magnus silently cursed that he could have ended this if he had the use of his other arm.
Unfortunately, it was otherwise occupied... by the Preds other head.
Magnus had been stationed in a heavily wooded area near a mine. The thick underbrush had helped to hide him from the Decepticons but had also allowed the Predacon to sneak up on him. At first, he had thought he was fighting two Preds, the beast's body hidden in the brush with only it's heads snapping at him. Only after retreating to an clearing had the beast shown it's full size.
When the smaller of the two heads had disappeared back into the foliage, the Autobot Commander had thought the beasts were splitting up to flank him. Instead the larger head had slithered forward on a body easily one and a half times as long as he was high. Once it's tail cleared the underbrush, Magnus had realized that the other head was it's tail. The bizarre two headed beast had attacked him, leading to his current predicament. Flat on his back, wrapped up in thick coils of serpent body and with his hands full of twin heads.
The smaller of the two, the tail-head as he called it, was by far the more dangerous. While the large main head sported a mouth full of curved teeth, the smaller one had two retractable fangs that dripped acid. As the smoking hole in his shoulder guard could attest too. He'd managed to grab the tail-head's snout, keeping it's mouth shut and the acid away from his armor. While the main head hissed and spat at him, the tail-head just gave him a glare that promised bloody vengeance.
:What do you mean your tied up?:
Ratchet's growl brought Magnus out of his musing. Huffing through his vents, he grunted, :Just that. I find myself unable to.. untangle... myself from the Predacon I've encountered. If at all possible, I would greatly appreciate some back up myself.:
Ratchet's cursing filled the Comm line. From the few words he could make out from the tantrum the medic was throwing, Magnus got the feeling he'd be waiting awhile for that help.
Sighing through his vents, Ultra Magnus settled in to wait, with the Amphisbaena hissing above him.
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Note: And there you have it, my last Predacon. Most of you are probably going, "What the heck is that?" The Amphisbaena was a snake with a head at each end of it's body and, as legend has it, was born of the blood of Medusa when it dripped on the sands of Lybia's desert. You can check it out on Wikipedia. I've gone with the classic type of Amphisbaena, the snake with two heads, as opposed to the Medieval version, that looked more like a dragon with a head for a tail.
I have to say, there were a lot of good guesses as to what this Pred was. Should I ever expand my group of Preds (before you get your hopes up, that would be a LONG time from now), I just might use some of your ideas.
Note 2: Don't worry, next chapter will return to Optimus and the Dragon.
