Author's note: Okay, this is important. Without being too spoiler-y, a certain character is making a return in this chapter. Unfortunately, due to this character's unique nature which works brilliantly onscreen, he can be rather cumbersome to write for if you describe everything he's doing. Therefore to make everything flow a little better I've decided to use different regular text, bold, and italics when he talks. You'll see why and it should be fairly clear what's going on.
Arcee scanned left and right through the assorted debris that had accumulated on the pinnacle of Sumdac Tower. She couldn't see her adversary and there was no hint of a foreign energy signature on her signal bank, but there was no doubt in her processor. He was there. Hunting her.
Behind her Bulkhead groaned, "Hey…uh…I can't…can't…"
He sank to his knees and his optics closed. Although the dart had been removed the toxin had done its job. With a sigh he fell on his side.
"Hahaha. It's true what they say", a husky voice sneered out of the darkness.
Arcee whirled around to face it, blades cocked and ready to strike. There was no sign of her enemy.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall", he retorted from his hiding place.
Terror gripped Arcee like a cold hand on her shoulder. The memory of that skull-like visage leering at her, mocking her and her would-be rescuer Ratchet, all those stellar cycles ago…
The cause of her lost life and her million stellar cycle sentence in a dark, dingy prison, forgotten by all and missed by no-one. The creature that had haunted her seemingly endless dreams as she lay in stasis, helpless and unable to even scream or beg for help. Lockdown.
The sound of slow, purposeful footsteps came from nowhere and everywhere at once. Arcee stood motionless, paralysed with fear. The blades slipped from her open palms and clattered to the floor. She didn't want to see the end coming but she could not tear her optics away from the tangled pile of machinery she was certain he was lurking in.
"My my, I certainly do have an effect on the femmebots", he taunted, "Don't worry, sweetheart. I don't want to take you apart. I want some information. See, I'm looking for someone".
The footsteps grew louder. He was right there. In front of her. Or at least, he should have been. It sounded like he was but she couldn't see him.
"Now, try not to be alarmed. Yer can't see me 'cos I've got an active camouflage mod. Works like a charm. Oh, and don't worry about your friend. He's been given a dose of neural-sedatives. Should put him out for a coupla' mega cycles and then he'll be up on those giant feet of his".
His camouflage was evidently very effective as judging from the proximity of his voice he was standing no more than a few meters in front of her and she could see nothing.
"I'm looking for a technorganic creature the Autobots on this mudball keep as a pet", Lockdown declared, "Know where I can find it?"
Although she couldn't bring herself to answer she wondered what Lockdown wanted with Sari. Who would put out a bounty on her?
"See, my ship's sensors detected this weird energy signature I figured might be her. But by the time I touched down and got here it was gone, and instead all I got was massive transwarp readings. Then you and your buddy show up. So tell me, sister, and things'll go a lot easier on yer. Where…"
He faltered mid-sentence. There was a pause.
"Say…I know you, don't I?" he mused, "You're sure not one of Optimus Prime's team, not last time I checked. But I definitely know you. Let me think…"
An invisible force gripped Arcee by the chin and lifted her head to look directly up into the face of an invisible enemy.
"Hmm….hey! You're that intel-bot I swiped back in the good ol' days, ain't yer? Hah! I knew it. Had you pegged for deactivation after your CPU got fried by that EMP blast your friend fired. Great rescue job that was by old Creaky Leaky, eh?"
Before Arcee knew what she was doing she threw a brutal punch at the cloaked bounty hunter. From the surprised cry and clang of metal-on-metal she knew she had hit home.
"His name", she snarled through gritted teeth as she stooped to pick up her swords, "Is Ratchet!"
The streets of Iacon were as busy as ever, filled with bustling Autobots going to and fro. Bumblebee avoided the crowded streets and raced through the alleys and seldom-used passages in his Earth mode speedster form, keeping to the shadows.
Sitting in his driver's seat, Sari asked, "How come you're being so sneaky?"
"Because if by some miracle Prime doesn't find out we hijacked the space bridge so we could sneak into a maximum-security prison and chat to Cybertron's most wanted, then I don't want anyone on Cybertron knowing we were here".
"What makes you think you'll be recognized?"
"You kidding? My chassis is famous now! I'm a superstar in my hometown! I'm a major celeb".
"Plus I suppose your vehicle mode would stick out a little on Cybertron", Sari observed dryly.
"Oh. Yeah. Well, there is that too".
Sari smiled and leaned back in the seat, "How much further is it? Seems like we've been driving for hours".
"Not far. Having to go through the tunnels slowed me down. Once we get out of the industrial sector we're like, there".
"Cool", she looked out through the windows at the bleak metal plains of Cybertron and sighed, "Hey, Bumblebee, thanks for helping me out with this".
"No problem, short stuff".
"Seriously, I mean it. I know it's a stupid idea but I just feel…well, I have to know. Maybe when I get some closure on the whole protoform thing I can get on with my life. Live like a normal kid".
"Oh. Cool".
They fell silent. Sari sensed something in the air.
"Are you okay, Bumblebee?"
"Yeah, I'm good".
"Come on, you can tell me".
"Well…it's just…when you're 'living like a normal kid', you're not gonna forget us, are you?"
"What?", Sari was stunned, "No, of course not. You guys are the best friends a girl could have".
"Oh".
."…Why, have I been ignoring you?"
"….Well, maybe just a bit", he sounded sheepish.
"Oh, Sorry. I didn't realize", she bit her lip, "I guess I just got carried away, what with starting school and all. I didn't mean to be, like, a jerk. I promise I'll still spend as much time with you guys. Honest".
"Glad to hear it. And don't sweat it. Maybe I'm just being silly", before Sari could object he changed the subject, "By the way, security's gonna be on overdrive at the Stockades so I hope you got a plan to get inside".
"Nope, I don't".
"Oh. That's a bummer. 'Cos we're there".
He braked hard in the shadows of a looming building and transformed, placing Sari gently on the ground as he did so. They peered around the corner. About one hundred meters directly in front of them was the massively fortified bunker that they had recently seen Megatron locked away in. Standing to attention at the entrance were two Autotroopers.
"So, any ideas?" Bumblebee asked.
"Kinda. Give me my jetpack".
Bumblebee opened the storage compartment on his back and pulled out Sari's scooter. He handed it to her and with the flick of a button it converted to its jetpack form. She strapped it onto her shoulders and without warning took off.
"Sari, wait! What are you doing?" Bumblebee called after her as loudly as he dared.
Sari approached the two Autotroopers from a wide angle, taking care to stay out of their line of sight. She manoeuvred herself carefully until she was hovering just above and behind them, then opened her palms and launched a pulse of energy.
It shot between the two Autotroopers and bolted off into the gloom. With a startled shout the two Autobot guards hurried after it to investigate. When they were a sufficient distance away Sari motioned for Bumblebee to join her.
He hurried over to her as she went to work on the lock console, her fingers already separated into the wires that masterfully took control of whatever they touched. Within seconds the coded, alarmed door slid open silently for them.
"I also disabled the surveillance cams and erased all footage from the past hour", Sari informed her friend as she led the way inside the Stockade.
"Wow", Bumblebee blinked, "Megatron wasn't kidding when he said you were up to breaking in here".
The rooftop of Sumdac Tower was witness to a bizarre scene. Bulkhead was slumped over to one side, deep in stasis lock. Arcee leapt across the roof, swinging her twin plasma blades at thin air. Every few seconds she switched about and lunged forward to attack in another direction, lashing out at seemingly nothing.
But she wasn't attacking nothing. She followed her audio sensors, listening for the tell-tale sound of the retreating Lockdown's footsteps as he backed away from her frenzied strikes. But she had yet to make her mark on him. His cloaking device was flawless – all she could see was an occasional ripple of movement as she closed in, but then she lost track of him. He was effectively invisible and untouchable.
Lockdown watched the femmebot's efforts with a degree of amusement. She was tenacious; he had to give her that. It was dangerous to stay within range of her impressive swordsbotship, even while the cloaking device mod was active. But soon she would tire and then he would close in and restrain her. Then he would find out where that technorganic freak was hiding. If she had transwarped to Cybertron then he would follow her, if necessary. After he got the necessary codes for the space bridge off the femmebot.
He sidestepped another furious charge and resisted the urge to laugh at the way she stumbled, out-of-control, arms flailing madly. It wasn't going to last much longer.
Something violently struck the bounty hunter from behind. He staggered and fell, a burning sensation spreading across his backplate. As he hit the floor a wave of crackling energy consumed him.
Arcee heard the crash of her adversary toppling over and turned to face him. She saw a shower of sparks and bolts of electrical energy pouring from an invisible source that shimmered, wavered, and then materialized into the form of Lockdown.
The death mask visage of her ancient tormentor nearly stopped her in her tracks again, but then she saw the look of alarm in his optics as he looked down at his own servos and realized he was visible once more. It gave her confidence.
"What the…?" Lockdown studied himself, disoriented by the blast and his sudden vulnerability. What in the galaxy had happened? Active camouflage mods didn't just 'explode'. Who had struck him? He couldn't see any attackers…
But he had no time to ponder the matter. Arcee swept towards him, blades cocked for a deadly strike at his chest. As he stood up on one knee he struck out with his hook on his right forearm, snagging Arcee's swords and deflecting the blows.
His left servo retracted; in its place extended a fearsome, serrated chainsaw. He swept with it at her ankles, forcing her to leap back and giving him the time and room he needed to compose himself.
For the second time that day Arcee closed with an opponent, slashing and stabbing, driving him back with meticulously-aimed strikes.
Bumblebee and Sari hurried down the dreary corridors of the Stockades. Every so often they would have to hide behind a corner to avoid a patrolling Autotrooper, or Sari would have to stop at a door control panel to hack its systems and let them pass. But they made steady progress, following the route they had taken the last time they had been there.
They didn't speak. There was nothing left to say. They had made it this far and there was no turning back now.
A great door rose up before them. Sari opened it and they slipped quietly inside. Rows of bare cells, shielded by a grid of laser shields, were arrayed before them with Decepticon prisoners contained inside. They were all unfamiliar to Sari and Bumblebee, who exchanged a quick look before creeping forward, unnoticed by the silent, despondent 'Cons.
A cry went up from one of them and was taken up by the others. Sari and Bumblebee ran for the door up ahead, doing their best to tune out the hollers and bellows of the outraged Decepticons.
They hurried through the next door into a similar, smaller room with fewer cells. Hidden behind a pillar, they whispered together.
"Where to from here?" asked Bumblebee.
"I dunno. Sentinel stopped us from going any further, remember?" hissed Sari.
"Oh, that was excellent, truly excellent!" a familiar voice exclaimed, startling the pair. For a moment they feared they were discovered, but then the shrill voice continued:
"Just brilliant, o wise Blitzwing!"
"Why thank you, Sunztorm", there was a sudden change in the voice's tone, "Ooh! Now it's Lugnut's turn!"
"Very well", Lugnut boomed, "I spy with my optical sensors something beginning with 'm'".
There was a moment of silence, then a tired voice that Bumblebee recognized as Shockwave's answered.
"I can't think of anything beginning with 'm' in these accursed cells".
"Fool! It is Megatron!" Lugnut snapped, "For though he is not here in body, Megatron is here in spirit! Megatron is everywhere!"
"But…"
"Everywhere!" the giant Decepticon bellowed.
Shockwave sighed wearily, "I do wish we could find a better way to pass the time than this idiotic game".
"If you don't like it you can shut up!" Blitzwing's barked, "No-one's asking you to play!" his personality switched again, "But zhen again, it'z your turn! Ahahah!"
"Oh, very well. I spy with my bored, single optic something beginning with…"
Sari, who had been peering around the edge of the pillar to listen to the bizarre conversation, suddenly slipped on the smooth floor. Bumblebee reached out to stop her but she stumbled into the centre of the room, in full view of the imprisoned Decepticons.
"Hey! There's nobody here!" Ramjet declared.
There was a commotion as the five Decepticons got to their feet and peered through the laser shields at their unexpected visitor. Bumblebee went to her side. Although the Decepticons were safely contained in individual cells he couldn't help but feel nervous in the presence of so many enemies.
"C'mon, let's just go!" he said to Sari.
Sari looked up at him, "Go where? We don't know where we're going. They might know where Megatron is".
"Megatron?" Lugnut snarled, "What business do you have with the glorious Megatron?"
"Yes, vhat business could an Autobot and hiz organic pet have with our great leader? Blitzwing asked.
"Why don't you mind your own business, ugly?" Bumblebee shot back, "Just tell us how to get to him".
"That won't be a problem. We know exactly where he is", Ramjet replied.
"We haven't seen Megatron since we were placed in these cells", Shockwave said, "We've heard no word of him. The guards do not answer our requests to know of his wellbeing. I fear he may be offline".
"Infidel!" thundered Lugnut, "Have faith in noble Megatron! He will return and free us from our confinement! He is alive and well".
"He is", Sari said.
The five Decepticons swivelled their heads down to look at her.
"He contacted me. He wants to talk to me", she explained.
Lugnut threw his arms in the air, "Hah! I knew it! Our leader prevails!"
"I never doubted you for a moment, most loyal and wise Lugnut", Sunstorm added.
"Excellent news", Blitzwing nodded, "If Megatron haz zummoned you, ve must not delay you. Hurry along. Before ve change our minds and crush you into tin cans!"
"All we do know is that he was taken through there", Shockwave pointed with one clawed hand at a door on the far side of the room.
Bumblebee reached down to scoot Sari along towards the door, "Come on, let's get out of here".
"Yes, do get moving", Shockwave said after them, "I daresay we'll be seeing you again shortly. With Lord Megatron".
Bumblebee halted. There was something about Shockwave's smug voice that irked him. He motioned for Sari to stay where she was by the door and walked towards Shockwave's cell.
"So you really think Megatron is gonna escape, huh Longarm? Oh, I'm sorry…I mean Shockwave", he grinned, "I get confused. Your Longarm disguise was nearly as boring as you are".
"Accusations of tediousness are ever the tool of weak processors", Shockwave retorted, staring at Bumblebee with his blank optic, "You may yet function long enough to regret those words".
"Or maybe I'd just whip your skid-plate like me and Bulkhead did last time", Bumblebee couldn't resist teasing the Decepticon just a little more, "I don't get how you managed to take down Ultra Magnus. I mean, you're basically the Decepticon's computer nerd. You're about as scary as a maintenance droid".
"That's not the impression I got from your little friend Blurr".
Bumblebee was about to snap off a reply when the full implications of Shockwave's words hit home. He stared into the bare faceplate of his cold enemy as the world reeled around him. Blurr has disappeared when Megatron's space bridge malfunctioned during the battle of the mines. He had been declared Missing In Action by Cybertron Command after numerous search and rescue missions had turned up with nothing.
"What…what did you do to him?" Bumblebee asked in a quaking voice.
A hint of amusement crept into Shockwave's monotone, "Ah, Blurr. An enthusiastic young bot, no doubt about that", his optic glinted with crimson light, "But to be honest I always found him the most…crushing bore".
Bumblebee snapped his stinger up to point at Shockwave's face, a futile gesture due to the shield separating them, but didn't seem to notice as he snarled, "No! I don't believe you! I won't!"
But in his spark he knew the Decepticon was not making an idle boast. He hadn't known Blurr for long, or even been particularly good friends with him, but there was something about the death of the dedicated, loyal bot at the claws of Shockwave that repulsed him.
"You freak!" he snapped at the Decepticon.
"Do not delay them, Shockwave! Not if they have been summoned by Megatron!" Lugnut warned.
"Bumblebee, please. We need to keep moving", Sari said.
He turned his outrage on her, "I told you this was a bad idea! You can't trust anything a Decepticon does or says! They're…they're…"
"I know. But we can't come this far just to go back. We'll find Blurr. I promise".
He looked at her, startled by the severity of her words. It echoed his own promise to her to find out the truth about her origins, no matter the cost.
He couldn't back out of it now. He lowered his stinger and slunk away, following Sari out the room.
The Decepticons watched them go from their cells.
"Okay, it's Ramjet's turn now!" Blitzwing clapped his hands together.
"Very well", the Starscream clone cleared his throat, "I spy with my little optic something beginning with 'z'".
After a short pause Blitzwing asked, "Does it really begin vit 'z'?"
"Oh, yes!"
Shockwave sighed and slumped over in his cell, wondering if it would really have been too much to ask for solitary confinement.
It was an impressive duel, Cyclonus had to admit that. Hovering unseen above Sumdac Tower, he admired the brutal efficiency of Lockdown's seemingly barbaric weapons. There was a definite technique to his swings and swipes: Cyclonus noticed it was rather similar to how Oil Slick fought.
On the other hand Arcee was fighting well too, with crisp, forceful strikes that lacked the skill of Lockdown's manoeuvres, but were executed with speed that the bounty hunter struggled to match. She had recovered well from the injury she had received off Cyclonus barely twelve hours ago.
Chainsaw and hook locked with twin swords over and over again, striking against each other in a flurry of chops and thrusts that the untrained eye would have been unable to keep up with.
The fight was far more interesting now that the playing field had been levelled somewhat. Cyclonus had thought Lockdown's use of a cloaking device rather poor sport, and so he had waited patiently until he had gotten a bead on Lockdown, hovering out of sight in his jet mode before hitting him with a null ray. The ray had shut down the cloaking device instantly and given Arcee a fighting chance.
Cyclonus had intervened for another reason. Lockdown had mentioned he had come for the technorganic girl, and Cyclonus had no intention of letting him get to her. When Lockdown finished with Arcee, Cyclonus would intervene and take the bounty hunter out himself.
However, Cyclonus wasn't certain that he would be needed. The Autobot leapt, twirled and span with grace that a cyber-ninja would have envied, her blades a vortex of glowing energy.
Lockdown pivoted around and executed a Metallikato low-to-high kick, aimed at Arcee's neck. The femmebot ducked and rolled beneath the blow, coming up inside the rogue's reach. She brought her right blade down hard on Lockdown's exposed left arm.
The sword made a clear cut through Lockdown's upper arm: the rest of the arm dropped to the floor, the chainsaw still revving noisily. Lockdown called out in shock, but Arcee wasn't finished. She plunged both blades into his torso, deep enough that they stuck fast in his plating. Thinking quickly, she took the swords by the handles and drop-kicked him, the force of the kick wrenching the blades out from his body and bowling him over.
He lay on the floor before her, left arm severed and smoke belching from two holes in his torso. There was no hint of movement from him. Arcee approached cautiously.
Lockdown sat up suddenly. The barrel of a cannon extended from over his shoulder and craned forward to aim at her. It fired a concentrated hyperfrost beam that solidified upon contact with her, entombing and immobilizing her within a solid block of ice.
He smirked as he got up and swaggered over to her, "Ten out of a ten for effort, sweetheart. And extra credit for actually inflicting some damage there. Too bad for you that I'm nearly ninety percent spare parts as it is. Like this cannon mod I got from old Blitzy. Losing a servo ain't a big deal to me. I got plenty loose to choose from on my ship".
Encased within the ice, she was helpless and still, a look of shock frozen on her fair face. He leered at her.
"So you're Prowl's replacement on this team, huh? Not bad, I guess. Shame to hear about what happened to him. If yer ask me, he was always backing the wrong ship though. Had that killer instinct, even if he didn't admit it. Me and him were kinda kindred spirits. He would have made one swell bounty hunter".
"No. He wouldn't have".
The voice came from behind him. Lockdown turned to see a furious Bulkhead looming over him, optics glinting dangerously and mouth curled into a snarl. He raised one giant fist and smashed it into Lockdown's face.
Cyclonus watched in silence. A slow smile crept across his features. The Autobot had recovered from the cyber-toxin far quicker than Lockdown had expected and moved up behind him while the bounty hunter was distracted. The team of Autobots was certainly full of surprises.
Bulkhead rained blow after blow on Lockdown in a fury. Each punch came with enough force to knock Lockdown over and crack armour plating. The stunned bounty hunter was being pulverised.
"Prowl wasn't like you!" Bulkhead yelled, "And never could've been!" he slung another punch, catching Lockdown on the jaw, "'Cos he sacrificed himself for others", another punch crashed into Lockdown's waist, caving it in, "And you sacrifice others for yourself!"
The final punch connected with Lockdown's chest. It hurled him over the edge of Sumdac Tower.
It was a long fall. There were a dozen gadgets Lockdown could have deployed to save himself before he hit the ground. He could have launched his hook on its grappler line and snagged the side of Sumdac Tower. He could have extended his sonic javelin and used it to anchor himself on the building. Or he could have used his nova spray to create a soft landing.
But the beating he had received from Bulkhead had left him wavering on stasis lock. His wits were slowed and his reaction time dulled. He smashed into the concrete below with shattering force.
Author's note: Yeah, it was Blitzwing I was talking about. Pretty obvious, huh? Just to clarify, regular text = frosty persona, bold = hothead persona, italics = random persona.