The two of them entered the VOF and walked on over to the racetrack. They could see many people surveying the area and looking around, looking for any clues around the area, including the stands, the crate Swindle was stuck in, and the crater that the explosion made. Around the area was a bunch of debris, rubble, Blast Off's legs…

"This place is a mess," Skywarp muttered as they reached the area and the designated leader, Jazz, saw them come on over and talk to them.

"Hey, guys. Took you a while to come on out here. Busy with something?" Jazz asked them, sounding a little suspicious.

"We got caught up with Wildrider, who demanded we investigate Dead End's assault as well as the bombing," he told him. "I know, useless since he didn't die from it, but he insisted on it."

"Well, you found anything about Dead End's assault?"

"Well, we think the assault is actually a suicide attempt. All the evidence points to it and nothing else," Skywarp told him.

"Really? I need he was a cynic, but I didn't think he would do that," Jazz gasped in surprise.

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the drugs in system doing something to his head. Hopefully, this attempt has gotten rid of all the drugs in his system," he told him.

"We can only hope," Jazz sighed.

"So, anything we should know?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Well, I don't. I'm just commanding everything here to make sure everything goes smoothly," Jazz told them. "Ask around for any info about what they found."

"Alright, let's head out, Skywarp," Ratchet ordered and the two headed out to the crater where the explosion occurred and the Constucticons were observing the area, with Mixmaster taking the lead, standing in the crater and looking around. At their arrival, Mixmaster looked up at them from the crater and glare at them.

"Took you guys long enough. What have you been doing?" he questioned them.

"Busy dealing with the other case," Ratchet told them.

"The other case?" Scavenger asked, sitting at the edge of the crater.

"He's talking about Dead End," Skywarp replied.

"Why? That's irrelevant, considering Dead End is still alive," Mixmaster murmured.

"Said that to Wildrider."

"Ah," he mummed, understanding it. "So, what do you wanna know?"

"Figure out what caused the explosion?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Hard to determine. A wide variety of explosives could cause this with a certain amount for the payload. The question is, how could they hide it? There was a white line here, nothing to hide it," Mixmaster murmured.

"I think I have the answer to that," Ratchet murmured.

"You do?"

"Yeah, thing is, this white line wasn't always here, but a gutter instead. Rewind can confirm it," Ratchet told him.

"A grate? Than the white line wasn't painted on, but probably a fabric of some sort if that's true," he said.

"Probably."

"Hey, have you two notice anything weird in the past couple of days?" Skywarp asked them. "We have to find a time for when they planted a bomb."

"Hmm, you know, I don't know if this is relevant, but there was something weird about the archive doors. We haven't organize a search, but we've noticed the timer was on when we were searching for Swindle and it wouldn't come on until noon," Scavenger told them.

"To go along with that, I checked in on it again a few times, and someone had been making continued use of it. The last time I checked it was this morning where it said it wouldn't open until 2 o'clock," Mixmaster told them.

"Huh? So someone was making use of the archives? But what for?" Skywarp muttered. "Could it have anything to do with the bombing?"

"I wouldn't take any chances, so I keep note of that if I were you," he told them.

"Knowing how these trials turn out, I wouldn't be surprise," Scavenger muttered.

Ammo Added: Archives

The Archives were used during the search for Swindle and wouldn't open until noon on that day and won't open until 2 o'clock today.

"Right, good luck. Keep us informed about your search," Ratchet told them.

"Sure. Just come on by later," Mixmaster sent them off as the duo left and went on over to the next closest person, Blurr at the center, pacing around in thought.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them. "Found anything?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. What about you?" Skywarp questioned him.

"Cryptic, aren't we," the racer sneered before he replied. ".Not particularly."

"Alright, so how about the race itself?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Well, I was pretty focused during the race, so I really couldn't tell you," he told him. "Going at such high speeds is pretty intimidating and gets one filled with adrenaline."

"Are you sure you noticed nothing at all?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Well… when I was driving, I did felt that something was off?" he told them.

"Something was off?"

"Yeah. When I was driving through the white line, not the checkered one, I felt as if I was floating briefly," he told them.

"You were… floating?" Skywarp asked, confused.

"Yeah. It wasn't all the time. In fact, I think it was only on the far left that I felt this," he told them, realizing it. "Yes, I'm sure of it. This was only on the far left side."

"Okay… what the heck does that mean?"

"I don't know, but thinking about it, I couldn't get the feeling out of my head," he told them. "It's just a simple line, right."

"It's more than that," Ratchet muttered.

Ammo Gained: Blurr's Testimony

Whenever he drove over the far left side of the white line, he always had this feeling that he was floating.

"Right, see you later," Blurr told them.

"Same," Ratchet briskly said as they walked over to the stands that was unoccupied during the race, which now had the solitary occupant of Bumblebee, who was sitting on the railing and busy taking care of his shoulder.

"Bumblebee, how's your shoulder?" Ratchet asked him.

"Fine enough. I can take care of myself," he muttered as he took a more neutral pose. "Got some pieces of shrapnel to the shoulder. Nothing more."

"Sorry I didn't tend to you," he apologized.

"Don't. Other people had a lot bigger problems then me," he told him. "Although, I would like you to take a look at this." He got something out of subspace to reveal a piece of opaque, blue glass with dried energon. "Of the debris that landed in my shoulders, this stuck out."

"Huh," Ratchet muttered as he took it and observe it. "It's just a piece of glass."

"But would that make sense?" Skywarp muttered. "There wasn't any glass on the field except for what's on Blurr and Knock Out."

"This isn't headlight or taillight glass. Too thick," he immediately told them.

"Probably a container for the bomb then," Bumblebee said. "It would be my best guess for it."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Ammo Added: Shard of Glass

Bumblebee recovered a shard of opaque, blue glass from his shoulder, being inflicted during the explosion.

"You know, while I've been thinking about this, there was something I heard during the race," Bumblebee told them.

"You did?" Skywarp asked. "We were with you and I sure didn't hear anything odd."

"Yeah, but I'm a scout. My audials are better than most," he told them. "Anyway, I noticed something particular. Whenever the racers crossed the white line, I heard a beeping noise."

"A… beeping noise?" Ratchet asked him.

"Yes. It was faint and a bit hard to hear thanks to the crowd, but I'm sure I heard it at those exact times," he told them.

"Huh… if you insist."

Ammo Added: Bumblebee's Testimony

Claims to have heard beeping whenever the racers crossed the white line.

"Right, who to visit next?" Skywarp wondered.

"Hoist is behind the stands here," Bumblebee told them. "Claims that he wants to see something."

"Alright, thanks for the info," Ratchet thanked him as the two of them walked behind the stands towards Hoist who was examining the structure of the stands.

"Why are you back here?" Skywarp asked him as he looked up to see what looked like a bunch of rust. Hoist was staying quiet as he was messing with a particular column keeping it up, annoying the two as he went along. "Hey, what are you doing?!" he yelled and Hoist merely turned his head towards them before refocusing his view on the column.

"I'm seeing if I was fooled," Hoist replied in anger, which struck the two as odd coming from him.

"What do you mean by that?" Ratchet questioned and after another minute Hoist backed off the column and turned to them.

"This isn't rust. It's a special paint," Hoist told them.

"Wait… what?" Skywarp asked, looking around in confusion? "Are you sure? It really looks like rust."

"I'm sure. I've scraped it off to reveal the original paint underneath. Rust is a sign of corrosion, which doesn't fit with this," he told them.

"What the… why would someone do that?" Ratchet murmured.

"To trick me of course. They had to know that I would check the place to make sure it was capable of holding the crowd. If it really was this rusted, then it wouldn't have withstand the weight of everyone on it," he told them. "Tricky bastard."

"So, these stands are safe to stand on?" Skywarp questioned.

"Yes. It was originally intended for this to be the one everyone would use, but because I found the 'rust,' everyone had to get together at the other one," he told them.

"Hmm, what a strange thing to do," Ratchet murmured.

Ammo Added: 'Rusted' Stands

The stands by the checkered line had fake rust painted on it to fool Hoist into declaring it unsafe.

"Right, thanks for the info, Hoist," Ratchet thanked Hoist.

"I'm saying this because there's two of you," he told them. "I doubt you two would ever work together for a murder."

"How cynical. It'll be useful for the trial," Ratchet told him.

"Don't remind me," Hoist muttered. "I'm heading to the repair bay. If there was a place to build the bomb, it would be there," he said as the three of them exited the stands and he left them behind as they saw Jazz examining a line.

"Hey, Jazz. What are you doing?" Ratchet questioned him.

"I had no idea this line was a sheet of fabric," Jazz muttered and the two of them could see a small wire heading towards a nail in the ground, keeping the fabric taut and ensuring it wouldn't move. "It's so flat, I honestly though it was just painted on."

"Huh, intriguing," he muttered.

Ammo Added: Checkered Line

Actually a piece of fabric that almost looks like paint.

"Say, have you seen Perceptor?" he asked them.

"No, I haven't," Ratchet answered his question.

"Huh. I saw him head into the forest and haven't seen him return. I was hoping he just exited from a different area," Jazz murmured.

"Want us to go look through the forest for him?" Ratchet asked him.

"Yeah. I don't want anyone alone without being in sight," he told them.

"Right, come on Skywarp," Ratchet beckoned and the two made their way into the forest on the search for Perceptor.

"Okay, I feel we have a good idea of how the bomb was planted, but does this give us anything to use to figure out who could've done it?" Skywarp questioned him.

"I doubt we'll find something to directly tie them to the crime this time. We've been lucky these past few trials, but I have a feeling the bomber took extra precaution to make sure nothing was directly connected to them, like the needle was to Chromedome or the pad was to Mirage, or the scrap that Brawl receive, or the wound Night beat got," he told him. "A remote kill is probably some of the hardest to figure out in our current state as we don't have the time to use most forms of forensic science," Ratchet told him.

"Huh, guess you got a point, but Soundwave got taken down thanks to the smorgasbord of circumstantial evidence against him," Skywarp told him. "We didn't need the injector to prove him guilty, but it landed a giant nail in his coffin."

"That's true. So just keep your optics up and we'll see if we can find a way to pinpoint the bomber," Ratchet told him as he noticed something. "Hey, there's Perceptor." Indeed, Perceptor was there, looking at a device with his VOF out.

"Yo, Percy! What the frag you're doing?!" Skywarp asked out loud and they could see him visibly cringe at the mention of his voice.

"Ratchet and Skywarp. How are you two doing?" he asked as he turned to look at them.

"Investigating," Ratchet replied. "You doing that as well?"

"Yes. Come over here," he beckoned and the two of them went on over to them. "Tell me, what does your electroID say is the time?" he questioned them. The two looked at each other before taking a look at their electroID.

"1:35," they both replied.

"Jinx!" Skywarp added, crossing his arms gleefully.

"I pay for myself and no one else," Ratchet growled in annoyance.

"Right, same time I got. Which begs the questions as to why the timer here says 1:45," Perceptor told them.

"Huh?" they both said as they checked the timer to see that he was correct, the timer did say 1:45. Ratchet looked the device over to see the dial did look to have seen a bit of use while the red button appears to be unused, small, soft metal pieces on it from the plants.

"Why the frag would anyone do that?" Skywarp wondered. "Seriously, how does that benefit anyone in anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but it is an anomaly, since the last time me and Wildrider touched it, we pressed the black button to return it to normal," he answered.

"Weird…," Ratchet mummed.

Ammo Added: VOF Time of Day

Timer was set ten minutes ahead with the black button untouched.

"Right, where to now?" Skywarp questioned.

"Want to head back to the racetrack?" Perceptor questioned them. "Might have more information around the area available to us."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed and Ratchet nodded along. The three of them made their way out of the forest to the racetrack. A glimpse around the area revealed a missing person and someone left around. They quickly made their way to the crater where only Scavenger was, digging in the side of the crater with his hands.

"Hey, Scavenger," the three of them greeted him from the edge of the crater. He looked up at them before continuing to dig, focused on his task.

"Just give me a minute," he told them and the three of them looked at each other awkwardly until he heard him yell with glee. "Got it! Found the gutter." The three of them looked surprise before bending over to see he wasn't kidding. A small tunnel was seen, transporting any acid raid out of the area to somewhere else.

"Heh, how quaint," Perceptor muttered as he stood up and thought it through. "Why is there a gutter here? I could've sworn this was just a white line."

"We'll explain latter at the trial," Ratchet told him.

Ammo Gained: Gutter Entrance at the Crater

Scavenger found it after some digging in the crater.

"Scavenger, where's Mixmaster?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Oh. He said he was going to the mall to search the store for something," Scavenger told him.

"Huh. Must be related to the chemicals used in the explosive," Perceptor guessed.

"Well, let's head on over there," Ratchet recommended.

"You can head on over. I'll stay here with Scavenger," Perceptor told them. "I'm sure if anyone can figure out the explosive compound, it's him."

"Understood," he nodded and the two of them headed on out of the racetrack to the atrium area.

"Say, you think Hoist is in the repair bay?" Skywarp asked him.

"He did say he was going over there," Ratchet acknowledged. "Might've found something."

"What I'm thinking," Skywarp agreed and two of them entered the area to see him examining a gray grate. "Where did you find that?"

"In a corner, cover by a sheet," he answered.

"Well, how exactly is it related to our case?" Ratchet questioned him.

"Come on over here and take a look," he beckoned them. The two did so, unsure of what it was, and showed off the side of it near the end. On it, was flakes of paint in blue and red. "These don't belong on here," he told them.

"Blue and red paint flakes… what does that mean?" Skywarp asked, scratching his head.

"And these grate? Where does it usually belong?" Ratchet questioned.

"I sure don't have the answer for that," Hoist responded. "But this grate wasn't here when I was last here a couple of days ago, I assure you. This is something that doesn't belong here," he told them.

Ammo Added: Grate

Found in the Repair Bay with blue and red paint flakes on one side of it near the end of it.

"Also," he continued as he went over to the behemoth and showed off a spot with a lot of rust on it, "do you think this is rust?" The two looked it. It did looked like corrosion had taken hold of the behemoth, but they had a feeling that it wasn't like that before.

"It does look like rust, but I'm guessing it isn't," Ratchet replied and Skywarp nodded to him.

"You both be correct," Hoist answered as he grabbed a paint can by the handle and showed off. "Painted it on with this. Available for 250 monocoins."

"That much?" Skywarp gapped. "It's just paint."

"It's special," Hoist told them. "Requires certain chemicals to give it the illusion of rust. Has a lot of uses for movie settings that need to make their place look ready to be condemned."

"So you bought this?" Ratchet questioned him.

"No, I found it inside the behemoth. Someone was trying to hide it in here and I asked Monobear for the price of it, as much as I didn't want to," Hoist cringed before continuing on. "Anyway, he told me the retail price for it here. It's certainly affordable."

"That's true," Ratchet nodded.

Ammo Added: 'Rust' Paint Can

A paint can holding a special paint that makes objects look rusted. Available for 250 monocoins.

"Thanks," Skywarp told him. "See you'll later," he told him as he got ready to leave.

*Ding!* *Dong!*

"The investigation is over! Everyone head over to the cargo elevator for the long-awaited trial!"

"Aw, come on!" Skywarp yelled in contempt. "Seriously?"

"Guess we have no choice," Hoist sighed as he headed on out. "Hope we have enough to figure this out."

"Right, Skywarp. You head on out. I'm going to check on the patients one last time before we head out," Ratchet told him.

"Alright, guess we have no choice," he muttered as they walked on out to the atrium. "Let's just hope this isn't the end."

"It won't be," Ratchet assured him as he walked on over to the Med-Bay. He could see Bludgeon picking an unstable Drift off the floor who was groaning loudly.

"Drift, what are you doing?" Ratchet questioned him as he moved on over.

"Monobear said to head to cargo elevator," he answered as he pushed Bludgeon off. "I need to head on over… there," he gasped as he struggled to make step before collapsing to the floor. Ratchet gave a shake of his head before he started picking him up.

"You have a massive concussion. You're not going," he told him.

"But, we have to attend," he murmured.

"Not if one is physically unable to attend. Monobear has allowed it just this once," Ratchet said as he led him to the slab and laid him back on it.

"No, I can help," he continue to struggle, only to be met with him pushing him down on the slab harshly.

"Drift, listen. We can handle ourselves, so just lay here and rest. In your state, you can't help anybody," he told him.

"Ugh…," Drift grunted, his struggle weakening, before he finally stopped and sighed. "Alright. You're right. I can't take a step without falling," he relented.

"I'll take care of you once we return from the trial," Ratchet told him.

"Just survive the trial, Ratchet. Ugh... I've been acting like such an ass to you," the swordsman admitted. "I've been unreasonable. I apologize for that. I just find it hard to leave my bias… at the door."

"It's okay, Drift. Just lay here and we'll talk later, okay?" Ratchet comforted him. He could here him give a sigh before he answered.

"I will. When I feel better, I'll be at the elevator waitng for you," he told him.

"Drift, please don't do it unless you're capable of doing it," he ordered harshly

"I will, I will, I will," Drift agreed, relaxing in his slab. "Just go catch the son of a bitch."

"Don't worry. We will," he nodded as he looked to see Laserbeak was still recharging, as was Hound, and-

"Where's Knock Out and Dead End?" Ratchet questioned, looking around.

"I don't know," Bludgeon answered honestly. "Knock Out woke up around the time you headed out and hurried out of the room while Dead End was led out of by Wildrider just a few minutes ago when he woke up."

"They can both walk steadily?" Ratchet questioned.

"Seemed like it. Dead End needed a bit of help, but luckily, a missing arm does not affect the legs much. Knock Out, honestly, was really unsteady, but he practically barreled out of the room," he answered.

"Ugh… let's head on out. I bet he's in his room," Ratchet told him and Bludgeon nodded before the two headed out to the mall, walking through the groundbridge, and up the stairs to the second floor to find Knock Out's room open, as he expected. The two headed inside to see the room in disarray, the table and its accompanying chairs thrown onto their sides, several dents in the wall, several energon-stained, broken buffers on the floor, and bandages on the floor. They could hear the shower and running and couldn't help feeling an ominous feeling. The two walked on over to look inside the bathroom to see the mirror broken, the shower running, and Knock Out standing under it, his head down and his shoulders slumped as he let the water cascade down on him. The bandages around his upper body were removed but the ones on his head were still there. The two glanced at each other before Ratchet spoke.

"Knock Out, are you okay?" Ratchet questioned.

"I'm fine, Ratchet," he answered, his voice hollow and listless. "Just got dirt and grime on me that I have wash off. Need to look my best." Both of them felt unnerved by his tone of voice. It completely lacked his usually arrogance and bravado, replaced by something weak and apathetic. It was strange and unwanted.

"Knock Out… you should be resting on a slab at the Med-Bay or maybe even in here, if you want," Ratchet told him. At the, Knock Out turned the water off slowly and turned to them, showing them his slightly bleeding chest. "Knock Out, did you attempt to buffer you wounds without letting them heal."

"They were ugly. I had to fix them," he told him as he walked on over to them, his sole optic showing a cold fury behind them. Ratchet realized that this wasn't him giving up, this is him ready to send someone to their death without a bit of remorse. "Now, you can bandage them and we'll head on out. Got some bandages under the sink." The doctors stared at each other before Ratchet wisely backed off and headed to the sink. Even Bludgeon gave him a wide berth as Knock Out followed Ratchet to the kitchen sink and opened the cabinet under it to get a roll of bandages. Knock Out stood still as Ratchet reapply bandages to him, wrapping it around him five times before pulling it off. "Good. Now, I believe we have an execution to attend. I can't wait," he told them as he walked on out of the room, leaving the two of them alone again.

"Okay… that was kind of terrifying," Ratchet said to Bludgeon.

"He actually looked intimidating. I'm pleased," he agreed with him, which earned an odd look from Ratchet before he got to the point.

"Alright, let's head to the trial," he said and the two exited the room and quickly made there down the stairs to see everyone who was capable of standing waiting for them. Upon there arrival, Blurr asked out loud.

"Alright, is that everyone capable of joining us?" Blurr questioned.

"Just push the button," Knock Out ordered him and Blurr noticeably flinched before pressing the button. Knock Out entered first, taking his spot at the back and standing there, waiting for everyone else to enter, who all just looked at him oddly. "Come on, now. We have someone to execute," he told them calmly, but everyone could see that vengeance was in his remaining optic. Everyone took a second before getting in, filling the elevator up. Once everyone was in, Blurr pressed the button and the elevator came to life with a cacophony of sounds as it descended down. No one spoke up as the elevator went down slowly, going down for what felt like a eternity, before stopping and opening up.

The courtroom had a different color going on today. Black with yellow spheres. Ratchet couldn't help but feel reminded of the explosion as he took his place on the stand. Everyone who was alive were standing, except for the blank spots that were usually occupied by Drift and Hound being empty. Blast Off had been replaced by a headshot of him with a blue, bloody X over it. To go along with it, Mirage and Nightbeat's portrait had been edited with the reveal of them being killers. Mirage's was a refine X, having appeared to be written by a noble, while Nightbeat's was two magnifying glasses, appropriate for a detective.

"Welcome everyone to your fourth trial!" Monobear greeted them exuberantly, happy to see them looking so haggard for the most part. "Now, you all know the rules. You have to catch the blackened. You don't find them, our game ends here. If you find them, we get to continue this wonderful little game of ours. Now, I hereby declare that this trial begins now!"