Chase, Chroma, Ally, Woodrow, and Chief Burns were trying to clear the collapsed tunnel exit to escape and find the others.
"Cody, your message isn't going to reach Doc Greene," K-9 said as he transformed and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"We're too far underground," Chief added as he walked to his son. "The comms don't even work."
"Well, we'll just find the rest of the family and team using our wits and courage," Woodrow said. "It'll be an adventure!"
The two brothers began to argue.
"I'll break them up," Ally said.
"Chase... if we don't get out of here... Primus, this is hard to say... what would be your biggest regret?" Chroma asked.
"That I-I was unable to ... save them," he glanced at the humans. "What would be yours?"
"Not having a family."
"But you do have a family."
"No. I want to start a family... with you."
"W-w-with me?!" Chase pulled out the wrong rock and lava glowed out of it. "Oh, dear!" he put the rock back, but the lave pushed it out.
"Uh-oh!" the lovers said in unison.
Chief! Woodrow! Stop arguing! We got lave!" Chroma yelled. "Everyone, in Chase!"
Chase transformed and let the humans and Maximal inside.
"Chroma, what about you?" Chase asked with worry.
"I'll bring up the rear," she transformed and they sped off.
Chroma lost control when they went up a wall, accidently transformed and got burned. The adrenaline didn't make her notice and she caught up to them.
They came to a gorge.
"Chase, can you jump it?" Chief asked.
"Negative, and I would like everyone to know that I have motion sickness bags in my center console," Chase said.
Chase and Chroma drove off the cliff, transformed, and use grappling hooks (Energizer or previously owned) to swing across the gorge to the other side.
Chase landed in vehicle mode and Chroma tumbled when she landed.
Chase let out his humans and ran to her side.
Woodrow almost threw up.
"Sorry, Uncle Woodrow. Riding in bots takes some getting used to," Cody said.
"Chroma, your foot!" Ally said.
Chroma's right ped was burned, had some hard lava on it, tendon cables were snapped from the heat and landing.
"I'll carry you," Chase helped her onto his back so he could give her a piggyback ride.
"I hope we haven't strayed too far from the team," Chief said.
xxx
Jackie and Miko screamed as they landed in a cavern with extinct plants.
"You okay?" Miko asked.
Jackie nodded with an 'okay' growl.
"Think you can fly us out?"
Jackie looked at their entry hole and shook her head.
"We better look for another way out, then."
The two girls searched the cavern and discovered... dinosaurs?
Jackie let out a curious growl.
"Yeah, if these guys have been here for 65 million years they should totally look different."
xxx
Optimus and Heatwave were climbing up a wall, trying to get out and find the others.
A few rocks fell down the cavern.
"How far down do you think that goes?" Heatwave asked.
"I have no desire to find out," Optimus said. "Heatwave? I have been impressed with your work in Griffin Rock."
"Thank you, sir. My team has learned a lot from our humans."
"Are you still interested in joining my ranks on the mainland?"
"We would be honored. I need to ask the other bots-"
"The position is only for you."
"Heh. With all due respect, sir, you asked me to lead my team. If I leave them behind, I'm not only failing them, but you as well."
"That is what I hoped you would say. Leadership is placing other's needs in front of your own ambitions. I am pleased you have learned that, Heatwave."
"Uh... thanks. I think. Can you tell Ratchet that First Aid and I split?"
"First Aid already informed him."
They reached a shelf and climbed onto it.
Heatwave accidentally pressed a button and gears started clanking.
"It appears you activated some form of machinery," Optimus said.
"A volcano? Ah, this shaft must be part of Mt. Magma. The humans made it. Don't ask me why," Heatwave said.
"Likely the same logic that went into the pogo stick."
The top of the mountain opened, bringing in sunlight.
"There's our escape! I'm glad it wasn't lava," Heatwave said.
"Now all that remains is finding our team, and returning them to this spot. Which passage should we take first?" Optimus gestured to the three tunnels.
"Cody taught me how humans decide. Eeny, meny miney..."
xxx
"... moe! Try over here, Boulder," Graham said.
Boulder used his sonar. "Nope. This wall's rock solid, too."
"I could've told you that by lookin' at it!" Kade said.
"This is the worst way of decision making and meanest to tigers," Emerald said.
First Aid was pacing around, looking at his forearm. "I hope everyone's okay."
"Face it, we're stuck here," Kade said.
"Well, if we're stuck here, at least it's a place with magic glowing walls!" Blades rubbed a wall and looked at his now purple palm.
"Is he really this stupid?" Raychel asked Dani.
"Dude, that's moss," T.J. said.
"Ew!" Blades tried to shake off the moss. "First Aid, hel- ACK!"
First Aid knocked him down and started punching him in the face. "Stop being an idiot! You're a grown aft mech! Stop acting like a youngling! I know who you really are!"
"First Aid! Clam down!" Boulder grabbed the mech and held him tightly as Emerald gave him a sedative.
"Why did you do that?!" Blades asked as he stood up.
"Y-you're... one of... them..." First Aid went into stasis.
"'One of them'? What does that mean?" Emerald asked.
The rest gave each other uneasy looks.
"A hover did... really bad things to him," Graham said.
"Hopefully, the others will find us and get us out," Blades said.
"How do we know they're not trapped?" Kade asked.
"Well, how in the pit should we-" Emerald's hot started to beep.
"Uh, is that normal?" T.J. asked.
Emerald gasped. "Jackie!" she opened her panel. "Her transmutation levels are through the roof!" she ran to a part of the cavern and used a cauterizer to make an 'X' in the wall. "Make a hole here!"
"How are we gonna get to the other side?" Kade asked.
"$20 says they brought TNT!" T.J. said.
"You're on!"
Guess who just lost $20?
xxx
Jackie had finished fighting off a Spinosaurus when she and Miko heard an explosion.
"Yay! Wreckers to the rescue!" Miko cheered.
Jackie gave her a funny look.
"Or, it could be Boulder."
Jackie let Miko onto her back and was about to take off when...
Snarl! "A damn Predicon!" a talking Velociraptor jumped on her head.
xxx
The team looked in awe at the ecosystem they had found... and then they heard shrieking and saw blue light and smoke at the other end of the chamber.
"Blades, hand me First Aid," Emerald held out her arms.
"Hey, this is sea water!" Boulder said.
"It must've been trapped here from an earthquake millions of years ago," T.J. said, then he saw the team looking at him. "What? I took earth science!"
"Is THAT a pterodactyl?!" Emerald pointed at the flying reptile.
"It should look different," the team looked at T.J. again. "Well, it's basic evolution!"
"So, Boulder's sonar and Emerald's tracker don't detect dinosaurs!" Kade exclaimed.
"Actually, it's a flying lizard, and my tracker tracks transmutates," Emerald said. "Blades, Dani, hop to it and get Jackie."
"We'll fly low," Dani told Blades.
xxx
"Okay, let me see if I got this straight: the Predaqueen is some sort of transmutate, about your size when human, fighting these 'Decepticons', and you are both working with these 'Autobots' who are good?" the Velociraptor asked.
"Yeah," Miko nodded her head really fast and tightened her grip on the ax she packed.
"Seems legit," the raptor transformed into his robot mode. "I am 'Slayer'. A Maximal."
Jackie started flying when she heard screams.
"What are you doing?!" Slayer almost fell off.
"One of my friends was just eaten by a big fish," Jackie said as they flew over the water.
Slayer sighed as he grabbed his sword and dove into the water. He swam to the fish and stabbed it in the back as his sword spun. He used his shield to propel himself out of the water and Jackie picked up him and her friend.
A human female exited the bot.
"Dani, are you okay?" a red head male asked.
"We thought..." the male with glasses trailed.
"Remind me to give this 'seaside vacation spot' a bad review," Dani said.
"Negative five stars," Blades said as he looked at his bent rotor.
"We need to get to a safer cavern," Graham said.
"Can we get my stuff first?" Slayer asked transforming back into his raptor mode.
"Well, you and Jackie- hey, who are you?" Emerald asked Slayer.
"Slayer. An Ally."
"Hey, he helped save me and Dani. He must be good," Blades said.
"Just be quick about it, okay?" Kade said.
Jackie, Lindsy, and Slayer flew off.
"Hey, Boulder, can you use your sonar like an ultrasound to find the others?" Miko asked. "Or get them to come to us?"
xxx
Woodrow was asking Chase, Chroma, and K-9 about Cybertronians.
"So, you guys don't need much sleep, do you eat?" He asked.
"We techno-organics' systems are very similar to organics'," K-9 said.
"Cybertronians' main food source is energon and we use all of it, so we don't have any waste," Chroma said.
"Well, that answers my next question. Can you guys procreate like humans, or do you build babies?" Woodrow asked.
"Not appropriate!" Chief scolded. "Hold on."
They came to a crossroad.
K-9's ears perked up. "Do you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Woodrow asked.
"Thumping."
"We should split up to find our way out."
"Yeah, horror movies make that sound smart," Chroma sarcastically said.
"Good point."
Then everyone else heard the thumping.
"Want me to lead the way?" K-9 asked.
xxx
Wheelie and Brains were playing tic tac toe on Prime's transport when Optimus and Heatwave showed up.
"Hi guys!" Wheelie said.
"You can pull it free. It's hardly damaged and still works," Brains said.
The two big bots pulled out the transport.
"Also, energon," Wheelie pointed at a hole in the ground.
All four went into the hole. There was a lot of energon.
"We gotta get Jackie to binge on this!" Wheelie said.
"Yeah, she has that weird second stomach in dragon mode," Brains added.
"Don't crocodiles have something like that?" Heatwave asked.
"That is up for debate. I wish we found this energon under better circumstances," Optimus said. "And didn't you two-"
"We're small!" The mini bots said in unison.
They all heard thumping.
"That sounds like Boulder!" Heatwave said.
xxx
The police unit ran into the cavern where most of the team was.
"Dad!" Dani called.
"We're coming down!" Woodrow called back.
"Woodrow! Be careful!" Chief warned. "That rock doesn't look too stable."
It's fine, Charlie, don't be such a worry wart."
"He's a dad, it's his job," K-9 said.
"Yeah, you know about the curiosity and the cat," Cody said.
"Do they really have nine lives?" Chase asked.
Chroma groaned as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Woodrow said.
"Terror-Doctor!" Blades pointed at a hungry pterodactyl.
"Okay, maybe that!"
It started to swoop at them.
They all heard a roar as Jackie let out a warning fire shot at the reptile.
It flew into open air to escape and Jackie grabbed it in her maw and shook her head, killing it.
"Don't eat it!" Lindsy yelled.
"Drop it!" Miko yelled.
Jackie tossed it in the water where a megalodon snatched it.
The two teams reunited.
"Can we go to Hawaii for our next family trip?" Dani asked.
"I bet Jackie learned that from Woodrow," Blades said. "He and Chief have been arguing so much, that they ignore everything else."
"True," Chroma said. "Hey, Blades, can you look at my foot?"
"Not exactly a compliment," Woodrow said.
"No. But a fair observation," Chief said.
A wall started to fall apart.
"Ugh. Now what? A triceratops?" Dani sarcastically asked.
Heatwave, Optimus, and the mini bots burst through the wall.
"Heatwave! You're okay! I mean, uh, hey," Kade offered his fist.
Heatwave returned the gesture.
"We received your signal. Is everyone safe?" Optimus asked.
"First Aid had a panic attack, so I had to sedate him," Emerald said. "But other than that, everyone else is fine."
"Well, except for that flying reptile," Slayer said.
"Who's that?" Chief asked.
"Jackie, you found him, you house him," K-9 said.
"The sooner we get out-" Chief was cut off by Jackie chewing on something.
"Spit! It! Out!" Blades forced open her mouth and Emerald tossed out the chewed-up pterodactyl head into the water, much to the team's disgust.
"We found the way out," Heatwave said. "And a lot more."
xxx
The team walked into the energon cavern and First Aid woke up.
"What happened? Where am I?" He asked.
"You freaked out and started beating up Blades," T.J. said.
"Kind of had to sedate you," Emerald said. "And we're still underground."
"We'll be out soon," Heatwave said.
"So, this is all pure generon?" Woodrow asked as he walked up to a blue crystal.
"Energon," Optimus corrected.
"It flows through the bots' veins," Miko said.
Woodrow tapped the crystal. "Isn't it a little solid for that?"
Snarl. "Are you a moron? It isn't refined yet!" Slayer exclaimed.
"Rude!" Blades said.
Slayer snarled again.
"And energon is highly explodable in this form," Miko said as she pulled Woodrow away.
"Hope you like volcanoes, because that's the way out," Heatwave said as he led the others out.
Jackie stayed behind and started to use her body to knock down a large crystal.
xxx
The team was discussing how to get out of the volcano without the humans dying.
"We can have the Predaqueen hunt a decent sized lizard for them to eat," Slayer suggested.
"What about water?" K-9 asked.
"Heatwave and I have water!" Miko said.
"It's not safe to drink," Heatwave said.
"We could drink our urine," Woodrow suggested.
"Ew!" Blades said.
"That is so unhealthy," First Aid said.
Jackie dropped the large crystal beside them and flew to the center of the volcano shaft. She regurgitated a small crystal, dropped it down, shot fire at it to make it explode, and rode the blast up a few feet.
"Um, what?" Kade asked.
"She thinks we can use the energon to propel ourselves out of here if we blow it up," Miko said.
Chief turned to the Prime. "Optimus? I'd hate to have to ask you to waste so much energon-"
"Chief Burns, energon is replaceable. Human lives are not," Optimus said.
"Let's get to work," Lindsy said.
Jackie flew back into the cavern.
"Come on, all techno-organics, Wreckers, and transmutates get a couple more crystals out of here!" Miko said as she led her 'team' back to the energon.
"I'll make sure me have the minimum to get out of here," Boulder said.
xxx
Jackie was trying to fly the energon transport out, but was unable to.
"Chase, can I borrow your grappling hook?" Chroma asked.
"Oh, why doesn't everyone take some energon and put it in their cabins?!" Slayer shouted.
"What about us humans?" Ally asked.
"Jackie, put down the transport a we'll take a couple crystals!" Emerald called.
All the bots with enough cabin space and trunks loaded themselves with the energon and Jackie was able to fly out.
"On my signal," Chief said. "One..."
Woodrow got Cody's hoverboard with taped on explosives ready.
"Two..."
The bots got ready to release the freshly cut platform.
"Three!" Chief and Woodrow got inside Chase after Woodrow shot the hoverboard into the cavern.
xxx
Miko and Jackie waited for the bots to come out of the volcano.
Miko was recording. "This is kinda-"
The bot exploded out of the mountain with a big boom and slid to the bottom of the mountain.
"I hope someone got that on camera!" Blades said with a laugh.
"I did and it was epic!" Miko shouted.
xxx
Chase was sitting next to Chroma in Prime's medbay while she recovered from surgery. "Do you really desire offspring with me?"
"Eventually. We'll give it time to think about it. I know you can be shy."
xxx
"First Aid, do you know why I have to keep you here?" Razor asked.
"To make sure I'm mentally sound after I flipped out and punched Blades," the young medic said as he crossed his arms and sat in the recovery room bed.
"We will be monitoring you," Air Raid pointed at the ceiling camera.
xxx
Woodrow boarded the ferry to the mainland with Optimus and Miko.
As the ferry sailed into the ocean, an African-American man in a suit came up to him.
"Woodrow Burns?" he asked.
"Yes?" Oh, crap, what did my DES destroy now?
"Agent Fowler. My branch is interested in your Deep Earth Scanners for-"
"I take full responsibility if one destroyed something."
"Actually, we want to use them to find rare minerals used to keep the Rescue Bots working."