Ch. 76

Knockout grimaced and pointed at Bulkhead, "You! You come with me! You'll be my barrier!"

Breakdown frowned, "Doc, it's best not to start picking a new favorite."

Optimus looked among the bots and hmmed lowly, "Neither Bulkhead nor Breakdown will be able to move efficiently in the tunnels, Knockout. It would be in your best interest to join with Arcee and Bumblebee. The three of you will easily overtake a heavier class such as an Insecticon."

Knockout groaned but relented, the decision handed to him when Soundwave opened a bridge via the Harbinger console. The three walked through and the bridge dissipated, the silent mech nodding gently in satisfaction.

Though Knockout had been the last through the ground bridge he was certainly the first to notice Vehicon track marks in the dirt of the unfinished subway tunnel. The red mech didn't hesitate as he unsheathed his electrical prod and gave it a twirl, a scowl on his faceplates. He had dreaded the very thought of this day ever since Starscream had far too pleasantly told him about it.

"See something?" Arcee asked from the side, the femme transforming out a blaster in preparation.

Knockout shook his helm, then shrugged, "Something or nothing, really. Track marks. I know every tire I replaced and issued on those drones and these are definitely theirs. They were probably bridged in not too far from here and drove in this way."

Bumblebee took a few hopping steps ahead, a blaster ready, and peeked around a corner hesitantly. When he saw nothing, he beeped gently to let them know it was all clear.

Arcee nodded and followed the yellow mech, smirking back at Knockout, "So what's this about 'swimming through sandpaper'?"

The red mech's scowl turned into a growl as he followed the pair, "Something that should have happened around this point in time and won't. Or at least, Starscream thought it wouldn't now."

Bumblebee buzzed, asking if it was because the seeker had collected the relic.

Knockout grumbled, "Well, partially yes, partially no. The other half of that is that we're now working together."

Arcee took the next peek around the corner, her smirk softening to a smile, "Well, let's see how we handle as a team then. And don't worry, Knockout. We'll protect your paint so long as you protect ours."

Bumblebee bubbled out a laugh and continued walking along, leaving the red mech dumbfounded and unamused. But Knockout shook off his stupor quickly enough to follow along, his prod held close and his optics darting from side to side in worry. This felt far more different than it had when he was up against the Autobots at one time. He remembered what Starscream had said about there being no relic, only Megatron's insanity. And while he was sure the seeker wasn't wrong, he wasn't exactly right, either. The warlord's sporadic search for Starscream before had been muddled until you could take a step back and see the clarity of the whole picture. It felt more like a hunt, a fight to the death hunt, than a recovery mission. And now that Megatron's 'insanity' was clearly coupled with unbridled anger...

"Knockout," Arcee called back quietly, "don't fall behind, we're coming up on an intersection."

The red mech jogged lightly to catch up, stopping beside Arcee and Bumblebee as the two looked down the two way intersection that had stopped them, "Well, well, which way do we go now?"

Bumblebee pointed into the dirt on either side of the rails, beeping that there were more tire tracks but going both ways.

"This looks like a job for a super-sleuther!" came a small, yet loud voice.

Knockout jumped and turned as Arcee and Bumblebee did the same, the three bots staring down at Miko and Jack as the children ran up to meet them.

"S'up, dudes?" Miko smiled, hands on her hips, "So, which way do we go from here?"

Knockout sighed deeply, "What are they doing here?"

Arcee frowned, "Jack."

The boy put up his hands in defense, "Hey, hold on, this isn't just another running-into-danger-Miko moment. We're here for a reason."

Miko gasped, "Aww, you totally named that situation after me. I'm flattered."

Knockout crossed his arms, "So why are you here? Don't tell me I have to watch out for these two along with my pristine finish!"

Jack shook his head, "Raf and Agent Fowler sent us. We have information about the other locations, too."

Arcee knelt down, "Alright Jack, make it fast."

The boy nodded, "Good, so where we are now is pretty close to a larger human population, right? Well, where Ratchet is with Soundwave and Wheeljack is close by a hidden military installation. And Breakdown and Bulkhead are on Oahu in Hawaii. There are multiple military installations all over that island."

Arcee frowned lightly, "What is Megatron playing at? Not every military base on Earth is aware of us. He'll reveal our species to the whole planet at this rate."

Miko groaned, "And poor Optimus and Starscream are in the Antarctic freezing their metal off! But Raf says bucket-head's troops are closing in on a small exploration base down there, so..."

Knockout growled, "He was so secretive before! 'Don't let the humans ever see you, Knockout', 'Stop racing with humans, Knockout', 'Why do I always have to remind you, Knockout', 'Don't you dare post that selfie on Instagram, Knockout'!"

Miko snickered, "No fun allowed."

The red mech grumbled, "Aside all that, why would he bother doing all this now?"

Arcee stood back up, "Alright, now that you've relayed that information, it's time to send you back."

Miko frowned, "No way! The military bases can be cleared out, no problem, but you three are gonna need human liaisons on this mission! What if someone sees you? There might be workers down here, you know."

Bumblebee beeped gently, saying that if they did run into any humans, they would need interference.

Arcee sighed, "Fine, but when we say it's time to go..."

Jack nodded, "We'll be well out of the way."

"So," Miko said excitedly, "which way are we going?"

Knockout carefully knelt down to inspect both sets of tracks and frowned, pointing, "A set of these are not Vehicon," he murmured, "and they're Insecticon, clearly."

Arcee knelt beside him, "Which way does the Insection go?"

Knockout regretted pointing to the right, the femme nodding as she stood again, "Right. We go where the Insecticon goes."

Miko cheered excitedly, "Woohoo! This is gonna be sweet!"