"Everyone take cover!" Ratchet warned everyone else. Just then, one of the mechanical arms fired red hot rivets at the floor like bullets. They managed to get out of the way just as the bolts tore apart the sleeping bags. Two pincers grabbed Ratchet and Bumblebee and threw them against the wall.
"What's happening?!" Bumblebee exclaimed. Bulkhead meanwhile was avoiding a flamethrower. Sari was trying to get out of the way of a laser and tripped. A riveter reared up and fired. But Optimus had arrived just in time and swept Sari out of the way of the rivets.
"This is definitely not me!" she shouted. Just then, Prowl entered the room.
"This party is getting out of hand!" he intruded. Some riveters fired at the ninja who in turn jumped out of the way just in time. Ratchet leapt in the way and used a magnetic field to bounce the bullets away. Two pincers picked up some gas tanks, snapped off the nozzle, and the tanks became bootleg rockets which propelled themselves through the air. Ratchet dodged them, but the force of the explosion still sent him flying.
"Are you okay?" Optimus ran to Ratchet and looked at his bruises and scratches.
"Don't worry about me!" Ratchet brushed his hand away, "Someone's gotta shut down the assembly line!" He pointed at the control console at the north corner of the room. Bumblebee heard him and decided to take matters into his own hands. He activated the motorized wheels on his shoes and skated through the room to the control panels.
"This looks like a job for heels on wheels!" Two rockets hit right in front of him and knocked him down. Then three pincers grabbed his arms and legs and forced him onto a conveyor belt. He fought and struggled until he was free. But before he could jump off, a flamethrower shot fire at him. He leapt away but was still singed by some stray flames.
"Hot hot hot!" he exclaimed, patting away the flames. Bulkhead snuck up behind the flamethrowers and smashed them with his wrecking ball.
"Ha! Who needs 'sensitive'? Smashing stuff is fun!" he laughed.
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"Thick skulled moron. Let's see if I can crush that smile off your face," Megatron sneered.
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Several pincers grabbed Bulkhead and wrestled him down onto an assembly line. Bulkhead's heart sank when he saw that he was heading straight for a die press.
"This can't be good," Bulkhead gasped. He broke his arms free of the pincer's grip, grabbed the sides of the die press, and pushed himself away from the entrance and the slamming press.
"Ah slag!" he felt his arms trembling and the assembly line treads grinding against his back while the pincers tried to push him in.
"Hang on Bulkhead!" Optimus ran to Bulkhead's rescue. He jammed his axe's handle into the gears of the assembly line and turned it with all his might. Bulkhead felt himself being pulled away from the die press. Optimus's plan was working. But, an electromagnet appeared over Optimus and magnetically towed Optimus's gauntlets, and him, up. Optimus tried to detach his gauntlets, but his hands were bound to the magnet. Bulkhead was soon back in his previous predicament.
Meanwhile, Prowl had an idea.
"Everyone!" he alerted, "Stand still."
"Forget stillness! We need action!" Bumblebee protested. He roller skated and stung at some pincers but was knocked back by two more rockets.
"It's all connected to motion sensors! Stand still!" Prowl reiterated. Ratchet, after managing to get up, took Prowl's advice and stood as still as he could when two lasers pointed at him. Two pincers shot straight for him, but lost their target and attacked the nearest moving thing: each other. Sari inserted her key into a pincer's control box. It gripped onto the other and pulled until they both broke apart.
"Bout time you used that thing for something useful," Ratchet winked.
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"Zoom in on quadrant 45-67!" Megatron ordered. The droid's camera showed him an image of several gas tanks near some open flames. "It's time to finish this," he decided. A pincer struck a hole in the fuel tank letting the gasoline drip out.
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"If I can just make it to the control panel, I can shut this all down!" Prowl alerted his fallen teammates. He scanned the room for his path. He took into account everything: the lasers, pincers, magnets, flamethrowers, and assembly lines. He took a deep breath and sped towards the panel, aided by his jump boosters. He remembered the cat he'd seen what felt like a year ago and stopped. The lasers scanned him and found no movement.
"Stillness," he reminded himself. The lasers darted away. "And strike!" he activated his jump boosters and shot across the floor on all fours. He made a U-turn and skidded across the floor gracefully.
"Stillness," the lasers once again searched for any movements, but didn't find so much as a twitch. "And strike." He leapt up, grabbed and spun on a horizontal pole, and used the momentum to shoot himself at the control panel. He was now mere feet away from the panel. All it would take is one last strike.
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"The motion sensors may be blind to you Autobot," Megatron watched Prowl leap across the room to the control panel, "But I am not!"
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The lasers moved away from Prowl. This was it. He made his leap but a pincer made a 360' spin and struck him in the stomach. He flew across the room and was caught by some more pincers.
"No!" He tried to struggle but he was held too tightly. The hit had knocked a lot out of him. With all others down, it was hopeless. Then he remembered. Bumblebee.
"It's up to you now Bumblebee!" he looked at the only Autobot that was still standing, "Remember! Stillness!"
"From Bumblebee?!" Bulkhead protested, still struggling against the assembly line.
"Just remember: Stillness and strike! Just like the cat!"
"In case you haven't noticed," Bumblebee objected, sweat dripping down his face, "I'm not the one who spends all my time looking at stupid cats!"
"Slag it Bumblebee just listen to me and focus! Wait for the right time!" Bumblebee gulped and nodded. "Ready? Go!" Bumblebee ran as fast as he could, ducking and dodging the lasers.
"Stop!" Bumblebee halted and looked angrily at Prowl. "Go!" Bumblebee's motorized wheels activated sending him roller-skating across the floor. He leaned forward to gain some speed.
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"Antiquated machines!" Megatron raged at the bootleg "weapons", "Destroy him!"
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Five makeshift rockets shot at Bumblebee. Prowl watched in horror as the explosion engulfed his yellow-jacketed friend. But just then, Bumblebee zoomed out of the inferno without a scratch. A pincer tried to strike him, but he ducked and grabbed it. It spun around, and he let go, sending him flying right at the control panel. He yanked off some plating revealing crisscrossing wires. He activated his glove-mounted stingers and shot a bolt of electricity through the circuitry. The control panel buzzed and twittered until some of the parts burst in small explosions.
The equipment shut off. Optimus jumped down from the magnet. Bulkhead pushed away the pincers and rubbed his aching shoulders. Prowl was released by the pincers. The lasers deactivated. Then Optimus noticed something in the corner of his eye: a leaking fuel tank next to an open flame.
"The fuel tanks!" he exclaimed, "They're gonna blow!" Prowl tossed a star at the fuel tank's support allowing it to roll on its side. Optimus grabbed it with his bolo cables and threw it upward. Ratchet used his magnetizers to send it through a skylight and into the sky. The gas touched the fire, sending a flame up the trail of fuel and into the tank which immediately exploded.
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"So wait," Sari interrupted the moment of calm, "If my key didn't do this, then what did?" Just then the pocket-bot scurried across the floor. Optimus picked it up by its spider-like leg.
"Whatever it was, it was smart enough to merge the motion sensors with the assembly line," Ratchet commented. The droid managed to wriggle free of Optimus' hold and scuffle away.
"Catch it we need to examine it," Optimus told the others.
"Got it!" Bulkhead grabbed onto it and held it tightly. The droid beeped. The beeps became faster.
"Throw it! NOW!" Prowl ordered. Bulkhead listened and threw it as hard as he could. It landed with a clunk in a corner. It then self-destructed in an explosion that would've otherwise been fatal.
"I guess now we can't examine it," Bulkhead observed.
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"I had them!" Megatron's anger emanated throughout the lab. "They should've been destroyed! I cannot remain in this unacceptable status! I need a body! A new body!" He then developed a plan. It would take some time and all his cunning, but the result would end the same.
"Perhaps it's time I revealed a little more of my Cybertronian knowledge to the dear professor…"
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"Be still. Focus. Relax," Prowl breathed.
"I am all about 'stillness,'" Bumblebee replied calmly.
"Left elbow on red!" Sari called. This time, Bumblebee was easily able to reach the glowing Twister square.
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END…