Once again, back with another late update. But to make up for it, I'm double posting! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers and all its characters. I only own Paige and Swiftblade.
"I spy with my little eye, something… pink."
"Seriously? There's nothing pink out here, just rocks. It's not even sunset yet!"
Paige rolled her eyes half-heartedly at Miko. "Just guess. If you guess correctly, you'll get my last candy bar."
"Miko's hair."
"And Jack is the winner!" Paige dug the item out of her shoulder pack and handed it over to the teen.
"Ugh! We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is… rock," Miko complained as she paced on the boulder she stood on, crossing her arms.
Jack tore open the candy bar. "Relax, Miko. The show doesn't start for another two hours," he told her. He took a bite.
"You know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey?"
"Uhh…"
"Since you first heard about them," Paige asked with a yawn, leaning against the boulder beside Jack.
"Forever!" Miko corrected loudly. "And it's their only U.S. date!"
"There's a shock." Jack finished his candy bar and stuck the wrapper in his pocket to throw out later. "Who doesn't love Bulgarian shriek metal?"
"Geez, Miko. We have a ground bridge, remember?" Paige rolled her eyes half-heartedly. "We'll just ask Ratchet to bridge us nearby when we're done here."
Miko opened her mouth to say something else, but the sound of footsteps caught their attention. They turned to see Bulkhead and Arcee walking out of the mining tunnel they were sitting next to, a scanner in Bulkhead's hand.
"By all appearances, the mine's been stripped," Arcee was saying.
"But I'm getting a signal. It's faint, but it's definitely Energon."
The teens exchanged a glance and Paige narrowed her eyes at the grin on Miko's face. Sure enough, the girl was sliding off the rock. Sighing, the brunette slid off her own perch and jogged to follow the girl running into the tunnel.
"Cool!" Miko yelled, throwing her arms up as she ran and giggling when her voice echoed down the tunnel.
"Miko, Paige, get back here," Bulkhead called after them, running in behind them.
Paige groaned as they ran further down the tunnel, "Miko, slow down! We really shouldn't be in here!"
"Oh, come on, Paige! Live a little!" Miko darted behind a stalagmite once the tunnel opened into a cavern.
Paige slowed down to a walk and rolled her eyes, "I do. When you're not doing dumb shit like running into a mine that the bots said could be structurally unstable." Her eyes trailed along the walls of the cavern and nearly leaped for the ceiling when Miko jumped out from behind the stalagmite with 'claws' and a mischievous grin.
"Boo!"
Paige held her hand to her chest and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Then she punched her friend's arm with a glare, causing the girl to cringe and rub the offended area. "That's for scaring the hell out of me!"
Miko giggled and turned around, eyes scanning the area with a glint in her eyes. Bulkhead came walking into the cavern, calling their names, when suddenly she jumped out from behind the stalagmite with wide arms. "Check it out!" Her voice echoed around the cavern. "This would make an awesome rehearsal space. Hello! Hello, Cleveland!" She ran forward. "Are you ready to rock?! Woohoo!"
Paige cringed at the sound of her voice bouncing off the walls and glared at her. "Miko, please stop yelling into a cave that could literally collapse on top of us," she scowled, eyeing the ceiling and stalagmites above their heads. She followed her friend as they moved further into the tunnels.
"Arcee, I found something," Bulkhead said, causing Paige to stop and turn to him. He frowned when he didn't get a response back. "Scrap."
"Okay, maybe the echo sticks aren't perfect," Miko told them, hands on her hips.
Bulkhead sighed as he looked at the beeping scanner. "Well, we're here. Ratchet's gonna want a sample." He followed the scanner until he came to a large bulge in the wall where the scanner seemed to be beeping the loudest. He transformed his free hand into his wrecking ball and began pounding at the rock, breaking off chunks at a time.
Paige grabbed Miko's arm and pulled her away to a safe distance where the rocks wouldn't hit them. She watched Bulkhead continue pounding at that spot until she felt the ground beneath her feet rumble. Then the ceiling began cracking as the rumbling continued and she gasped, watching rocks begin falling. Something cracked to their left and they turned to see a stalagmite break apart and begin falling towards the girls. Miko shrieked and crouched, covering her head with her arms. Paige quickly leaned over the girl and hugged her protectively, her back to the falling rocks as she closed her eyes and waited to be crushed. She heard grunts above them from Bulkhead and loud metal clangs as large rocks fell on top of him. She grit her teeth and hugged Miko tight, feeling everything shake around them and dust fill the air.
When the rumbling finally stopped and most of the rocks had stopped falling, Paige released her hold on her friend. They slowly got to their feet and coughed, waving away the dust in the air. "Y-you okay, Miko," she asked, checking the girl over for injuries.
"Yeah, I-I'm okay." The girl was mostly just dusty. They both were. "What about you?"
Paige coughed again. "F-Fine. Bulkhead?" She looked around the area, illuminated by the headlights of the bot's chest.
"Here," he grunted. "Did I do that?"
"Don't think so," Miko responded as she walked away, looking around at the rocks surrounding them.
Paige frowned in confusion. She remembered rocks falling towards them and they should've crushed the girls. So how did…? She turned around to look for Bulkhead and her eyes trailed up his standing form. Only to gasp as her eyes grew wide in shock and mild horror. Oh my God, he's holding up the entire ceiling! "B-Bulkhead… Are you okay?" Her voice drew Miko's attention, who also gasped.
"...Peachy." Something groaned and Paige wasn't sure if it was Bulkhead or the boulder he was holding up. Rocks were falling and breaking now and then from the sides near the walls, and dust was falling from in front of his face.
"Don't worry, girls. I got it under control," he assured them, but the squint of strain in his eyes was telling Paige otherwise.
She frowned worriedly, swallowing the lump that formed in the back of her throat. But for how long? She wanted to ask, but something screamed at her not to. They didn't need to keep thinking about the bad side of the situation. When their eyes met, his brows knitted in concern underneath his helm. She knew he could tell she was worried about him and she was worried about their situation. She shuffled nervously on her feet, eyes darting around their surroundings. They were completely surrounded by rocks and there seemed to be no hole whatsoever to make an escape, even for the girls.
"What do you think caused the cave-in," Miko asked.
"Who knows," Bulkhead sighed. "I just hope Arcee and Jack are safe 'cause we could definitely use an assist."
"Just keep raising that roof, Bulk. I'll get us outta here!"
Paige turned to watch Miko go over to the wall and begin lifting and pulling rocks, grunting with the effort. She frowned and looked around nervously before walking over to help. If they worked together, then things could go faster and much easier. And maybe they'd be able to make a way out. She rolled up her sleeves and steeled her nerves before reaching for a boulder leaned up against the wall. Grunting with the effort, she pulled on it until it leaned over and fell. She moved out of its way and worked on grabbing another on the wall, shoving it to the side with a groan. When it rolled to the ground, she grabbed another.
As they continued moving rocks, something nagged at the back of Paige's mind as they began to breathe heavier with the continual effort. There was something important about this situation that she should've remembered for survival and she couldn't think of it. What was it? She paused to wipe some sweat from under her bangs, trying to regain her breath. How long had they been moving boulders?
She reached down to grab another boulder and attempted to push it out of the way. Her left hand slipped and caught on a sharp edge of the rock. She cried out in pain and immediately pulled her hand close to her chest and cradled it with her other. Looking down at it cupped in her right hand, she could see a gash on her palm where the rock had cut her, quickly leaking blood.
"Paige, what happened? Are you alright?"
Paige grit her teeth and took a deep breath before answering. "I'm fine, Bulk. Just… cut my hand, that's all."
"How bad?"
"Eh…" Paige used her right hand to pull out her army knife from her shoulder pack. "Hard to tell right now. All I can do right now is wrap it… and hope for the best." Using her knife, she cut a decent strip from her left shirt sleeve before putting the knife away. Then, using her teeth and her right hand, she began to wrap her bleeding left hand in the sleeve after shaking most of the dust off of it. It wasn't clean, but it was all she had for now. She could do a better job of cleaning it once they got back to base.
She winced as she tightened her makeshift wrapping and tied it off. She looked over handiwork with a critical eye, deciding it was decent enough for the time being. Hopefully the bleeding would stop soon - as long as she didn't continue to use the hand - and it wouldn't get infected later. She really hoped it wouldn't get infected.
"Oof!"
"Miko!"
Paige turned to see Miko lying on the ground, sluggishly pushing herself up to a sitting position. She frowned and walked over to help her to her feet, absentmindedly taking note of their labored breathing. She pulled the girl up with her good hand, only for her to wobble and Paige had to hold her by the shoulder to keep her steady. Her own legs quivered and that caused her to worry.
"I'm feeling strong," Miko said with a breathless laugh.
"No, you're not," Bulkhead frowned worriedly.
"I just need to… rest for a second. That's all…"
"Miko, Paige, listen to me… There's no fresh air down here. If you use up the oxygen too fast-"
"We could suffocate," Miko realized.
"Shit," Paige scowled, feeling her knees begin to buckle.
"Just you two," Bulkhead told them. "Autobots don't need to breathe, remember?"
"Right! Smackdown in outer space! That was cool," Miko said before gasping for air, leaning against Paige more.
Paige grimaced and felt her knees give out, making the two of them collapse to the floor in a heap. "Sorry," she coughed, laying flat on her back while Miko lay over top of her stomach. "Kn-knees gave out…"
"You okay?" Bulkhead asked, concerned.
"Yeah… j-just really feeling the lack of air down here," Paige sighed, closing her eyes. She felt Miko get off of her but she didn't bother to get up, simply focused on taking slow breaths.
"Okay… What if I just… slow down and breathe less," Miko suggested. Paige turned her head to watch Miko crawl over to another boulder and begin tugging on it, grunting with the effort. But it wouldn't budge no matter how much she tried.
"No, you need to stop now," Bulkhead told her.
"I can't, Bulk… I have to get us outta here!" She tried one more time before rolling over to lean against the wall with a sigh.
"Miko, please, don't worry about me!" He then grunted and squeezed his eyes shut as something groaned. "I'm fine," he breathed out, and Paige's eyes snapped to him, seeing the strain in his expression as he stared worriedly down at them.
Paige felt her heart squeeze painfully at the sight of him. He was holding up the entire ceiling, and it looked painful. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to hold up a boulder that could potentially crush them all, and keep holding it. Her throat squeezed as the reality of the situation began to weigh heavily on her mind. They could die there. Even if Bulkhead managed to keep holding up the ceiling, she and Miko could both suffocate long before his strength ever gave out. And if his strength gave out before they lost what's left of the oxygen in their little cave, they could be buried and crushed. She didn't dare want to think about either outcome, but that was the possibility of what could happen if help didn't arrive soon. They just had to keep hoping that a rescue was coming soon.
She fished her phone out of her pocket and held it up in front of her, scrolling through her emergency contacts. Finding the one she needed, she held the phone to her ear. She scowled when static was the only response she got and sighed, shoving it back into her pocket. Damnit! There's still an interference with the signal down here. So there's no way to call for help to be dug out of here. Jack, Arcee… I hope you both are okay. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, allowing that to be the only sound she heard besides the groaning of metal and rocks and dust falling to the ground around them.
"P-Paige…"
"Yeah, Miko…?"
"Re… Remember that time when-"
"Miko, I swear to God," Paige cut her off with a groan, lifting up her right arm to scrub her face tiredly. "Save your breath… We don't have much of it, so we need to make it count."
"Yeah, b-but…" Miko took a deep breath and sighed. "I want to… to hear a story…"
Paige frowned at her words and let her hand rest against her middle. She could try and tell a story, perhaps of a time before her mother was diagnosed. But the only issue was that she'd be using more oxygen than necessary. A sound caught her attention, like a distant whirring. She frowned in confusion as she opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. She glanced over at Bulkhead and their eyes met. He had heard it too.
"D-do you hear that?" He asked, hope filling his voice.
"It sounds like…"
"Drilling. It's gotta be Arcee and Jack."
"We're in …here! Here…!" Miko called in a pitiful attempt to catch the driller's attention.
Paige scoffed quietly. "I highly doubt they can hear us over that drill… regardless if we could shout loud enough," she panted, feeling her breathing starting to strain.
"Girls. Grab something and bang it on my foot," Bulkhead told them. "Can you do that?"
Paige looked over at Miko, who had frowned in contemplation. She started to roll over. "I'll do it," she announced, stopping the girl from moving any more. Thankfully, Miko rolled back to her previous position with a sigh.
"You… you sure?"
"Yeah…" Paige slowly pushed herself to her feet and threw her arms out for balance when she wobbled. Satisfied when she didn't fall, she quickly looked around her for a solid rock she could carry. She found one to the right of her and she picked it up in both hands despite the pain that shot through her left palm. It weighed probably fifteen pounds, but the lack of oxygen and wounded hand made it feel much heavier and more difficult to carry. She groaned and slowly made her way over to Bulkhead's left foot, which happened to be the closest one to her. Reaching it, she stopped and hesitated. She glanced up at him with a worried frown. "Won't it… hurt?"
Bulkhead chuckled breathlessly. "I know it's hard to believe but I'm tougher than I look," he told her. "Now give it all ya got!"
"If you say so…" Paige took a deep breath and her face scrunched in focus as she called upon what strength she had regained after resting. She lifted the rock and slammed it against the metal plating on his foot, feeling and hearing the resounding clang as it struck. That sent pain shooting through her hand and she hissed in pain, pausing for a moment to allow the pain to subside to a dull throbbing. She then lifted it and brought it down again, and again, and again. With each strike, she grunted with the effort and fought back a hiss of pain, but the loud sound it was making stirred her on.
"Thatta girl, Paige! Keep going!"
Paige brought it down once more and paused to catch her breath. She leaned her knee against his foot to hold up the boulder while she raised an arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Then a new sound reached her ears. That kinda sounded like hydraulics. "What… was that?" She asked, confused.
"Nothing. Go on, keep banging!"
Paige pressed her lips into a thin line. His quick response in an attempt to keep her attention off of what she had heard was concerning. He's lying. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the rock and moved her knee. She brought the rock down against his plating, only to stop when his grunt was accompanied by another groan of metal. She glanced up at him, scowling at the clear strain of pain on his face.
"Bulkhead… What's happening?" Miko asked as she came closer, having gotten up to investigate. "Tell me!"
"My arms… They're starting to give…"
Both girls stared up at him in horror, eyes moving to his arms and then the ceiling. "Does it hurt," Miko asked.
"A little," he groaned. Another hydraulic sound started and they gasped, but he was quick to assure them. "Help's coming! We just gotta guide 'em here. Hit me again!"
The two girls stared at him a moment before exchanging a worried look. Paige took a deep breath and hefted the rock up with a wince. "M-Miko… can you grab another rock… and help me? Maybe with our combined effort… the sounds will reach the driller and our r-rescue… will come faster."
Miko gulped and nodded, quickly looking around for a rock she could grab. She moved away and Paige refocused her efforts. She brought the rock down on his foot again, her movements slow with her fading strength and the pain numbing her hand. She grunted and slammed it down again, and was a little relieved when she heard a second clang from his right foot. She didn't have to look to know it was Miko. So she heaved the rock up again and continued the slow process of banging her rock against the bot's foot. They timed it to where there was a clang right after the other went off. A quick one-two, one-two, one-two, in a continued effort to create enough noise to reach a rescuer.
"Are they any closer?" Bulkhead asked when they had stopped to catch their breath.
"I can't tell," Miko whined as she let go of her rock and dropped to the ground on her hands and knees. "The sound is all… freaky in here!"
Suddenly, it sounded like rocks were moving. Miko gasped with a hopeful smile and Paige set her rock down on the ground before turning towards the sound. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, eyebrows knitted together as she hoped with all her heart that someone had really found them. Then there was banging against the wall in front of them and Paige rested her good hand against Bulkhead's foot. Both he and Miko began to laugh, thrilled at the thought of Arcee finding them.
A boulder burst from the wall in a cloud of dust and fell somewhere off to the side. A cackle filled the air and sent a pit of dread dropping to Paige's stomach as she scowled, glaring at the beady red eyes coming into focus through the dissipating dust cloud.
"Put any doubt of my allegiance to rest," Starscream said, before pausing. His smile dropped in shock when he saw who he had just unveiled from the rocks.
"What's he doing down here?" Miko asked, quickly getting to her feet.
"Miko, Paige, get behind me," Bulkhead told them. "Now!"
Paige didn't need to be told twice. She stepped forward, grabbed Miko's hand with her good one, and yanked her behind her before slowly backing up. At the same time, Starscream began bursting into the room and caused more dust and rocks to fly. She scowled and turned to run, only to trip and fall as the ground shook with his entrance. She grunted at the impact.
"Well, well, well," Starscream said as he stepped into their space. "If it isn't Bulkhead and his two pet vermin." Paige scowled as she and Miko got to their feet, backing up slowly. "My, you do have your hands full, don't you, Autobot?" He then slowly began to pace in a circle, like a predator circling its prey.
"Do whatever you want to me, Starscream! But let the humans go!" As Bulkhead shouted this, Paige slipped one of her pistols out of its holster and held it ready in her hand.
"No! I'm not leaving you!" Miko cried.
"It appears that the humans wish to remain." Starscream reached his clawed hand towards them and Paige shoved Miko behind her with her arm as they shuffled out of his reach. They hid behind the tire of the bot's foot, and he continued walking.
"Starscream, don't push me!"
"You like playing with the big robots, don't you, little girls?" The seeker asked in a sinister tone as they continued to shuffle out of his path.
Miko was growing tired and Paige stayed at her side, keeping her eyes on the Con. She scowled as he stood in front of them now, causing Miko to gasp in shock and stumble back. Starscream reached for them and Paige lifted her pistol and fired a single bullet, just as Bulkhead quickly kicked his leg out. The bullet ricocheted off the Con's face directly under his right eye, causing him to falter enough to be kicked back by their giant friend. He cried out as he was shoved back into the pile of rocks, and Paige quickly darted behind the cover of Bulkhead's foot again. Bulkhead groaned with the effort of readjusting his weight and hold on the ceiling, his arms shaking a bit.
Starscream growled as he began getting up from where he had fallen, his temper flaring. "That's it! I will-"
"What? You'll what? Make me bring down the ceiling on top of all of us?!" Bulkhead turned his head to the humans hiding behind him. "Run, girls!" When Miko simply shook her head and hugged his foot, Paige scowled openly at the Con in front of them. If Miko wasn't leaving, then she wasn't either.
"Yes, run! I'd love to see you try," Starscream smirked, looking at his claws before clenching them into a fist. "Really, I would!" He paused as the sound of the drill returned. Suddenly, it broke through the wall and knocked him aside with a cry.
When the drill stopped, Jack peeked out from the side. "Jack, get Miko and Paige out of here! Now," Bulkhead ordered.
Jack jumped down to the tread guard and reached his hand down for the girls to take. Miko hesitated and glanced back at her guardian, and Paige eyed the dust cloud that Starscream was occupying with a suspicious eye. "Come on, come on!" Jack called urgently when the exchange student didn't immediately move.
Paige glanced at her and scowled. "Miko, we need to go! Do what Bulkhead says!" She pointed her pistol at the dust cloud, ready to be a distraction if she needed to.
"Run, Miko!" Bulkhead told her.
Paige then heard Jack grunt before he called out to her. "Paige, come on!"
She glanced over at him and saw Miko hunched beside him. Taking that as her cue, she quickly holstered her pistol and ran to grab his outstretched hand with her good one. They grabbed each other's wrists and he hefted her onto the tread guard with a grunt of effort. She collapsed beside her friends and turned around to watch the scene, eyeing the dust in the room as rocks continued to fall.
"We can't leave Bulkhead," Miko whined, tears falling from her eyes.
Paige whipped her pistol back out as she saw Starscream get to his feet while Jack climbed back to the controls. He growled and tried to reach for them, but she fired off two bullets at his face. One bounced off his cheek while the other bounced off his large brow, causing him to cry out in shock. It hadn't hurt him since they simply ricocheted off his metal plating, but the sparks were enough to cause a bit of fright from the flighty seeker. She sent him a wicked smirk with a fire ablaze in her eyes as he met her gaze. He growled angrily but then cowered when the drill started up, causing him to shield himself with his arms to avoid being hurt by the drill's spikes. She didn't lower her pistol until the drill had backed out of the hole.
"Arcee will save him, won't she?" Miko cried, hope in her voice.
Paige stayed crouched on the tread guard, holding her pistol ready in case they had more unwanted visitors. She didn't want to be surprised by another Con.
"We just need to find a way out of here before Megatron digs himself free," Jack responded, causing the girls to exchange looks of horror.
"Megatron's here too?!"
Paige scowled and turned her attention ahead as Jack began moving them forward. They gasped and paused when a shadow stepped into their path. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see who it was amongst the dust and dim lighting from the drill. Is that Megatron… or Arcee? Please be Arcee.
"Hey, kids."
Paige lowered her gun with a sigh of relief as Jack called his guardian's name, equally as relieved. She immediately stood up and pointed in the direction they had come with her bad hand. "Arcee, th-there's a hole over there. Bulkhead needs help, fast!"
Arcee nodded in understanding. "Stay here." She ran past them and disappeared into the hole.
Paige then crouched down on the tread guard and closed her eyes, feeling oxygen slowly return to her lungs. At least they seemed to be in a tunnel connected to the outside. That was a good sign. Their escape would be easier, especially now that they had found Arcee. She opened her eyes and stared down at her wrapped hand with a small frown.
Blade will not be happy when he hears what happened…
They survived the cave-in!