Chapter 3
We'd barely gone down the fourth corridor after the forest room when a roar came echoing down from somewhere above us.
"Ravage." Optimus muttered. "He must've found one of the others."
Screaming started suddenly, and after a few seconds a trap door opened in the ceiling about a metre in front of us. Jazz and Ravage fell through it, Jazz screaming like a little girl. They landed in front of us, Jazz on top. Ravage pulled himself out from underneath him, snarled and Optimus and me, and ran off in the direction we'd come from. Jazz got to his feet.
"Where are the kids?" I demanded.
"Yeah, sure, don't worry about me." Jazz complained, holding out his hand to display the three kids nestled safely in his palm.
I blinked at him.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, "Why the hell would I worry about you?"
I noticed Optimus roll his eyes and I had to hide a grin. Jazz glared at me.
After a while our small group came to a large room in what appeared to be the centre of the temple. We hadn't come across any of the others on the way there, and as we looked into the room I saw why. Bumblebee, Arcee and Ironhide were tied to a giant pillar in the middle of the room, and gagged. Roxy was in a large cage nearby, snarling at any Decepticon that dared go anywhere near her. There were a lot of Decepticons in there.
"We have to get them out." Optimus whispered.
I nodded in agreement.
"What about the crystal?" Jazz hissed at us.
"I've already found it." Optimus held out his right hand, displaying a reddish-orange coloured crystal. A fire crystal.
"When did you get that?" I asked quietly.
"When I was looking for you." he whispered in response.
"So how are we gonna save them?" Jazz hissed
Optimus thought about it for a moment.
"I've got a plan." He whispered finally.
Two minutes later Optimus and I were heading into the Decepticon-infested room. I was holding onto one of the swords Optimus had given me, as we'd hidden Optimus' fire crystal in its sheath. The sheath was about twice as long as the fire crystal, so it was the perfect hiding place. It was a bit hard to try and support Optimus, and hold a sword at the same time, but I wasn't eager to let go of either of them.
All of the Decepticons looked round as we came in, shocked, but they didn't make any move against us. Even so, it was only Optimus' comforting presence by my side that kept me from bolting. He lost his footing on the uneven ground, and I hissed in pain as the strain on my injured shoulder increased.
The other Autobots were staring at us, trying to warn us with their eyes to turn back and run the way we'd come. I gave Roxy a look as we passed by her cage. She nodded. Optimus had told me that Roxy had the ability to sense people's intentions, which made her invaluable as a guard for the village. The leopard-like Autobot could clearly sense what we were up to.
Optimus gave me a cautious look as we stopped in the middle of the room, close to the pillar where the Autobots were tied, but positioned in such a way that to look at us, the Decepticons wouldn't be able to watch the Autobots at the pillar at the same time. I knew what Optimus was worrying about. His plan was crazy, and if that wasn't enough it had to be so completely delicate as well. One false move here and the whole thing would be blown, and we could all be killed. So no pressure.
"What a pleasant surprise." A cold voice called from the end of the room. There was a dangerous tone to his voice, which I vaguely remembered as being the same voice that had been arguing with Starscream the day before, even though it seemed like so long ago now. The Decepticons parted before the newcomer, and I didn't need the groan of despair from one of the tied up Autobots to tell me how hopeless our case had suddenly become. Well Optimus, I hope you were proud, because your lessons had paid off well enough that I knew that I was looking at Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.