"This bounty hunter is smart," Prowl stopped Bumblebee and Bulkhead from going any further to the fearsome warehouse, "We must be smarter. Proceed with caution."

"Forget caution! Let's get him!" Bulkhead charged in full speed. Prowl sighed.

*****************************************************************

"Autobots," Lockdown sighed while looking at the screen showing three Autobots surrounding the warehouse, "Predictable as ever." He then activated the defenses.

******************************************************************

Turrets popped up around the facility and shot at the Autobots.

"Ow! Watch the jacket! You have any idea how much it costs to fix this thing?!" Bumblebee ranted while dodging the lasers. Meanwhile, Prowl was taking a more offensive approach. He ran past the lasers and leapt onto the roof with some help from his jump-jets. He cut off a turret using his shuriken and shot at some other guns. He then tossed the gun away.

Bulkhead smashed his wrecking ball through the wall and crashed through the hole. He looked at the room until he saw the silhouette of the man called Lockdown. A single light switched on over Lockdown.

"So you wanna play rough? Do ya?" Bulkhead asked him. He prepared his wrecking ball.

"Bring it on Autobot." Bulkhead launched his wrecking ball. Lockdown moved to the left. The wrecking ball smashed into a support beam. Lockdown fired a marble at the wrecking ball. The marble burst and released a load of cement. The cement crawled up Bulkhead's cable and wrapped around him.

"Hey! What is this stuff?! I can't move!"

"That oughta hold ya." Lockdown walked off.

"No fair!"

*************************************************************

Bumblebee had finally managed to find a hiding spot from the turrets when they finally stopped shooting. Just then he saw Lockdown walk by.

"Guys I found him!" Bumblebee chased after Lockdown and shot at him with his stingers. When they turned a corner, Lockdown was gone. Bumblebee looked around, but was suddenly caught by a tri-rope. He fell to the ground with a thud. Lockdown dropped from the roof.

"Hey, that's Prime's axe," Bumblebee noticed the axe hanging on Lockdown's belt.

"Uh-huh, Prime's axe. And soon enough, I'll have your stingers."

************************************************************

"Another trophy for the wall," Lockdown said before getting a kick in the face which knocked him back two steps. Prowl struck a defensive pose.

"I almost forgot about you. It feels like eons since anyone's ever gotten the drop on me," Lockdown commented.

"Next time'll be much sooner," Prowl said before attacking. Lockdown and Prowl were equally matched, being able to strike, defend, and counter just as easily as the other. Before Prowl could gain the upper hand, however, Lockdown hit him with an EMP blast. Prowl felt his body go numb and fell to the ground.

"Ya know, I like you. We could probably teach each other a few tricks. If I wasn't about to turn ya over to the Decepticons."

"Step away from the Autobot!" a voice demanded. Lockdown turned to see Ratchet.

"Wait a second, I know you. EMP generator right? I'm not so good with names and faces, but a trophy I never forget. Say, how's the forehead? Still got the scratch I see. How's about I hit the other eye. Ya know? Even it out."

"You're never taking another Autobot ever again," Ratchet gripped his magnetizers.

"You couldn't stop me when you were young! What makes you think you'll be any better off as some senile, crotchety old man? And because of you, your little girlfriend took quite a blast to the noggin if I remember right," Lockdown mocked. Ratchet charged at him, but was hit by the EMP blast.

"Well that was even more pathetic than before," Lockdown laughed. He turned back to Prowl. Just then, an pink magnetic field threw Lockdown into a wall, then into a car, and slammed him down on the ground. Lockdown rubbed his aching head and saw Ratchet standing there.

"What the?! I took you out!" Lockdown fired another EMP beam, but Ratchet slapped it away then slammed Lockdown into a wall, flipped him, and slammed him again. Lockdown went limp and fell to the ground.

"I learned that trick during my time here. Called 'playing possum,'" Ratchet said, "Just don't ask me what a possum is." Ratchet picked Lockdown up one last time and sent him flying past the fence.

"I guess it never occurred to you that an EMP wouldn't work on the guy with magnetic powers." Ratchet walked to the warehouse door and opened it. Just as he'd expected, an air lock stood behind it. Ratchet used his magnetizer to hack into the control panel and open the door.

He walked down the hallway for what seemed like hours. With each step, he vividly remembered more and more of his past.

"It ends tonight," Ratchet told himself. He finally reached the end of the hallway and arrived in Lockdown's chop shop. Optimus was lying, beaten and weak, on the table.

"Ratchet?" he gasped. Ratchet rushed over and deactivated the cables. Optimus got up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Lockdown. He—"

"Don't talk. Lemme look at ya." Ratchet looked around for any severe damage. He already knew there wouldn't be more than some cuts and bruises. Lockdown liked his gifts to the Decepticons to look their best. Before Ratchet could finish, the ship rumbled. "The launch sequence's started. We've gotta move! Where're your grapplers?" Optimus pointed to a desk. Ratchet ran over and picked them up.

"Wait a sec," Ratchet gasped when he realized that the grapplers were gone. Just then, a grappling hook wrapped around Ratchet's throat, suffocating him.

"'Playing possum' eh? Gotta remember that one," Lockdown reminded himself. He pulled on Ratchet's noose.