Knockout's optics scanned the inside of the mine, his sensors peeled for any traces of Energon as he made his way inside. The mine appeared to be of that of human origin, as there were human tools and even mining carts littered about the place among all of the rock and gravel.
Hmm, surely my sensors couldn't have been playing up, he thought to himself, venturing deeper into the human mine. He could feel Kelsey shift slightly about inside his chassis and he suppressed a shiver. Despite the fact that he had human passengers inside his alt mode in the past, it still didn't change the fact that having a fleshy organic inside of him made him squirm a bit.
"Will you keep still in there? I can't work with you wriggling about," grumbled Knockout, kicking up a boulder chunk as he investigated the deserted area.
"Then release me and then maybe you won't feel me tickling your insides," Kelsey shot back.
"I would watch your tone if I were you, human," growled Knockout. "If you keep that up I might turn you into a lab experiment when we get back."
From that moment on Kelsey was silent, except for the occasional cough of sneeze which nearly sent Knockout up the roof. He didn't want some human spreading their organic germs inside of his interior, even though human germs wouldn't even affect him in the slightest. After several more minutes of Knockout scavenging the area, he finally found what he came for.
"Energon!" Knockout exclaimed happily, pulling up a chunk of the glowing crystal from the ground. "Lord Megatron will be most pleased." He added with a grin.
"Great, you've found it," said Kelsey. "Now can I finally get out of here? I really need to stretch my legs."
Knockout rolled his optics. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I let her walk around for a little while…
"Okay, fine, hold on one second," said Knockout, placing the chunk of Energon on the ground.
"And just who, may I ask, are you talking to Knockout?" A hoarse, but very familiar voice echoed throughout the mine.
"S-Starscream!" Knockout cried. "Wh…what are you doing here?"
"Surprised to see me, are you Knockout?" rasped Starscream, strolling over towards where the cherry mech stood. "My scanners simply picked up a trace of Energon so I decided to investigate. Why are you here?"
"Same reason," Knockout quickly replied. He could feel Kelsey tense up inside his subspace.
Starscream narrowed his blood red optics at the Decepticon medic. "Really?" the silver seeker said. "Well, if you don't mind me asking for the second time, just who were you talking to earlier? I don't see any Vehicon drones with you."
Knockout placed a servo on the back of his neck rather awkwardly. "I wasn't talking to anyone, Starscream," he replied feverishly.
"Then why did I hear someone's voice that didn't belong to your own voice box?" snapped Starscream. "It sounded femme."
"O-oh, well, you see…I was talking to myself," murmured Knockout.
Starscream raised a metallic eyebrow at Knockout's statement. "I didn't realize your voice box was capable of sounding like a femme." He grunted.
"You'd be surprised, Starscream." Knockout answered.
"Alright then," said Starscream, his optics still narrowed. "I suppose we should bring this Energon back to Lord Megatron and inform Soundwave of our whereabouts so that they can send drones to fetch the rest of the Energon."
Starscream idly scooped up a chunk of Energon in his talons, swirling it about like it was a piece of glowing blue candy. "And, for the record, I was the one that located this Energon jackpot." Starscream grinned.
Knockout heaved out a sigh and rolled his optics, placing a servo on his hip. "Whatever, Screamer, it's not like finding an Energon deposit will automatically make you Lord Megatron's favourite. I'm pretty sure Soundwave has that position taken."
Starscream's face plates scrunched up in fury at Knockout's remark, his optics shooting daggers at the Decepticon medic.
"If you don't watch your mouth, Knockout, you can say goodbye to your pretty finish!" Starscream snarled viciously, flexing his metal talons like a bird about to strike.
Knockout didn't seem to be fazed at all by Starscream's threat as he waved his servo dismissively and picked up another chunk of Energon that was lying on the ground.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to have a further look inside this human mine." Knockout said, casually strolling deeper into the mine, using his headlights to light up the ominous cave.
Starscream, at seeing Knockout walking away, fluttered his wings in frustration. "Hey, get back here! You can't just walk away from a superior officer!" Starscream scurried after Knockout, kicking up dust and debris with his heels as he ran after the cherry red mech.
Scrap! Why did he have to follow me? Knockout thought to himself, gritting his teeth in frustration, I can't let Screamer know about Kelsey…if she makes one sound then it's all over.
As if on cue, Kelsey moved about inside Knockout's chassis which caused a large shiver to pass down his spine. Knockout, of course, shuddered quite noticeably in response.
"Knockout…is everything alright?" Starscream queried, his optics scanning over the red mech's form.
"Y-yes, of course," mumbled Knockout, trying to hide his discomfort. "I just had a sudden chill is all. Must be a draft in here."
Starscream scrutinized Knockout, he wasn't quite convinced that a draft had been the cause of his sudden shiver. Luckily for Knockout, the silver seeker decided not to further question the medic about the matter.
Scrap, that was too close, Knockout thought nervously, his processor beginning to heat up. He hated to think what would happen if Starscream discovered Kelsey. For one, he knew that Starscream would never keep a secret so that was out of the question. He'd probably bring her straight to Megatron to be slaughtered at the hands of their unforgiving leader.
Wait…why do I care what happens to a single organic life? I mean, yes, I did help the human…but only so that she could be my personal assistant.
"As second in command, I should be taking the lead," huffed Starscream, shoving past Knockout like he was a piece of scrap metal. At being jostled so suddenly in such a small space from Starscream's shove, Kelsey let out a squeak as her broken arm bumped up against Knockout's interior. Knockout fake coughed to help cover up her squeak, but it wasn't quite enough. Starscream's audio receptors did not fail to pick up Kelsey's outburst. He turned on his heels to face Knockout, both of his servos were placed on his slender hips as he stared the red mech down.
"And that, I'm guessing, was you?" sneered Starscream.
"Of course, Starscream," replied Knockout. "There's no one else here besides you and I. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find some more Energon for our master."
Starscream grumbled under his breath and followed Knockout deeper into the mine.
"You know, Knockout, it surprises me that you would even consider venturing into a place like this," chittered Starscream. "What if some dirt got on your precious finish?"
"I'm surprised you even came here," Knockout growled. "I mean, considering the last time you were in a place like this Megatron nearly vaporized you, not to mention the Autobots outwitted you."
A snarl of fury ripped through Starscream's gravelly throat. "I told you to never speak of that!"
Before Knockout could reply, there was the sound of a large explosion that appeared to be coming from deeper in the mine. Both Knockout and Starscream froze at hearing the sudden explosion and turned to look at each other.
"You don't think…?" Starscream started.
"Autobots," said Knockout. "We need to get out of here."
Starscream folded his arms over his chassis. "Well, if it's just Bumblebee and Arcee I'm sure we can take them."
"Supposing it's Optimus Prime and his entire team?" Knockout countered.
"Good point," Starscream admitted.
The two Decepticons made a dash for the exit, Starscream transforming into his jet mode and flying off through the mine tunnel, whilst also spraying Knockout with dust and gravel as he took off. Knockout let out a growl and brushed the dirt off his finish, keeping in mind to give himself a good buffing when he was back on board the Nemesis. He quickly transformed into his alt mode and shot off down the tunnel. Kelsey, of course, was safely inside Knockout's passenger seat and had nearly passed out from his sudden transformation.
"I really hate it when you do that," she croaked.
"Sorry about that," Knockout's voice vibrated like a giant bass speaker throughout the car.
"That's okay…hold up, you actually apologized?" she spluttered, not quite believing her ears. "That's not like you."
"Quiet, human!" Knockout hissed. He could feel his spark beginning to flutter about inside his chassis for some strange reason. Why did I apologize? It's not like I actually care about her, she is just a human after all, he thought to himself, revving his engines as he sped through the mine.
I can't think about that now anyway, there's Autobots up my tailpipes, he thought, his tires churning up pebbles and dirt as he raced through the mine.
"Uh…there's somebody following us," gulped Kelsey, turning over shoulder to glance back at whatever was chasing them. Suddenly, blue lasers were firing at Knockout's flank from all sides, and Kelsey ducked down in her seat in fright.
"Are t-those-?" she started.
"Autobots!" Knockout spat venomously. "I think it would be best if you tried to remain unseen."
Kelsey shrunk back further into her seat, shifting so that she was at least somewhat hidden from plain sight.
A blue motorcycle suddenly pulled up beside Knockout's flank, shooting lasers at his tires. Knockout hissed in anger and began to shoot up Arcee's tires with his own red lasers that deployed just behind his car doors. Arcee glided to the side, dodging Knockout's lasers, before leaping up into the air mid transformation. There was a loud clang as the blue femme landed on top of Knockout's roof and Kelsey let out startled gasp.
"Watch the finish!" Knockout hissed, swerving from side to side to try and throw the femme Autobot off.
"Give it up 'Con, you're outnumbered," snarled Arcee, pounding her fist onto Knockout's roof repeatedly. As if to prove her point, Bumblebee and Bulkhead's alt forms soon drifted into view closely followed by a big rig.
"Scrap!" Knockout growled, quickly doing a U-turn whilst also managing to throw Arcee off in the process. Arcee hastily transformed back into a motorcycle as she was thrown into the dirt and followed Knockout into the mine. Bumblebee and Bulkhead carried on through to the exit to pursue Starscream, while Optimus followed Arcee and Knockout.
"Soundwave, I need a ground bridge – NOW!" Knockout cried.
Sure enough, a green portal emerged before them and Knockout instantly sped through it without looking back. Arcee tried to follow them but the ground bridge portal closed before she could make her way through.
"Scrap!" Arcee growled, transforming back into her robot form, her face formed into a scowl. "I was so close."
Optimus transformed back into his robot form and stood beside the blue femme.
"You did what you could, Arcee," said Optimus soothingly. "Knockout is quite the speedster."
Arcee returned Optimus' warm gaze with a smile before her face saddened.
"Optimus…when Knockout threw me off…I thought I saw…" Arcee said softly.
"What did you see?" asked Optimus.
"I could've sworn that I saw a human in Knockout's passenger seat," she said.
Optimus's optics widened at hearing her response. "Are you certain it was a human you saw?" he questioned her.
Arcee gave a small nod. "Positive, sir. I'm pretty sure it was a teenage girl."
Optimus's gaze trailed off, his face reflected that of great concern and worry. "We cannot let an innocent human life be endangered by the likes of the Decepticons," said Optimus. "We need to rescue that human no matter the cost."
"Yes," Arcee agreed. "But what bothers me the most is why Knockout would even have a human in the first place. What would the Cons possibly want with a human?"
"It bothers me greatly as well, Arcee," Optimus replied. "We can only hope that the human hasn't suffered while being held under Decepticon hands."