(Here we are. The next chapter. I apologize for the intensiveness of the previous chapter; to tell you the truth I was very nervous about publishing it ^^;. However, this chapter will be much more enjoyable at one point, a specific point of which you have to read in order to find out what it is. Now that I got that out of my system, let's read on, shall we?)

Bumblebee awoke from his sleep and yawned, seeing the rays of the sun just outside of the den he shared with Ironhide. His little black nose twitched as he smelled the familiar scent of a cool morning, and it was mixed with the scents of old leaves and fresh rain.

It must have rained last night, Bumblebee thought as he poked his head out, feeling his chin graze some grass; a wet substance stuck to his fur. Yep, it rained, he concluded in his mind as he made his way out, shaking his paws dry from the wet grass. As his eyes adjusted to the bright light that seeped through the branches of trees that still held onto some leaves, he could tell that the only ones that were up and about the den sight were Ratchet, Jazz and Optimus Prime. It was a very calm morning and everyone was still feeling sleepy. The twins were out on their daily patrol, which explained why they were not present at the moment.

Bumblebee, one the other hand, wasn't feeling sleepy at all; he had another fun idea that he and Barricade could do when he rejoin the black and white puppy. Now, the one thing that all young animals loved to get into was something that their mothers or fathers were often disputed of, and that was playing in the mud. And since it had rain during the night there was bound to be countless muddy areas to roll around and play in.

Bumblebee was wagging his tail with eager mirth as he was about to head out when he was suddenly stopped by Ironhide. He had come out of the den. "Where are you off to, little one?"

"I'm off to play with my imaginary friend," Bumblebee answered as he turned his head to see his guardian walking towards him.

"Oh, I actually was hoping that maybe you could stay here for the day." Ironhide sat himself down while Bumblebee stared at him, looking confused. At the same time, Bumblebee was secretly afraid that something was about to happen. If Ironhide wanted him to stay it would have to mean that he might be getting suspicious.

"What? Why? I am doing fine by myself and I'm not causing any mischief."

"I know that, but it's just that I-" Ironhide paused as he tried to find the right words. Ironhide was glad that Bumblebee hadn't gotten into any trouble, but he began to feel left out over the past few days. After all, he was the puppy's guardian and often spent many hours with him. He cared for him just like a son. "...I just want us to have some time together for today."

Bumblebee was secretly relieved to see that his secret outings were not being under consideration and sighed, unknowingly catching Ironhide's attention.

"What was that for?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Bumblebee lied.

Now seeing that the little pup was avoiding his glance and his ears plastering themselves against his head, Ironhide started to get suspicious. He looked at him with a serious demeanor. "Bumblebee, what is going on? You know that I can tell a lie when I hear one. So, what is it that you are hiding?"

"I am not hiding anything," Bumblebee defended, but with hesitancy rather than with confidence.

Before Ironhide could interrogate, a series of howls sounded off; everyone turned to the right to see Sunstreaker and Sideswipe running towards them, their tongues lolled out and gasping for breath.

"Optimus!" they cried as they came to a halt and almost collapsed to the ground, but held themselves up for respect of their alpha.

The red and blue Dire Wolf strolled over to the twins and said, "What is it? What have you to report from your patrol?".

Sideswipe was the first to answer since Sunstreaker was still panting while Jazz tried to help him catch his breath. "My brother and I were just passing by the plains outside of the forest and we caught an unfamiliar scent. It's from a member from Megatron's pack."

Everyone immediately gasped, all except for Optimus. He remained stoic as he further questioned the scent the twins had picked up.

Sunstreaker answered after his breath returned to him. "That's just it, Prime. We don't know who it is. It wasn't from Soundwave, Blackout, Starscream or anyone that we know of."

"If you don't know who's scent it is, then how do you even know that it's a member from Megatron's pack?" Jazz tilted his head in confusion.

"Because when we picked up the scent, we could detect hints of dry dirt and dead branches." Sunstreaker replied.

"The Badlands." Optimus figured out.

"But Megatron hasn't made any encroachment on our territory in a long while. What could he possibly need here that he requires?" Ratchet said to himself.

"I am not certain of this dilemma, but it could be a number of things. He could be either planning an attack to take over, or is probably sending spies to watch over us and steal our prey. I could be wrong, yes, but then again we cannot be too careful." Optimus explained to everyone, his focus perfectly clear as day. "We must conduct a search around the territory at once."

"You're right." Ironhide nodded. "Ratchet and I can scour the southern and western half."

"And I and the twins will cover the rest. Thank you, Ironhide." Optimus concluded, but was then interrupted by Jazz.

"What about me? I wish to help out. I want to teach those goons a thing or two about trespassing." Jazz spoke.

"Jazz, I am leaving you in charge of keeping watch over the den area and Bumblebee." Optimus Prime said.

"Are you serious?" Ironhide growled. "Optimus, do you remember what happened-".

"Ironhide, I do remember. But, that was a long time ago." Optimus growled, growing rather tired hearing Ironhide constantly rejecting Jazz's tasks concerning with Bumblebee.

While the two argued, Bumblebee whined to himself. "But I have a play-date with my imaginary friend,".

Optimus heard the little one and turned to his little pup. "Bumblebee, this is a serious manner. We could be risking our claim to this land and I do not want anyone to be harmed, including you."

"But, I-".

"I am sorry, Bumblebee. Your imaginary friend will just have to wait." Optimus sternly finished with a stomp of his paw before he ordered the rest of the members of his pack to head out, leaving Jazz and Bumblebee alone.

Bumblebee only growled to himself. "This isn't fair, I had a day planned for me and my friend. It's not fair."

"Hey, take it easy, little guy," Jazz tried to comfort the slightly annoyed Bumblebee. "Optimus wants to keep you safe. Besides, you can probably go out once they return and find nothing dangerous, trust me."

"Yeah, right," Bumblebee barked. "First Ironhide wants me to stay; the next minute Optimus wants me to skip my outing with my imaginary friend. What's next? You want me to start eating my own-"

"Whoa, whoa! I know you're frustrated, but don't take it out on me." Jazz retorted. He had never seen Bumblebee so upset before.

For a few moments Bumblebee remained quiet, feeling that he would break his word to meet up with Barricade. He couldn't think about doing something like that, he had to do something without letting his absence be known to the others. How was he going to pull it off?

An internal feeling of discomfort came to his attention and he knew the feeling all too well. He had to go relieve himself, and had to go relieve himself right now.

It was at that moment that his little mind suddenly had an a epiphany. He could use his bowel movement in his plan to meet up with Barricade, and all he had to do was convince Jazz to let him go and answer the call of nature.

"Jazz, I gotta go," Bumblebee whined as he tucked his tail underneath himself and lowered his ears, his face contorted into a discomforted grimace. A perfect pose to indicate he needed to find a place to go an take care of his 'Business'.

Jazz noticed this but instantly remembered that Bumblebee had once used a trick similar to this situation before, and did his best to ignore Bumblebee's display and whimpering. That one time Bumblebee had pulled off a stunt similar to the one at that moment was when Ironhide and the twins were out on patrol, and Bumblebee had wanted to follow suit but wasn't allowed. Bumblebee used the excuse to relieve himself to sneak away from Jazz's eyesight and followed after his guardian and the twins. Jazz couldn't help but cringe as he recollected the harsh punishment Ironhide had administered, and how his tail and rear end stung whenever he sat down for several weeks.

Bumblebee continued to whine and groan as he then tossed and turned on the ground, holding his stomach and curling inwards as he tried to hold in his digested solids that needed to extricate themselves from within the intestines. The more and more he held it in, the more and more louder, and convincing his whining and howling became.

Jazz finally couldn't stay still and let Bumblebee have an accident, trick or not, and he relented. "Okay, Okay. But, I'm going with you. I don't want you to wander off."

Bumblebee sat up quickly as he and Jazz left the den area to find a suitable place for Bumblebee to go and defecate. They eventually found a large old tree with a couple bushes that seemed perfect for Bumblebee to have some privacy, and where Jazz could sit and wait.

"Alright, Lil' Bee," Jazz nodded as he sat down, watching Bumblebee run into the bushes. For a while there was silence, save for a few chirps of some birds and distant barks from foxes, as Jazz waited. And waited. And waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

Until at last, his nose picked up the faint smell of fresh droppings hit his senses like a missile. "Phew! I guess you did have to go, that stinks!" Jazz exclaimed as he used a paw to wave away the wafting smell and then walked over to the bush, expecting the little puppy to come out. However, as he came to the bushes he could not hear any sign of Bumblebee, and hesitantly looked over them to see what was on the other side.

Just as he predicted: A small pile of dung. But, what he hadn't predicted was the fact that Bumblebee would be missing.

Reality set itself of inside the young Dire Wolf's brain like a blow to the face, and he panicked, immediately beginning a search for the pup he had been ordered to watch. If he couldn't find Bumblebee before Optimus and the others returned, he was going to suffer Ironhide's ravenous wrath.

What Jazz hadn't taken under consideration of was the fact that a few feet away, Bumblebee had stumbled into a muddy patch, getting himself coated in the sticky mess. The mud had worked in favor of the pup in masking his scent, making it impossible for Jazz to find him by using his senses of smell, and giving Bumblebee the chance to run off, off into the outskirts of the forest.

The sun above the sky released hot, boiling waves of its heat down upon the dry, desolate world of the Badlands. The ground itself seemed to feel as if it had been cooked in an oven and became rough and crusty. Despite the sun hanging high in the air, the parched plants below were more dead than alive, their lifeless husks unable to absorb the bright light. It was almost impossible for an area so sequestered from the verdant, healthy forest to be left out of the rain from the last night.

This place was an alien world to Bumblebee as he came into contact with the area, hardly the same as his home. Not a soul was in sight. "How could anything live in this place?" Bumblebee questioned as he panted. His only handicap other than his mud-covered fur was his lack of knowledge of where exactly Barricade's pack was located. He was in the badlands, yes, but where in what part of the badlands was the pack settled?

After he chose random directions that seemed to only lead him to the spot where he departed,(he had passed a couple large rocks about his size and a stump), he caught sight of some mound-like obstructions in the distance and carefully made his way over.

He quickly spotted a lone Dire Wolf standing guard at one of these mounds, which turned out to be dens when Bee got a closer look from a few feet away. He immediately recognized the brown and orange Dire Wolf as Starscream and quickly hid himself behind a dried up plant and observed from the creases of the branches.

Starscream had been mumbling and pacing for over the last several hours after being assigned to be a literal Watch-dog. He felt humiliated; completely humiliated after he had done an actual favor for the pack. Sure, wheedling the weasels into doing most of spying on Barricade for him, but at least he was the one to inform Megatron. Oh, why couldn't life give him a break and spare him the deplorable sentence of a lifetime of endless guarding over nothing but a huge rock, that blocked the entrance to the den that occupied its only prisoner.

Starscream then felt a slight feeling of discomfort and suddenly knew what it was. He had to go and find a place to urinate. Granted, there was hardly any water in the area, save for a few minute puddles, he had to let out the hot fluids now or end up wetting himself again.

Looking left and right to make sure no one was about, Starscream bolted straight out like an arrow, fleeing towards the direction Bumblebee laid hidden and passed him without even spotting the yellow pup. Pure determination and the call of nature was all that Starscream heard and felt, blocking out everything and all senses around him.

Bumblebee counted his lucky stars as he used a paw to wipe away the perspiration from his brow, feeling very, very lucky to not be spotted. "That was way too close,".

After he stepped out out of his hiding spot and scanning for any other Dire Wolves about, Bumblebee entered the den area. He found there were only five tunnels that he knew would lead to the resting places of the rest of the pack, but saw that only four of the were accessible.

He focused on one den entrance that was sealed by the huge boulder and walked over to it, sniffing at it. Sure enough, he caught a familiar scent.

With a few scrapes and scratches against the hard surface and scanning along the surface of the ground, Bumblebee found a small sliver of an opening against the dirt and the boulder; it stuck out like a crooked scar. As much as Bumblebee wanted to begin digging at the opening, he had already discovered that the earth was too hard from being exposed to the hot sun for decades. So, he had resorted to speaking through it, hoping that Barricade would hear him. "Barricade, are you in there?". Bumblebee made sure to keep himself at a volume that was easily heard by his friend, but quiet enough to not make his presence known.

From the other side, Bumblebee could faintly detect the sounds of movement; he was then rewarded with the sensation of a cold nose touching his and a tongue licking at him with delight.

"Bumblebee. You're here." Barricade said in between licks.

"Of course, I am." Bumblebee answered as he gave a kiss to Barricade, but then got back to reality. "What happened to you? How did you get trapped?"

"I was sent in here and confined to this den for a year. Bumblebee, Megatron has found out about my secret outings with you." The minute Barricade finished he suddenly became afraid. "Bee, you have to get out of here. If my pack see's you, you'll get hurt."

"I don't want to leave you here," Bumblebee argued as he then tried to push the boulder out of the way, but his efforts were plain useless. He was still so small, and not strong enough.

"Bumblebee, there is no choice, you have to go. Just leave me here to die," Barricade whimpered and felt the wound on his back stinging again. Even though it had subsided yesterday, the recollection of the incident still hurt him. "Besides, I don't want to have anymore of my fur torn off."

Bumblebee ceased his efforts of pushing the boulder and went back to the small crack. "You'r fur was torn off? You're kidding me, right?"

"If I was I'd be a dead Duck," Barricade answered.

Bumblebee's mind told him that it wasn't wise to remain in the enemies territory and wasting his time there to save his friend would be his death wish, but his heart had a much stronger hold of his actions at the moment. He brushed aside the thought of being caught when he heard of his friends painful punishment, and was now determined more than ever to get him out.

"That's it, I am going to get you out, and we will get you away from your pack," Bumblebee renewed his rescue mission and began to push at the boulder again. Barricade was shocked to hear such a response from his friend, and for one time in his life, felt the need to help out. After all, Bumblebee helped him out of that hole the second time they met, maybe it was his time to return the favor.

The one problem was that each time either one of them tried to move the boulder, they all did so at their own accord.

"This isn't working," Barricade heaved as he felt his legs slip underneath him from pushing so hard.

"There has to be another way," Bumblebee said to himself as he looked at the huge rock again. There had to be a niche somewhere, but where?

His blue eyes suddenly spotted one important detail: the tip of the boulder was towering over the surface of the entrance and the bottom half that faced him was just at a perfect angle for him and Barricade to push it over, and it would topple over and freeing the entrance.

He explained his plan to Barricade, and after receiving approval from the latter, Bumblebee went up to the top of the entrance and began stomping his paw on the ground. "Can you hear that?" Bumblebee asked.

Barricade heard the stomping above him and gave a small bark to let him know he heard him. Bumblebee then began to walk backwards in unison with Barricade until they stopped. "Barricade, when I say 'Three', charge."

"I got it," Barricade scraped his paws on the ground like a bull, ready to charge forward at any moment.

Bumblebee began counting down, and when he came to 'Three', both he and Barricade charged, the sides of their shoulders, chests and the sides of their faces impacting the hard object. The Boulder hadn't budged an inch. They tried again, and again, and again, and again. No matter how much they slammed themselves at the boulder they couldn't get it to move.

Little they knew was that a certain Dire Wolf was returning after his bathroom break.

When Starscream heard the slight ruckus and spotting the yellow and brown pup, he was quick to charge at them, but his timing was at the moment when Bumblebee and Barricade made one last attempt to push the boulder.

With all their remaining strength, the puppies hit the boulder...and it successfully toppled over. Yet, the very moment the giant rock began to tip over, Starscream had a mere fraction of a second to alter his direction, but wasn't quick enough to save his tail from the massive piece of rock, crushing it.

A shrill, ear-splitting howl escaped from Starscreams throat, catching not only Bumblebee and Barricade off guard, but also that of pack, who were jolted awake from the unexpected wake-up call.

The first one to come out was Megatron, and the moment his eyes came into contact with the puppies, the latter immediatly knew that they had one of two choices to perform.

Run, or fight.

Barricade was the first to scream out his pick of the two. "Run!".

With the impossible chances of fighting Barricade's was out of the question, Bumblebee was more than willing to follow Barricade. They sprinted away from the den and began to run off into the direction that would lead them back to the forest.

"After them!" Megatron shouted to the others, and they followed in pursuit of their targets, albeit with Starscream having to be left behind to extricate his tail from under the boulder.

"How are we going to lose them?" Bumblebee questioned as he ran alongside Barricade, looking behind them every moment to see the pack pursuing them.

"Do you expect me to have a plan just like that? I don't know what to do," Barricade replied as he felt the harsh ground beneath him and his friend change to the cool, soft surface of grass. They had made it back to the forest, but still had Megatron and his pack right behind them, quickly gaining on them.

Bumblebee's head was working overtime, trying to figure out a strategy. However, running away from imminent danger and trying to formulate a plan wasn't always the best combination. He already knew that both he and Barricade were not skilled in combat and at their size and weight, the idea to try and fight was no more than a fruitless last option.

But then he remembered the day he had watched his pack hunting for food. Granted, his pack had singled out a single target to catch it, maybe there was a possibility that he and Barricade could incapacitate members of Megatrons pack one by one, and Megatron would be forced to end the pursuit to aid his men. This could allow Bumblebee and Barricade to escape.

"I got it. Barricade, we need to stall Megatron." Bumblebee barked as Barricade looked at him, looking confused.

"And, how are you planning on doing that? Stand on our hind legs and do a dance?" Barricade asked.

"By targeting the others and have them trapped, or something like that."

Barricade only thought the plan over in less than a second before a huge grin sprouted over his face. "Bumblebee, you are a genius! Getting my pack into troublesome situations is my specialty." He gave Bumblebee a mischievous wink before they decided to split up, heading in opposite directions.

Megatron ordered Blackout and Soundwave to go after Barricade while he and Bonecrusher sought after Bumblebee. The two pups had to be quick to find ways of keeping them occupied, and already Barricade had found two sources to take care of Soundwave and Blackout.

As the white Dire Wolf and black Dire wolf came to a stop when their target somehow vanished from sight they searched about, their noses searching for Barricade's scent. "When I get my paws on that pup, I'll spank him where his fur is thinest," Blackout growled as he peaked into the brush in hopes of finding the little one.

Sure enough, he heard a slight giggling a few feet away from where he stood and his eyes caught the sight of an old tree stump that had been damaged by a storm from long ago, and spotted a slight rustling in the tall grass that surrounded it. Blackout noticed that there was a small opening at the bottom of the stump; big enough for a wolf pup to fit in, and he ran towards it, and stuck his head into the hole.

"Barricade, get out of-" His demands were cut short as his tiny ears picked up a new sound. Not the whimpers of a Dire Wolf who was afraid of the possible punishment, but the angry buzzing of Bees who were disturbed by the penetrating head and saw that head as a threat to their honey and Queen.

Barricade had to stifle his laughter as Blackout's head popped right out of the hole, covered in mud and honey, while he yelped and cried out in pain as he was chased by the swarm of Bees. The tiny warriors were dive-bombing onto the Dire Wolf, planting their barbed stingers into his flesh. "Help! Get-Ow! Get these things off me! Ow!" Blackout was constantly shaking his entire body and leaping about in order to get the tiny terrors off of him, but was having very little luck and had to abandon Soundwave in order to save himself.

"Blackout, come back here!" Soundwave called out, but was distracted when Barricade began taunting him.

"Blackout's off to find the rest of his tail, and to save his ass at the same time! Hahahahaha!" Barricade laughed as he turned his rear to Soundwave and shook it. "Come and get me, Stupid head!".

Soundwave growled at the mockery and went after Barricade, following his target until Barricade leapt into a patch of bushes. "Get out of there, Barricade, or you will be in even big trouble." Soundwave demanded.

The only non-verbal response he got was a small tail that popped out. "There you are," Soundwave caught the little tail and pulled out...A Skunk.

Barricade departed from the bushes and ran off to rejoin his friend, but couldn't resist turning to see Soundwave being sprayed by the skunk. "See ya later, Stinkwave!" he cajoled at his clever choice of a nickname.

"Over here, you mongrels!" Bumblebee antagonized his pursuers as he darted about the trees, running in zig-zag patterns to confuse Megatron and Bonecrusher.

"Get back here, you little twerp!" Bonecrusher had managed to avoid getting hit by the obstacles Bumblebee had avoided with ease, while Megatron had tripped on a root that stuck out of the ground. "Megatron," the latter wanted to help Megatron, but his alpha barked at him.

"No! Go after him, don't let him out of your sight!"

Bonecrusher had little choice to no choice but to comply. After all, he couldn't afford losing sight of Bumblebee should he end up becoming a new source of Megatron's wrath.

He ran ahead and started searching for the puppy, letting his sensitive nose lead him to the foe. "Where are you?" Bonecrusher said as he scanned over the grass, looking for any signs of the young Dire Wolf.

"Don't you know you can't peek when playing Hide and Seek?" Bumblebee popped his head from the side of a tree as he stuck his tongue out, earning Bonecrushers annoyed growl as the brown, red-eyed adversary headed straight towards him. Leaping into the air to pounce, Bonecrusher let out a ravenous bark as he extended his paws to the pup.

Bumblebee was much quicker to react and slipped to the side, leaving Bonecrusher to leap into the hole of an old, moldy, rotting log. The struggling grunts and fits of anger were faintly heard from within as Bonecrusher tried to free himself, but ended up getting himself even more stuck, making his efforts become more of a handicap to him than being a source of help.

Bumblebee laughed heartily as he left, remembering the incident that occurred to Ironhide that got him into the same predicament. This plan of his was certainly becoming more fun and more easy by the looks of it. If only Optimus and the others could see him now, they would be-

*Slam*

Bumblebee uttered a startled yelp as he felt a massive paw slam him to the ground, and a sharp pain in his side. Starscream looked down upon his prey with a sadistic, venomous grin as he watched the yellow puppy cry and whimper. "Where do you think you are going? I want to play," Starscream hissed with his smile never leaving his muzzle and he lowered his opened jaws to clamp down onto Bumblebee.

Just then, the most agonizing pain could be felt on Starscreams sore tail, and Starscream let out yet another yell of pain. He turned to look behind him and saw that Barricade was biting down on his tail, pulling at it as he growled with clenched mouth, "Keep you paws off of my pal, Starscream."

"Why, you little piece of shit! Let go of my tail!" Starscream then proceeded to try and remove the miniature monster from him, but Barricade held onto him like a tick and refused to let go. This resulted in Starscream having to run in circles as he tried to get a grip on the black and white pup.

"Hey, let me help you, 'Cade!" Bumblebee tittered as he joined in the fray, clamping his puppy-teeth onto on of Starscreams ears, further disorienting the already infuriated Starscream. Now that he had two annoying little brats bitting him from different areas, he lost sight of his surroundings in his aggravating effort to get them off, and his distracted state failed to inform him of the ledge that was a few inches away from them.

The three suddenly felt a force dropping them down and they started tumbling down a hill that lead straight into a wide open glade, leaving Bumblebee, Barricade and Starscream slightly dizzy and confused when they came to a halt. Bumblebee ad Barricade were the first to come out of their dazed state and saw that they were in a serious situation.

Oh, if only Starscream had come to his senses at the same time as the two buddies and joined them in their retreat, because he would find out that he was surrounded by a huge herd of Deer, and the bucks that looked down upon him were not that particularly pleased to see a predator in their patch of grass.

"I cannot believe this! You were assigned to a simple task, and you allowed the trespasser and Omega to escape?" Megatron ranted as he looked at his pack members, each one in a sorry state of appearance.

Blackout was covered head to paw in small red bumps that marked the places where he had been stung numerous times by the swarm of bee's. He was still licking his front legs and cheeks, the pain was just agonizing and felt to him like tiny pulses of heat. It was an absolute miracle that he found a small pond to dive into and wait the bees out, or else he would have been in a much worser situation that would have resulted in him dying from the insects venom.

Bonecrusher was covered in a slimy detritus of moss and dirt, evidence of tiny splinters and a bark scattered about his fur. His attempts of escaping from the log had resulted in him accidentally freeing the log from a small fissure and the log rolled down a rather rough and steep hill. The log ended up crashing into a group of tree's smashing the wooden prison and freed a disoriented and frazzled Bonecrusher.

Both Blackout and Bonecrusher were keeping their distance from Soundwave, for the tell tale foul, revolting scent of the skunk wafted from his fur like a thoroughly coated with the liquids, the stench wafting in the air like steam from hot water. The white Dire Wolf was having difficulty keeping his eyes open, for the stench stung them like mad, and was forced to close them and allow his tears to clean them.

"Forgive us, Megatron. We will not let this happen again," Soundwave bowed his head in defeat, trying his hardest to keep his humility and composure intact. Blackout and Bonecrusher had done the same, at a distance to keep their noses safe from the retched stench.

"Forgiveness is none of my concern for now. What matters is that Barricade and his accomplice must be stopped and I am not going to let you worthless mutts muck this up."

Megatron could have continued to let out his rage, but had suddenly felt a rumbling steadily grow in intensity underneath him and the other. The sounds of hoof beats and bugling wails forced the group to turn and see a cloud of dust and dirt rapidly approaching them and they quickly ran to the side to save themselves from being trampled.

Hundreds of deer flooded the path as they ran through the forest, creating a slight tremor with their hooves.

Finally, the herd ceased their assault upon the earth as they fled, allowing Megatron and the others to come out of hiding, looking at the ground to see several hoof prints into the dirt. Megatron silently counted his blessings as he was trying to calculate how many deer there were and how lucky he was that he didn't end up becoming embedded to the ground.

"Megatron, look!" Blackout pointed with his paw as he spotted a figure crookedly limping its way to them.

As the figure got nearer, Megatron could hardly believe who it was. "What? Starscream?"

Indeed, it was Starscream. Or, what could be identified as Starscream. The Dire Wolf was covered in harsh bruises, scratches and his gait was comparable to an intoxicated Donkey. The brown and orange cur had a complete dopey complexion on his brow, and he could barely make out a single sentence with out elongating the words and laughing like an imbecile.

Soundwave was quick to assist Starscream, and was grateful that Starscream was paying no head to the odor. "Starscream, are you alright?"

Starscreams eyes were in opposite angles and had a difficult time trying to focus on the speaker, and his reply was barely understandable. "I got..Heehee...No problem. How about..you? You. Haha.. A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y..."he sing-songed as he stumbled his way to the rest of the pack. "Lookin' good there, Meg. How about...How about a kiss?" He puckered his lips at Megatron but the alpha scoffed in annoyance and turned away.

"I'm afraid Starscream is not doing well in the head," Soundwave concluded. "I insist we take him back to the den and allow him to rest."

"But, if we do, Barricade will be left out there, and there is no telling what might happen to him." Bonecrusher interrupted, now realizing that they were now in enemy territory, and that if Barricade were to be caught it would almost certainly result in him being killed.

Megatron realized this as well, but was not feeling worried about the wellbeing of Barricade, in fact he had new way of getting rid of the annoying pup for good. "I agree. We have to go after them, right now. Soundwave, you are in charge of watching Starscream." Megatron announced as he ran ahead, outpacing his pack members as they did the best they could to keep up and help Starscream at the same time.

Starscream was hardly making any attempt to keep up as his dazed mind controlled his contorted actions, and was also busy at trying to sing a native song that cold barely be understood by those who heard him. The meaning of the melody was mostly interpreted as a story of a man who foolishly goes into the woods to find copper, but ends up becoming food for the wolves.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee and Barricade were still laughing and howling as they celebrated their plans success. They were rolling about in the grass and were even starting to wrestle each other out of sheer mirth and exhilaration, as was a child's response to evading capture by villains.

"Oh, Bumblebee. You should have seen the moment Blackout was attacked by bees. Haha! I have never seen a tough animal running in fear from something so small!" Barricade exclaimed as he freed himself from Bumblebee's grip and shook his fur from the playful fight.

"And you should have seen what happened to Starscream," Bumblebee added, giggling so much that he ignored the wound on the side of his stomach. "He didn't even run away. He just stood there like a statue and was flattened by the deer herd. Priceless!" Bumblebee then started to continue moving down a path he knew. "Just wait until Optimus and the others hear about it, they'll be dying of laughter."

Barricade's joy was shattered when he heard Bumblebee and then recounted the words that Megatron had told him about Optimus Prime, and also remembered the nightmare from last night. Pure horror gripped his heart as he suddenly shook.

"W-what?" he barely managed to speak.

"We're going to my pack, Cade." Bumblebee answered, but quickly saw his friends changed behavior. "Hey, what's the matter?"

"Uh, why don't we just leave the forest?" Barricade uttered a slight quiver of a voice as he tried to direct Bee in another path so that they would avoid coming into contact with the other pack. I can't let his pack see me with him, or I'm done for, Barricade thought to himself before he continued. "Yeah, that's it. We don't need to go to your pack; we can start our own, far away from here,"

Barricades hasty movements and the nervousness in his voice could not be hidden from his friend's eyes, and Bumblebee stopped him. "Cade, what is the matter with you?"

"We cannot be safe here, Bumblebee," Barricade responded as he faced Bumblebee, his eyes full of undying fear. "We have got to run way from this place and we will be safe, and we can be together."

"But we are to little to be on our own, and you know that!" Bumblebee was starting to lose his patience as he argued, "Why are you stalling? Why do you not want to go with me to my pack?".

Barricades response was delivered straight forward with a shout, leaving both himself and Bumblebee in stunned silence. "Because if I do, Optimus will kill me!"

For what seemed like an eternity, neither one of them made a sound. The response echoed through Bumblebee like an empty cavern, repeating itself over and over again.

It took some effort for him to finally speak. "What? But, I told you that Optimus would never do something like that."

"How do you know that?" Barricade spatted. "How do you know if he isn't lying to you? Why is it that only you blue-eyed Dire Wolves get to live the happy life while the rest of the red-eyed Dire Wolves have to live in exile? If you know that he isn't a killer, then why are we not allowed to be friends? Because we are not meant to be together, and it's because of Optimus and Sentinel Prime."

"Barricade, that's not true!"

"How do you know? How do you know if all that you are being told is nothing but a lie. A lie that was intended to keep you from knowing that your utopia had to be created with murder."

Barricade's pent up outburst would have lasted longer had he not stopped and realized what he was saying and how Bumblebee was responding to it. Barricade saw that Bumblebee was lowering his ears and cowering from him and feeling hurt. "No...That can't be true. You think I am a liar?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that," Barricade responded as he tried comforting his friend be licking at his cheeks. "I'm not saying that you are a liar, or a killer." He then groaned and sighed as he placed a paw on his forehead, becoming confused and frustrated. "What I am saying is that even if I did go with you your pack will not approve of me, just like how my pack reacted when I told them I was your friend."

Bumblebee then looked up at Barricade with tears in his eyes. "I don't understand this. I've been adopted by Optimus Prime and if it weren't for them I'd be dead. There is no way they would have the nerve to kill a puppy. Even if they did disagree with us being together, I don't want you to be shut away from me," His paw grazed the red-eyed pup with gentle grace as he poured out everything from his heart. "I care about you, so much."

"As do I," Barricade replied as he hugged Bumblebee tightly, his front legs wrapping around his friends body and firmly held him close. Bumblebee buried his nose into the pups neck and sobbed, feeling grateful of Barricade comforting him despite what had escalated earlier.

"Awe, what a touching moment," a voice from behind startled the two form their embrace, and before they could react Bumblebee was caught by a black paw that planted itself on his head and held him to the ground.

"Megatron!" Barricade barked as he stood in a defensive posture, growling and baring his teeth as he tried to intimidate the older Dire Wolf. "Let him go!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Megatron spoke, his eyes directed to Barricade's own eyes, as well as something else in the distance. "After all, you wanted to help me in taking over this territory, and you succeeded by tricking this runt to being your friend we can use him as a leverage against the Prime."

No, this can't be happening, Barricade thought as he heard Megatron and watched Bumblebee looking at him with a shocked expression.

"No! Bumblebee, I had nothing to do with this! I would never lie to you!" Barricade desperately tried to get Bumblebee to believe him, but Bumblebee continued to look at him with the same expression.

"Ah, more lies. You certainly make me feel so proud. You truly are a real Dire Wolf." Megatron further mused with an evil gaze and vicious grin.

Barricade only looked up at his leader with rage; How dare he make him look like a cruel creature in front of his only true friend in all of the world?

Barricade finally had had enough. With a tiny roar, he leapt out at Megatron. "SHUT UP, AND LET HIM GO!"

No sooner had his words escaped his lips a huge, hard force came into contact with Barricades back, and the youngling was left plastered to the dirt below. An utter feeling of dread and fear washed over him as he was afraid to come to terms with who it was that was now holding him down. All he could do now was look up and become frozen with fear as he stared at the bright blue eyes that pierced down at him, the red and blue fur, and the gaping, snarling maw full of sharp teeth.

"Brother, what surprise," Megatron grinned as Optimus Prime stood before him, the face of his brother contorted to a vicious snarl and his fur stiffened like needles as his paw pressed down upon Barricade.

A growl escaped from Optimus. "Megatron,".

*Authors Note*

(Dun dun DUUUUUN! No, not a cliff hanger! Well, unfortunately, it will have to be. I apologize for my absence as always, life and growing up is keeping me from creating these fanfics. As much as I try to be quick on these chapters my head keep going blank and becomes focused on other things. Seriously, I am starting to craft things, doing digital artwork, work, being social, and because of this I am abusing myself as a fan fiction writer from publishing more stories as much as I had used to in the early years when I started.

I probably guess this could be the reason why I am starting to get less and less reviews from others because of this inexcusable absence. Please, understand that I still love making stories fro everyone to enjoy, but as much as I want to I end up being slow at making them, and I have to keep apologizing because of that.

However, as I make the effort to post these stories, I am still grateful for those who are still here to help me and support me, and it is because of you guys that I am still here, and I am not going to quit. I am never going to stop writing, no matter how slow my writing is, no matter how many times I misspell certain words, and no matter how many reviews I get.

So, thank you guys who still got my back, I really appreciate your kindness and support. It really does mean a lot to me.

Now that I got that off of my chest, I hope you all enjoyed the humor that was put into the chapter, albeit the suspense at the end. I promise you that I will get the next chapter up whenever I can. SparklingLover out.)