Fire of Youth

Chapter 20

*Note to Kaleia: I'm not saying involve the people necessarily. Maybe reports or a website, something more indirect? Raf is pretty skilled on conspiracy sites. xD

We're switching things up here. Let's see what Bulkhead and Wheeljack are up to!


Outside, the early afternoon sun shone hot and bright over the Nevada desert and Area 51. The black asphalt shimmered with mirages. Very few human soldiers or personnel were foolish enough to wander in the blistering heat. Some did do so, occasionally darting between buildings with messages or other tasks that simply could not wait till evening. Most were in the hangars or in the below ground tunnels and chambers.

Prowl was released from Ratchet's care with the warning to stay on site until he gave him the all clear. He was also not allowed to transform until he said it was safe to do so. That turned out fortunately for him, as he right away called Fowler aside and began to discuss the matter at hand in hushed toned with him. Ratchet noted Fowler looked slightly annoyed as he spoke, one hand massaging his temples as if suffering a sudden headache. From the sounds of it he was discussing international relations between law enforcement and how one might correct the issue of a lie being put forth to avoid suspicion during their investigation into the Gwyllgi:

"So lemme get this straight: you used some kind of hologram, disguised it as an MI6 officer, and told the Welsh police that you were one of them and that the investigation had been transferred over to them?" Fowler repeated. "And they believed you?"

"That is correct." returned Prowl calmly. His tone did not betray worry but it did betray some underlying concern.

Fowler groaned. He said he'd see what he could do to sort this out. He then left the hangar, heading out into the heat.

Ratchet issued similar warnings to Grimwing and Infernus, the former being thanked afterwards for helping defend the two. They were on less of a leash than Prowl was since they weren't as badly off, but he still wanted to keep an optic on them regardless. Primus only knew what trouble the youth might get into if he didn't watch him. He was always one for exploring, and his wings were still torn. He hated sitting still. The last thing the medic wanted was for him to somehow clamber atop a hangar to see if he could still fly and then fall to the ground like a crate of bricks.

After some debate it was decided that Bumblebee, Arcee, and their protective Prime would investigate the oil field. But they were to wait to go into the field until they heard back from Bulkhead and Wheeljack over comm. link. Communications out in the jungles of Mexico were patchy at best. Infernus said he wanted to be sure the two Wreckers made it back safely before sending others out on more missions. He didn't want to spread everyone too thin. If a beast attacked, he wanted back-up to be readily available – not just for them, but for the two Wreckers as well. They were strong but beasts tended to be bigger and stronger.

[Hey, Sunshine?] came a voice over the crackling comm. lines.

Ratchet gave an odd growling groan. "What is it, Wheeljack?"

[Bulk and I came up with nada at Teotihuacan. Too many visitors kept us from doing any real snooping and security there is pretty tight. All we found out is that some people seriously think Quetzalcoatl was an alien. Didn't find any solid proof for it other than the old myths about him. Didn't the kid mention there was another place we could look? Somewhere on the peninsula?]

Raf perked up. "Yeah! Chichen Itza! I got geographic coordinates right here! One sec, Wheeljack! I'll get you a groundbridge back to base and then we'll get you guys onto the site."

Seconds later a groundbridge opened and the two Wreckers emerged, mud-splattered. Bumblebee buzzed at them, asking what the heck had happened while Bluestreak and Mark snickered rather loudly, the former saying they totally needed a shower when they got done with their mission. They explained that the previous day a pretty bad storm had passed over the Teotihuacan area and so the jungle was basically one big mud pit.

"You guys didn't find anything?" Jack asked.

"Nada." Bulkhead answered. "Like 'Jackie said: too many eyes watching for us to go snooping. Here's hopin' this other site isn't as crowded."

"Actually, before we go I gotta grab something. Maybe it'll help us out."

Wheeljack went out towards Hangar H where the Jackhammer was stored. He returned a little bit dirtier, mud now mixed with ship fluids. When asked what it was he'd went to get and why it involved his ship, the white Wrecker had smirked and remained silent much to Ratchet's irritation. "If it's anything explosive..." the medic warned him. He assured him it wasn't. Ratchet, needless to say, did not look wholly convinced.

"If you need extra help I might be able to hack some satellites and give you guys some bird's eye view data."

"Hasn't that been tried before? And nothing of significance was found?" Jack reminded him.

Rafael gave a sly little smile as he said: "Who says I'm gonna be borrowing visual range satellites?"


SOUTH-EASTERN MEXICO, YUCATAN PENINSULA
TEMPLE OF KUKALCAN, CHICHEN ITZA
LOCAL TIME: 4:00 P.M

Wheeljack and Bulkhead trudged through the thick jungles around the ancient step pyramid. Neither were mythology buffs, but Wheeljack was the slightly smarter of the two and had paid attention to Raf's briefing. Well, mostly. He just wanted to get out, find the beast, dead or alive and get rid of it either way. Fighting that dragon had been a hassle. He was not eager to go fighting any more of the beasts.

And yet here they both were, investigating another pyramid dedicated to a snake god. They had already investigated Teotihuacan as best they could with all the visitors. Other than overhearing some interesting conversations concerning the origins of the serpent deities they hadn't found anything concrete other than sculptures. But they guessed that if anything were to be found relating to the snake it would be either in or around the pyramid. The suspected radius Ratchet had given was about five miles. Considering they were on foot that might take a while.

Wheeljack knew that they were searching the jungles for evidence, living or not, of a monster the ancient cultures in the area had worshiped as a god. To the Maya the creature was known as Kukulcan; to the Aztec it was Quetzalcoatl. In both iterations the creature was a powerful flying, feathered serpent from the stars. What was most interesting about it was that it was a wind deity – but also apparently a god of learning for the Aztecs. Even more curious was that many of the ancient cultures, not just the Aztec and Maya, had worshiped a feathered serpent deity. To Wheeljack that was more than a little strange. An entire region worshiping the same monster? No way in the Pit was that coincidence. Cultural diffusion was a thing, yeah, but that didn't totally explain this. Raf had told them that each iteration for each culture was different than another's but all bore more or less the same characteristic. It was big, it was feathered, it flew, and it was absurdly powerful and highly respected.

"Kinda reminds you o' Harahadria 2, doesn't it, Bulk?"

Bulkhead chuckled: "Least the bugs here aren't the size of small dogs and spit acid. Humidity's 'bout the same though. A total nightmare."

They kept walking.

"'Jackie, we really got a chance of findin' anything out here? If Jack says humans have been searching these jungles on foot and with satellites for Primus knows how long and have only found a fraction of the stuff hidden...then you can take it as true. He's a smart kid. Also, I think it's because it's not exactly safe to go wandering around thanks to the cartels and the less-than-friendly wildlife."

The white Wrecker smirked, holding up the device he'd scavenged from his ship:

"That's why I brought the deep-pulse scanner I salvaged from the Jackhammer. What we're lookin' for may not be above ground, and human radar technology isn't exactly on par with ours. And that's also why the kid's hacking into as many non-visual-range satellites as he can. More eyes we got looking the better our chances. Doesn't hurt to have alien technology either."

Bulkhead grinned. Reckless as he was, 'Jackie was pretty smart.

"So is there anything on it?"

"Nothin' yet."

For an hour nothing was found beneath the ground as they went further and further afield from the main pyramid. Then, Rafael provided a hint:

[Hey, guys?] Raf's voice chimed in backed with static. [I found something on the satellite feed and I also found something matching it in a classified archaeological file. There's a low mound ten miles north from your position. It was only found a week ago and they haven't started excavating yet. The satellite feed is showing something that definitely looks like some kind of structure but it's too garbled to make out for sure. There's also a very faint energy coming from it – too faint for the archaeologists to detect, and even the satellites are having trouble identifying it. It's pretty far down. Might be Energon. Might be something else.]

"Some kinda tomb or something maybe?" guessed Bulkhead.

[Maybe. I'd know more if we could see inside. The satellites can't see so far beneath ground as the energy signal is.]

"I'll see what the scanner can find. No groundbridges. We'll head there on foot. We don't want 'Cons tracking the energy bursts. I'll call ya back when we get there, kid."

[Okay. Stay safe out there. Tell us if you find anything! There's so much alien lore around the Aztecs and Maya and stuff I'd totally be surprised if you found nothing!] That was Miko this time, not Raf. Wheeljack laughed and retorted back with the question of: when had he and Bulk ever managed to disappoint?

Bulkhead was secretly thankful Bluestreak had kept his spunky charge from sneaking along this time around what with all the tropical diseases the wildlife carried. That and she might overheat in this heat and humidity. It was no laughing matter he thought as he trudged deeper into the jungle with his friend. He kinda regretted not bringing Blue along though. Ever since meeting Grimwing he'd become fascinated with Earth's bird species and wildlife in general. Just in his time here he'd spotted over two dozen colorful birds flying between the trees or nesting in them.

Onward they walked into the leafy, humid maze of trees.


Infernus was back to his pacing. His focus was outward, on the signals of the two Wreckers on the screen. He had sneakily hacked into Rafael's laptop and was searching through his Google bookmarks to investigate more into the beasts Bulkhead and Wheeljack were hunting in Mexico. The information was not raising his spirits or hopes. The only encouraging bit was that a few of the beast gods were seen as teachers. Too many though were viewed as violent and dangerous.

Bluestreak did his best to try to convince him that everything would be okay, but it just wasn't enough. He didn't like his sibling so worried, so anxious. There it was though. He had the responsibility of keeping Cybertron alive and making sure his whole team lived to see its massive spark re-ignited. And now he had a handicapped Predacon to tend to as well – and the two Wreckers were trudging through Mexico looking for a serpent god beast. He could understand why he was so stressed.

Prowl had left when Fowler had called and was now presently in a conference call with members of the U.S Secret Service, Army, and the English MI6. No one was quite sure when he'd get back.

Jack and his mother watched him closely, noting the white youth's sudden, abrupt turns. They observed Bluestreak was keeping his distance from him, too, despite him plainly wanting to go up and hug him. Normally whenever a sibling was upset, human or otherwise, the other sibling would try to approach to comfort the other. Bluestreak as plain as day wanted to. In fact, all the Autobots were giving him a wide berth. So was something keeping him and the others back? Infernus certainly looked like he needed some comforting. He acted like he was on the verge of panicking. Jack had to admit he was a lot more nervous than he'd been in the past – as his normal, non-beast self. Considering the stakes though it really made sense for him to be nervous.

Ratchet watched him as well. The humans were unable to sense his field like he and the other Autobots could. Right now it was crackling with glyphs for worry and concern, frustration and turmoil.

"Smoke, honestly. They're Wreckers, dude! They'll be fine! Stop worrying your butt off!" Miko said.

"They've made it out of worse situations." Jack confirmed. "Besides, if things get hairy Ratchet can just 'bridge them out."

He paused in his pacing, somewhat appeased.

'Kid, honestly. You care for 'em, I get that. But they don't need you around all the time. They're trained fighters. Wreckers to boot.' said the Shifter. 'They've dealt with scrap just as dangerous as a beast. You read their battle reports. You know that better than any of us.'

'You weren't nearly so nervous about their last missions.' Prima observed pointedly.

Uh, yeah. For good reason. They knew in the case of the Lion that it was long dead. There was no reason to worry about it attacking either mech. Arion, while more ambiguous, was also more elusive and not as aggressive in temperament. So long as you paid the horse afterwards he was happy to help. Made him think he was a kind of mercenary. Here, with the Aztec and Mayan beasts and "gods" things weren't so clear, especially in the case of Kukulcan and Quetzalcoatl and some of the monsters of their lore. Many of them were incredibly violent and aggressive, very easy to offend...and a good fraction of them were associated with death. The two serpent gods were no exception. Not the nicest picture being painted here, was it?

None of the Thirteen responded. Oh, well, that was encouraging he thought sarcastically.

Shaking his helm imperceptibly, he went over to Grimwing. The Thunderbird was busy conversing with Mark while he took a peek at the broken mechanisms in his wing, perched between his wing blades. The Bluetooth on his ear seemed to be active judging by the blue glow of a tiny indicator light, and his sharper hearing picked up a voice from the speaker – Neal's. He guessed he was busy keeping the auto-shop people in line and was judging for himself wirelessly how he might correct some of the damage.

"Any feed to your processor yet?" he heard Mark ask through the specialized screw driver in his mouth.

Grimwing shook his helm.

'If they can't repair the wing...I'm not about to let him remain grounded for the rest of life. That's not right. But I'd doom Cybertron if I used the Forge on him...Would it really be worth it?'


"This is the place the kid told us about."

They had finally reached the spot Raf had detailed to them. It wasn't much to look at on the surface: just a low mound kind of resembling a hill. About two miles away was the low, crumbling ruins of another pyramid – smaller than any of the ones seen so far. All around them was thick jungle. The humans might've well been excused for missing this. It really did look like an ordinary hill, and it was deep enough in the jungles and far enough away from any other structures that it was easy to pass by. Only radar would reveal its true nature.

Below ground? That was another story entirely. Wheeljack's deep-pulse scanner was going wild, the screen displaying what looked very much like an underground structure despite how garbled and blurry it looked. And it was deep below them – almost a hundred feet, like the structure had been built underground to start with. That alone got him suspicious, because he was pretty sure the ancient humans in the area didn't have the necessary tools for that kind of engineering feat. There was also an energy signal far below, but the scanner couldn't seem to lock onto it. Something was interfering with its pulses, making them scatter around.

"Wow. Look at the size of that thing!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

Wheeljack looked at the scanner oddly. He tapped it experimentally. Nothing changed. "Something's screwin' with the scanner."

"Like what? There's no radar jammer around here."

"No, no. It's not jamming. It's makin' the signal bounce around till it's mostly scrambled. It's...it's interference. And I think whatever this thing is down there is causing it."

Bulkhead merely looked at him. There was no way he was believing there was something down there in this...structure that was interfering with a very advanced piece of technology from Cybertron and the humans hadn't arrived at the same conclusion. Then again, their radar tech wasn't nearly as advanced as his race's and the jungles were dense and unexplored...Pit, the kid had found Grimwing hidden away in an often visited mountain in New Mexico. How was this any harder to believe? In a way it was easier. Fewer humans. Thick, unexplored jungle. Lost civilization. Possible link to aliens.

"Alright, there's gotta be a way in that doesn't involve digging if this is some kinda bunker or tomb. Shockwave always has a back-up plan in case of an emergency. Escape tunnels from safe-houses or labs were one way."

Bulkhead glanced back in the direction of the ruined pyramid they'd passed, gesturing with a thick thumb and suggesting that maybe they should start looking there.

Wheeljack was inclined to agree with him: "The humans already checked the place out I think, but we both know how good Shockwave is at hiding things. Wouldn't be surprised if the humans never caught on. Best way to hide something? Hide it in plain sight. Reverse psychology and all that scrap."

"Worth a shot." admitted the other. "Come on. Let's go check it out."

They trudged back through the jungle to the pyramid. When they did get there they very quickly ducked behind what cover the jungle offered, both frowning. Seven Vehicons were now scouring the ruins, and they hadn't been there not even a half an hour ago. The Nemesis must've locked onto their life signals and Megatron or Shockwave, suspicious, had sent some troops to investigate what two Autobots were doing traipsing around in the Mexican jungle. Either they were here for the energy signal, which could very well be an Energon stockpile, or they were here for the beast that might be in the underground structure nearby. That they were here and not at the mount meant his guess about the hidden entrance might be right. Or maybe they were searching this structure in hopes of finding the mound? Hard to say.

"Slagging perfect." Wheeljack cursed. "Bulk, stay down."

"Think that more applies to you, 'Jackie. You're bright white. You stand out too much. I blend in better. Stay here. I'll see if I can get in close and see what they're up to."

Wheeljack gave him a skeptical look (for Bulkhead wasn't the stealthiest of Cybertronians ever built) but in the end he couldn't think of any better options off the top of his helm. He nodded him on but said he'd be watching his back. Just in case. And so he stayed back and watched his friend tread carefully ever closer to the cluster of enemies. If he got spotted he'd leap in. No survivors. They couldn't allow it, not with possible Energon on the line, and most certainly not with a beast so powerful as to be labeled as a god by the ancients.


Bulkhead got as close as he dared to, close enough to allow him to eavesdrop on any conversations passing between the Vehicons. He was smart enough not to press his luck. Well camouflaged as he was, he was also bigger and heavier than his smaller friend and thus he would be easier to spot and easier to hear. So, he set to work.

"You sure this is the place?" one Vehicon asked.

"Shockwave said this was where the chip signal was coming from." another answered, one who seemed in charge of the group."Scanner says so, too. I don't see anything though, Predacon or secret passage. Only the chip signal. Should we call for one of the drillers maybe?"

"They're busy elsewhere. Starscream did say that Shockwave said there was a way in somewhere around here. Bunkers always have more than one way out in case of cave ins. So we better keep looking, else Megatron might throw us to the Predacons." said a third.

Their searching went on. He lost sight of one or two for a few brief seconds as they passed behind large walls or ruined pillars but otherwise he had a good viewing point. They hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet either. But at least he knew now that the 'Cons had a means of finding the beasts they were after, alive or dead: tracking chips. That was why they were here. They hadn't been tracking him and 'Jackie – they'd been tracking the chip's signal. Ratchet might be able to make use of that somehow if he or 'Jackie got their hands on this one before the 'Cons did. They also had two Predacons now, not just one. He had a bad feeling he knew who the second one was.

He retreated back to report in, relaying everything he'd heard and seen. Wheeljack nodded as he finished. A smirk soon formed.

"Well, we got our info. Looks like the kid's hell hound joined up with the enemy. Let's make sure these guys never report back in. Do 'em a favor."

Not waiting for an answer, Wheeljack drew his katanas and slunk towards the ruins, leaving Bulkhead to catch up.

*Bulk, get the two on the east side. I'll get the two on the north.*

*Gotcha. Meet up with you to take out the others?*

*Yep. That's how we roll.*

Wheeljack ducked behind a semi-collapsed wall and waited for one of his two targets to draw near. When the Vehicon got within arm's reach, he struck out, grabbed it, and drove his katana into its chest, being careful to keep his other hand over its face to muffle any sounds. It went limp within seconds and he lugged it aside. The noise drew its partner. It met a similar fate. He heard the pounding of Bulkhead's hammer as it impacted one, and the muffled cry of another as it was struck as well. The remaining three Vehicons were now on edge, weapons out and searching for movement. He spotted Bulkhead opposite him and they shared a nod.

They struck out of cover in a flash. Bulkhead pounded one into the ground and then went for the second. Wheeljack impaled the third, driving his blades into its chassis almost up to their hilts. Using sheer brute strength, he swung the Vehicon towards the one Bulkhead was dealing with. The two collided and fell, one already offline. The other one, senseless, was quickly terminated by a stab to the spark chamber.

"Found a scanner on one of my guys." Bulkhead handed it to him as he spoke.

"Alright. Let's see what these dimwatts were looking for exactly."

Bulkhead got closer and peered at the new scanner while the white Wrecker examined it. There was a single blip on the display screen directly below them, registering about seventy to a hundred feet beneath them, around the same depth as the other underground structure. No way was that a coincidence. His history with construction back home told him it was always best to build below ground connective tunnels level with the two structures to prevent warping. With soil this damp and everything that was the only sensible thing to do. Shockwave knew that as well as he did.

The white Wrecker beside him looked around. Vehicons weren't the sharpest weapons in the armory so they'd probably missed the secret entrance, and they hadn't been there for very long either. He wouldn't put it past Starscream to give false information to make it look like Shockwave had made a mistake. Those two mixed about as well as oil and fire. Starscream'd do anything to make the cyclops look bad.

"Spread out. Look for anything that might stand out even a little. Shockwave always liked being low-key but the entrance has to be visible enough for someone not so smart to find. There's a tunnel down there that connects to the other structure or another near by. There's gotta be a way down to it."

They set about searching. For upwards of fifteen minutes neither found anything that might hint at a secret passage or entryway into the below ground structure. Then Bulkhead called out:

"'Jackie! Check this out!"

Wheeljack came over. Bulkhead was standing atop a fallen pillar just outside the ruins and looking down into the main area. Curious, he went over beside him, hefting himself up to peep over a crumbling wall. Not a former construction worker, he didn't fully realize how weak the wall was. He let out a yelp when it collapsed on him, sending him tumbling helm-first into the main area of the ruins. When the stars blinked out of his optics he was staring at a dusty floor now littered with stone shards. Giving a snort of annoyance, he pushed himself to his knees and swept the debris aside. What he found staring back at him made him grin in triumph:

It was old. It was very worn, almost worn down to non-existence. But there was no mistaking the image of a feathered serpent guarding over a pile of what looked like glowing stone blocks. He knew better – Energon. And hanging around its neck was a pendant that looked strikingly like a Maya or Aztec-themed Decepticon crest, the carving slightly more raised than the rest of the image, almost to the point where it was unnoticeable.

"Heh. Leave it to the cyclops to hide somethin' in plain sight." observed the white Wrecker. "Logical means predictable, amiright?"

He pressed down on the crest. A low groaning of ancient gears met him, forcing him to move free, as the ground beneath him shuddered, opening up like a cavernous maw. It was a sheer drop down. Made sense. The beast was supposedly a flier, and it would keep any nosy searchers, human or 'bot, from heading in on a whim. But they were built tougher than most. A drop like this was nothing to them.

"Welp." he said, drawing his katanas once more. "Let's get to beast hunting."

Together they descended down, down, down into the dark until they hit ground with a resonating bang and a light splashing of water, staggering from the impact. Each flipped on their headlights.

It was pitch black outside the illuminating beams but as they looked around they found themselves to be in a fairly large underground chamber. It looked natural too. Whoever had built this place – Shockwave, the Predacon, or even the humans with help from the Predacon – had apparently taken advantage of a natural cenote or sinkhole and simply modified it. Resourceful. Rough limestone was covered in smoothly carved limestone bricks covered in Maya hieroglyphs. Images of a feathered serpent adorned any other free space not busy telling a story. A small pyramid, presumably an altar, lay off to one side of the chamber, covered in feathered serpent imagery.

"Whoa..." was all Bulkhead managed. Dark and creepy as the place was, it was damned impressive. And from what he knew of architecture, this seemed to be just an antechamber.

Wheeljack grinned. He opened a comm. link back to base and said: "Hey, Raf? We got something."

[Really?! What'd you find?] came the eager tween's voice.

"Some kinda antechamber was beneath some old ruins near that mound you told us about. Made out of a natural sinkhole. Feathered serpent imagery everywhere. There's also some kinda altar off to one side that's plastered in that imagery. Makes me think our beast did have some interaction with the Maya, because I doubt it built the altar."

[Uh, yeah. Knowing the Maya and that the antechamber's in a cenote that may mean this is some kind of sacrificial pit to appease the serpent and keep it from wrecking everything. Cenote are said to be gateways to the Mayan Underworld. Advanced as they were, the Maya did perform human sacrifices. Dark blot on their culture and on human nature as whole, but there it is. And since we're in Chichen Itza, this is Kukulcan we're dealing with, not Quetzalcoatl. Quetzy's actually viewed as a good guy more or less, a defender of humans and king protector and teacher and stuff. Kukulcan...er, not so much. Still a king protector but he's not quite so friendly.]

"Wait...so we might be dealing two different serpents?" Bulkhead demanded. "Oh, joy..."

[Could be. That would explain why the two iterations are so different from each other but look strikingly similar in iconography concerning them.] Ratchet said. [That you're searching for the Mayan Kukulcan...please be careful. Both of you. He's far more dangerous than Quetzalcoatl is depicted as.]

[Yeah, but some of the modern folktales concerning him paint Kuku as a nicer snake. Just so you know. May reflect that he could've softened in a way kinda like Grimwing did over the centuries.] added Jack. [After being alone on a foreign planet for so long I wouldn't be surprised if a fraction of these Preds went from 'Con to Neutral or even started to support the 'Bots like Grim.]

[Disillusioned you think?] That was Infernus. [I dunno. Grim's a pretty good example of that, I guess. But Preds we've found have shown they're crazy loyal to the 'Cons, Jack. Gwyllgi was a good example. Don't hold your hopes up.]

[Not saying it for sure but it might be a possibility. They're both pretty dangerous, but they're also both viewed as protectors by both cultures. Keep that in mind, guys.]

"Sayin' they might just be super territorial or somethin', kid?" asked Wheeljack. Ugh. That required being tactful – something neither of them were very good at. He didn't want to call Infernus in to settle another misunderstanding (poor kid had enough on his plate in his opinion) but it could very well come to that. Just going by Grim's example, Preds were prideful and prone to taking offense when none was really meant. And Grim was one of the polite ones.

[Maybe. Just be careful – and tactful.] The caution in Jack's tone was easily recognizable.

Unless it was Bulkhead's imagination he swore he heard Miko snigger loudly over the line.

They kept searching the chamber. They did indeed find a few old, battered human skulls lying around. Whether or not the serpent had done them in they didn't know. The fall alone could've killed them, and from the water on the floor it might've been filled with water in the past. Bulkhead found a lever shaped like a serpent's head and yanked. Wheeljack, having seen one Indiana Jones movie one night with Miko, shouted and darted over to him. He was expecting the whole cavern to collapse on them. Rule One with old ruins: don't go flipping random levers, switches, or buttons because you didn't know what they were used for.

His panic turned out to be a little misplaced.

The water in the room began to flow in one direction – not strongly, but enough to be noticed. Meant it was flowing somewhere downwards. The wall behind the altar grumbled and groaned and seemed to melt down into the ground, revealing a tall passageway easily wide enough to permit them both if they went single-file. Bulk might be a bit cramped he supposed but he'd fit.

"Come on, 'Jackie. Let's go see if we can't find our Kuku serpent."

Wheeljack smirked: "I see what you did there."

The white Wrecker leading, the two entered the dark stone passageway, headlights burning through the dark.